Organization of a Full-Time Working Momma

So far, I’ve shared with you two of my three keys to survival as a full-time working Momma – staying on schedule (you can read about it here), and good time management (you can read about it here and here).  In this post I’ll focus on the third and final (and in my opinion, the most fun) thing that helps me stay afloat – being organized. 

I truly believe that I was born to be an organizer.  From a very young age, I have always liked for my space to be neat and tidy, for everything to have a place, and for everything to stay in its place.  (Ask my brothers… they used to go in my room and move things around slightly just to see if I would notice. I always did.)  I can remember looking at the kids’ rooms in the JC Penney catalogs when I was probably eight years old and trying to make my room look as organized and pretty as the rooms in the catalog.  Simple things like planners, notebooks, sticky notes, storage containers, and labels get me (almost) as excited as Christmas day.  I like pretty things, plain and simple.  And good organization = the prettiest!  

Personal Organization

We now have four people in our family, and that’s a lot of different schedules, appointments, and reminders to keep up with.  Plus, our kids are sick all. the. time. (it’s ridiculous, actually), so that means endless doctors’ appointments.  Jacob alone has a pediatrician, an ENT, an allergist, and a dentist.  Absurd.
   

To keep track of all of this (and to prevent my brain from exploding), I use two basic tools – my Erin Condren Life Planner and my List Master App on my iPhone.

Planner 

As I said before, I like pretty things, and I am a very visual person.  So when it comes to planners, I prefer a good old fashioned paper planner.  I know, I know, with technology these days it’s pretty unbelievable that anyone would still want a paper planner, but I assure you there’s still a market out there for these.  It consists of all Type A, organized to the max, crazy people like myself. :o) 

So, let’s get right down to it – the planner – aaaahhhh it is so pretty!!  And of course, that’s the most important thing.  ;o)   

 

 

 

It’s split into monthly views as well as weekly views, and the weekly views have a box for each day.  I use the monthly views to keep track of all appointments, birthdays, anniversaries, reminders (change contact lenses, change air filters, give Maui heartworm medicine, etc.), vacation, and school holidays, etc. so I can have an overview of each month all on one page.  Having all of this information on the monthly spread makes it easy to find information from prior months if I need to retrieve something later on.  



This entire two-page spread will be slap full by the time November actually gets here!

At the beginning of each month, I transfer all of the notes from my monthly pages to the corresponding days on the weekly pages, and as the days go by, I add any to-do list items that need to be done, as well as meals that I will cook for each day.  That way everything is laid out on a daily basis so I know exactly what to expect and what needs to be accomplished each day.  Every time I complete a task, I highlight it in pink (duh, what else?).  It’s very satisfying (and pretty) to see an entire page of pink.  :o) 



Not much filled in yet, but by the time I get done with these two pages they will be completely covered!

I have a Long-Term To Do List that I maintain in an Excel spreadsheet, and I keep a printed copy of the list in the back pocket of my planner so I always have it on hand as well. 

My planner is the center of my organizational world.  If it were to ever get lost I would probably crawl in a hole and never come out.  I love it because it allows me to keep everything in one place so I’m not stressing out and wondering if I’m forgetting something important.  Sometime in the near future I will be doing a more in-depth post on how I use the planner, so if you're interested, be sure to subscribe to my blog so you don’t miss the post! 

List Master App 

It’s kind of like having Microsoft Excel on your phone.  And if you’re anything like me, you love the mess out of some Excel because the organizational possibilities are endless!   

I use this app for all of my personal reference lists – lists that I use on a constant basis that I like to always have with me.  It includes a To Do Now list which I use to dump all random things that pop into my head at inopportune times until I can transfer them to my planner.  It also includes monthly tasks (which are transferred to my planner each month), wish lists, shopping lists, gift ideas, important things to remember (medications that the kids don’t tolerate well, clothing sizes for people we buy for frequently, etc.), and restaurants we love, etc.   

This app has helped me keep every aspect of my life organized, which gives me a sense of control… which I like, since I’m controlling. ;o)   I could go on and on about it, but I’ll save all of the details for the in-depth post that I am planning to show in better detail how I utilize all of its functions.
   

