I’m so excited to show you 5 Ways Moms can Make More Time for Creativity.
You are going to use these simple habits to create time in your days for hobbies and rest!
Whether you are a mom of little kids, big kids or pets, you are going to find a way to relate to this post and I hope it inspires you to live your best life. Life and time looks different at every season but you’ll find ways to apply these tips in every stage.
Let me start by sharing with you that I’m a Taurus and Enneagram 9. That means I do things enjoyably/indulgently slow, while overthinking and keeping conflict at a minimum. I’m have a dreamer/squirrel brain with a new “great idea” that I HAVE TO ACCOMPLISH every 3 minutes.
Translation in Motherhood:
-takes me a long time to do chores/cooking (because I actually enjoy chores and before kids I had time for chores plus everything else)
-never feels like there’s enough time to “think” or get creative
-I want to do everything for everyone so everyone else can relax and the house is mellow
-gets down on not accomplishing 50 monumentous goals at a time
OK, after becoming a mom (especially after baby #4), I’ve had to change all of these things in order TO have time to be slow and creative-my truest, happiest self.
Do you ever look at people who have full lives and think, “How does she do all that when her life seems way busier than mine?”
The answer is that she had to adapt to this busy life with even more discipline in order to live the life that brings her joy.
A lot of your day can kind of blend together and get away from you before you realize it if you are not intentional with your time management.
Now I must add my disclaimer here as someone who feels guilt for taking time for myself sometimes. I often ask myself, “Am I too selfish?”
I LOVE our kids and I prioritize my days with my family’s needs. Enriching our children is not a chore to me but a gift. I also want you to know that you can LOVE your family and still want time for creativity to feed your soul.
1. Break up Tasks into Steps & Batches
This has been a golden rule for me in Motherhood. It’s not too common to have lengthy, uninterrupted time to work on ANYTHING. So, find ways to break up your tasks (work, chores, exercise, even fun projects) into steps or do them in little short batches.
This goes for anything from Blog posts (take photos, write post, add links, pin to Pinterest, add to newsletter etc) to cooking. See how I batch cook for our family here.
You can complete ANY task you want to. The bigger the task, the more bitesized pieces you will break it up into. It is good to start and finish a piece at a time because accomplishing a goal (no matter how small) is important to your feeling powerful and competent. Make the steps even simpler if you find that you cannot complete them in the time you have.
Before I became a mother, I wrote THIS POST about my greatest fear and WOW I haven’t changed as a person but I have changed how I structure my life so that I can still be me!
2. Invest in Meal Planning
Spend time to save time. It is the truth! I have NEVER been a meal planner until I had 4 kids! I have to be honest…I still hate this task LOL BUT I cannot avoid it because it gives me so much free time.
Why don’t I like it? Well, I feel like meals and appetites are emotional, creative processes that can’t be planned ahead for. How do I solve this? I look for new recipes each week. Follow me on Pinterest to see what we are into this week.
When you block off time to spend on planning, you are more productive. You will spend less time overall in shopping, cooking and thinking about what’s for dinner tonight.
Use little blocks of time like during kids’s sports or while you’re breastfeeding.
Do it in steps:
-pull from your list of family favorites (I have a list on my iPhone)
-search Pinterest for new recipes in one sitting. Then print them out later.
-make your grocery list and grocery order
-cook in a batch!
3. Do a Morning Hustle
A morning hustle is a list of daily chores plus one or two rotating chores (trash day etc) that you do on autopilot each day.
Do this as early as possible!
Mine looks like:
Start a load of laundry
Thaw any meats for cooking that day and gather meal prep items on counter.
4. Outsource
First of all, this can be free!
My local grocery store does free drive up delivery if you place your online order about a day in advance for example. Another example of how planning is winning. Grocery delivery is also a big time saver (although the many plastic bags kills me). Grocery delivery is especially great when you have a new baby or you need more time that week for other things.
We have a cleaning service twice a month and this is a must for me. I’ve had a cleaning service from before I was married. My roommate and I both worked and we shared a big house together with our dogs. I would rather work and pay for the service than clean the house myself. The cleaning team would do the hard stuff and I could enjoy fun chores like organizing!
I have invested in teaching our kids how to fold their own clothes. I sometimes do all the laundry myself but for the most part, the kids fold and put their own clothes away for chore money! I’ve recently taught our oldest how to flip laundry from the washer to the dryer and even that is a HUGE help! Download my free printable chore chart HERE.
Honestly I LOVE the idea of the kids being super sufficient at house stuff when they get out on their own. I’ve started teaching them how to make simple snacks and meals like chicken nuggets or PB&Js.
5. Set your Intentions & Prioritize
After my “Morning Hustle,” I take a few minutes to read something (with coffee) thought provoking and then I set my mental intentions for the day. Some of my favorites are HERE.
Even if this is a few minutes, it is transformational in how I view my life. “My day includes sipping coffee, reading and thinking.” This is such a big part of my identity. Recognize what is part of your identity and make that part of your daily rituals. Is it putting on makeup or dressing well? Does prayer and bible study feed your soul? Do it daily and appreciate it!
One thing I have been distracted by is seeing how convicted other moms are in their identity-things and think maybe those things should be important to me. When you become so confident in your own identity-makers, that is where magic happens.
In my life I have 4 basic categories: Family, To-do list, Work and Self/Spirit.
I’ve got my non-negotiables like feeding everyone and hygiene of course.
On top of those things, I choose 1-3 things to prioritize in these other categories. Simplifying your list can help you accomplish more! Want to develop this habit? Get my printable on this blog post.
What has the soonest deadline and what action items are going to bring me closest to home or work goals?
Whatever is on that list that is “out of obligation (to ego-this can be guilt, vanity etc) and not actually important” gets knocked off the list quickly.
These tips will get you more free time in your day to enjoy creativity! What do you do with it? I sit and think, paint, write, decorate/make our house cozy, shop for home decor, take/edit photos, scroll and save on Pinterest, walk while listening to business podcasts or jazz, ways to make holidays special, learn a new hobby/make things like a little doll for my daughter recently.
Use these windows of time by doing your creative endeavors in steps with priorities too! You’ll accomplish your creative goals just as your motherhood goals.
Add creative goals one at a time. Stack them like habits!
PS I take “DAYS OFF” where I don’t do a morning hustle or organize my intentions etc. It keeps me feeling spontaneous and resets me. Then I get back to it for overall success!
What do you want to make more time for? How important is it to you to live a life of creativity?
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