Creating a Work/Life Balance

It’s been 3 weeks since I’ve been a full-time working woman, wife, and mama. I knew that it would be a bit of a struggle as I have not worked full time in almost a year. Additionally, I have never worked full time (until now) as a wife AND mommy. Shout out to you all who went right back to work! I’ve decided to share a few things I’ve been doing (and plan to continue to do) to make my work week go smoother.

My Plan:

1. Meal Prep on Sundays: So, my husband and I decided to start meal prepping because during my first week of work, we spent money on breakfast, lunch, and dinner. That absolutely cannot happen again! Our plan is to buy our groceries on Saturdays and cook for the week on Sundays. 

2. Do everything the night before: Getting our clothes out, bottles ready, pumping bag packed, everything! I’ve found that even the little things (like putting labels on Ry’s bottles) take up time that I’d much rather be using for sleep. I’ve also been trying to do Ryann’s hair on Sundays in hopes that the style will last for a week! (I have not been too successfully with that though lol)

3. Phones off/out of reach by 10pm (or earlier): This is great to prepare for the week but also just because I don’t need to be on my phone after that time anyway. (I’m usually exhausted/sleep before 10 anyway) In addition to blogging and having a social media presence, I’m required to use social media for my full-time job also, so there’s absolutely nothing I need to be doing on my phone after 10pm. This allows me to spend time with my family and try to get at least 7 hours of sleep. (Not counting my kid waking up in the middle of the night) 

4. Family time/outings on Saturdays: Summer weather is here! There’s so much we want to do with Ry but for us to stick to our weekly goals of getting sleep, we decided to use our time wisely. Outside of traveling, Joel and I talked about finding new things to do every weekend. We want to take advantage of this area and family time, so we plan to go out on Saturdays after grocery shopping. We figured if we’re worn out after, we’ll be able to sleep in a little on Sundays and still have time to get what we need done for the week.

5. Start my day with motivation: Once I truly adjust to my schedule and figure out my work/life balance, I want to start going to the gym or doing yoga early in the morning. As of now, I am exhausted and still trying to get my body awake so hopefully one day I can figure something out. Lol! (My morning motivation may start with a book/reading/podcast something inspirational that will get me pumped for the day)

As time goes on, I’m sure I’ll figure out what else works best for us. But for now, I think this is a great start. I would love to hear more from you all! How do you plan a productive work week (with or without children)?

As always, like, share, comment with any questions or feedback you may have!