Home Organization 

“Everything has a place and everything in its place.”  

Easier said than done when you have two rugrats running behind you and tearing everything up!  But in addition to staying organized on paper, I try to keep our home as organized as possible.  There are a few spaces in particular that I’m especially picky about:

Pantry – keeping the pantry organized allows me to find things quickly when I'm cooking, and it enables me to quickly see what needs to be added to my grocery shopping list.

Refrigerator – ditto.  

Kitchen Cabinets & Drawers – nothing is more frustrating than being elbow deep in raw chicken and not being able to find the mallet or a particular measuring spoon.  Keeping the cabinets and drawers organized allows me to be more efficient (and keeps my sanity intact) while cooking. 

File cabinet – I have a file cabinet in my office to hold all of our personal paperwork (bills, medical paperwork, taxes, etc.).  Keeping all of this stuff organized is important for obvious reasons.  Hello, tax audit!!

Clothes Closet – You know how sometimes you find something buried under a heap of stuff in the back corner of your closet and it still has the tags on it from two years ago and you’ve never even worn it?  Yeah, that never happens to me.  If I buy something, I’m going to wear it!  I love clothes.  A lot.  And I have a lot of them.  As well as shoes, belts, scarves, necklaces, bracelets, earrings, handbags, and every other accessory you can think of.  If I didn’t keep my closet well organized, I’d drown in the scarves alone.  I love fashion, and I love to create lots of different combinations of outfits, so I it’s best to keep my closet organized so I can easily see everything that I have. 

Life as a full-time working momma is hectic, but a little bit of organization goes a loooong way and saves oodles of time in the long run.  

I hope you’ve enjoyed my posts about being a full-time working momma.  Whether you’re getting ready to go back to work after maternity leave, or just dabbling with the idea of going back to work full-time after staying home with your kids for many years, I hope this series has helped provide some insight and advice on how to juggle it all.  You can do it, Momma!

Time Management of a Full-Time Working Momma: Household Tasks

Happy Friday Eve!  It’s time for another installment of Time Management of a Full-Time Working Momma… this week’s edition – Household Tasks.  Between working full-time and raising two kids and a husband (Haha – I kid, I kid.  He’s almost self-sufficient.), when in the world does one have time for cleaning house, cooking, laundry, and all of the other bazillions of nit-picky tasks that are necessary for survival?  Well, this is how we do in our household… 

Laundry 

We do laundry once every two weeks.  I know a lot of people say to do a load of laundry each day so you don’t feel overwhelmed having to do it all at once, but I could not disagree more!  I. CAN’T. STAND. doing a load of laundry once a day or every other day, because then I feel like it’s always hanging over my head – just one more thing to have to worry about on a daily basis.  Plus I know this would result in piles of dirty and clean clothes lying around all the time, and that would drive me completely nuts.  I would just rather just knock it all out in one weekend and then be scot-free for the next two weeks.     

So, every other Saturday is laundry day.  We wake up, sort the clothes into piles on the floor (we typically have around 7 or 8 loads), and we run that washer like a madman all day.  Some of the time we can’t get all of the loads done in one day, so we have one or two to do on Sunday morning, which is no big deal.  Sometimes if I’m feeling reeeeally crazy, I’ll throw a load in on Friday evening (if we’re home) to get a head start. 

We fold and put away everything as we go, and then after everything is done, I iron what needs to be ironed, which may I say is very little these days because #Ain’tNobodyGotTimeFoDat.   

The only exception is the kids’ clothes – we always have to wash a load of their stuff on our “off” laundry weekend because, well, kids are gross and they make messes of their clothes on a constant basis.   

This system may not work for everyone… maybe you are overwhelmed doing it all at once, or maybe you just don’t have 14 pairs of underwear to get you through two weeks without washing clothes.  The key is to finding what works best for you and your family, and this is the method that works best for us.  I cannot tell you how great it is being laundry free the majority of the time! 

One warning if you do use this method – don’t lose the baby in the mountain of clean clothes!  Oh, how I miss having a tiny baby!

Deep-Cleaning 

Again, this is something that I don’t spread over time or work on every day… I clean one or two days a month (gross, I know, but it’s all I have time for right now) and knock it all out at once, so I don’t have to think about cleaning something every single day.  Of course, there are always times when I have to do a little sweeping or vacuuming in between here and there.  We DO have babies that play on the floors, and I don’t want them crawling around in too much dirt. ;o) 

It typically takes a good two, sometimes three hours to clean our house top to bottom and these are the things I do: 

• Scrub all bathroom countertops (the kitchen is cleaned on a daily basis)
• Scrub all toilets/tubs (my favorite part – #sarcasm)
• Dust all surfaces in all rooms
• Sweep and mop all hard floors
• Vacuum all carpeted floors

Most months I’ll pick two weekdays back to back, and go home during my lunch breaks to clean (I’m telling y’all, I really utilize those lunch breaks!).  Then, whatever I can’t get done during lunch breaks, I’ll finish up right when I get home from work before I have to start cooking.  The best thing about doing it all at once is having the whole house clean at the same time.  And it’s also nice to get it all done over two days and not have to worry about it for the next month.  It would be nice to have the time to clean at least bi-weekly, but until we get a maid, monthly will have to do.  There’s no sense in wasting time cleaning on the weekends when I could be playing with the babies. :o)   

Tidying 

This is one of the things that I do every single day, because there’s pretty much no avoiding it.  Our kitchen island and the landing on our stairs are the catch-alls for all of our junk, so I usually try to take a few minutes every day when I get home from work or right after the kids go to bed to clear those areas and put things in their places. 

When it comes to toys, however, when you live with two small kids, you pretty much have no choice but to let it gooooo (now you’ll have the Frozen song stuck in your head for the next 45 days – you’re welcome).  It almost always looks like a Toys R Us exploded in our living room… and in the kids’ bedrooms… and in the playroom.  You get my point.  Rest assured that each time you see me post a picture of a beautiful, clean area of my house for a project I’m working on, I guarantee that it looks like a tornado ripped through just outside the camera frame.  As a matter of fact, this is what the living room looks like today: 

Cooking/Dishes

I do all of the cooking in the family since hubs only knows how to make scrambled eggs and frozen pizza, so he does the dishes most nights after dinner.  When I’m cooking, I try to clean as I go so there’s not as much to do afterward.  I also loooove one-dish meals that don’t dirty a lot of pots and pans.  That makes for super quick and easy clean-up!  I’ll be posting some of my favorite recipes for one-dish meals soon.

Yardwork 

We have a push mower that my tiny self can barely move, and our yard is verrrry large, so this category belongs to Hubs.  During the winter, obviously there’s not that much to do, but during spring and summer he mows once every few weeks, usually in the morning on a Saturday.  Then we have a lawn service that handles weed control because otherwise we would spend 85 hours a week picking them. 

Bill Paying/Finances 

This category also belongs to Hubs.  I had a reeeeally hard time relinquishing control of this when we got married, but this is the one area where B is organized to the max.  Like, more organized than me.  And he understands the stock market.  I do not.  Enough said.   

Summary

In summary, the best advice I can give to all of you full-time workers looking to maximize your free time is to get everything done all at once, and do them as few times per month as possible.  It’s less to worry about on a daily basis, which means that you have more time with your babies.  My final piece of advice is to marry a man who is willing to help out, although it may be too late for that now.  Hehe.  But no seriously, I am a very lucky lady to have a husband who helps out a lot with household tasks… it’s nice not to have to handle it alone!

I hope everyone is having a great evening!  XO

Time Management of a Full-Time Working Momma: Meal Planning & Grocery Shopping

I have decided to break up the time management portion of my “Full-Time Working Momma” series into a few different posts.  As you all know by now, I can get a little wordy, and if I didn’t break this up, I’d lose you about halfway through… probably sooner.  Wait, are you even here to begin with?! 

In my last blog post I discussed our typical weekday schedule, ya know, what we actually do on a daily basis.  Throughout this next series about time management, I will incorporate all of the extras – grocery shopping, meal planning, laundry, cleaning, etc. – when do I have time for all of this?! 

The answer is that I barely do, so I try to do certain things as seldom as possible.  For instance, grocery shopping.  I only grocery shop every two weeks because, grocery shopping every week?  #Ain’tNobodyGotTimeFoDat. 

Every other Monday is grocery shopping day, and I do it on my lunch hour at work.  I'm fortunate enough to work close to home and have a Publix just four minutes from our house (four minutes exactly, trust me, I’ve timed it) so I’m able to get to Publix, get home to put everything up, and get back to work in just one hour.  It’s glorious!  And not having to grocery shop on the weekend = more time with the babies!   

I have an app on my phone called List Master and it is, by far, the greatest thing since sliced bread.  I love it so much that one day I might even dedicate an entire blog post just to show you how I utilize its zillions of functions.  Anyhoo, I created a list in my List Master app of every single thing that I buy from Publix, and they are listed in the order in which the items are displayed at Publix, aisle by aisle.  
 

The beginning of my grocery list.  You can also color-
code each line to have a different color for each aisle.
I will probably do that one day when I have the time!


Each item has a little check box to the left of it, and I leave all of the items checked off until I make my list.  Then the Sunday afternoon before shopping day, I go through our fridge and pantry and uncheck the items on the list that we need.  I also take five minutes to plan dinner for the next two weeks (usually 6-8 meals), and uncheck the items that I will need to make the meals.  Anything that we don’t need remains checked off so I know not to buy it.

 

As far as meal planning goes, I have recipe cards for each meal that I make (around 20 different ones that are in the regular rotation) and they each have the ingredients listed right on them.  That way, I have everything right at my fingertips to make my grocery list.   

Meal planning and making my grocery list for two whole weeks takes all of ten minutes, if that!  Plus I don’t have to worry about forgetting anything since everything I buy is always right there on the list!  (This also comes in handy in the event that I have to make my grocery list away from home.) 

Monday on my lunch break I drive to Publix and zoom through the aisles.  Having the grocery list in aisle by aisle order enables me to be in and out of there in about 15-20 minutes depending on how long I have to wait to check out.  It also means that no unnecessary items get thrown into the cart (can’t say the same for when hubs goes to the grocery store) and I never have to waste time hunting for anything.   

And why Mondays, you ask?  I have found that Mondays during my lunch break (I go from 11-12 to avoid the 12-1 traffic) is when my Publix is the slowest.  There aren’t many people in there at that time, so I don’t have to fight to get down the aisles, and I barely ever have to wait to check out.   

AND since I loathe grocery shopping so much (not sure why, but I hate it), I always reward myself with a Publix sub to eat at my desk when I get back to work (#TreatYoself).  Their website allows you to preorder online, so it’s just waiting in the refrigerator for you when you get there!  If you’ve never had a Publix sub, RUN - don't walk - and get one right this very instant.  Once you have one, you will never eat a Subway again!  And for those of you who don't have a Publix near you, my condolences.

Time Saving Takeaways  

• Try to keep your number of trips to the grocery store to a minimum.
• Try to shop during a time when the store is not as busy.
• Find a list-making app that works for you.
• Organize your grocery list by the order in which you walk the aisles of your store.
• *Reward yourself for digging through there faster than a Nascar driver!*

I do have to make the occasional trip to the grocery store on my “off” week for milk or fruit or other perishable items, but that doesn’t happen too often, and when it does, I’m in and out in five minutes.

I hope you all enjoyed my tips for quick meal planning and grocery shopping.  Every minute saved is an extra minute with your munchkins!  

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! 

Weekday Schedule of a Full-Time Working Momma

I’ve had several requests to do a blog post on being a full-time working mommy.  How do I balance my time between work and home?  When do I clean my house?  Grocery shop?  Do laundry?  And how the heck do I have time for DIY projects and relaxing when there’s always something else that needs to be done?  I do always have a ton on my plate, as do stay at home mommas – all mommas for that matter – you have no idea how many times I’ve wished I could just twitch my nose to have the heaping mound of dirty dishes loaded into the dishwasher or the eight loads of dirty laundry washed, folded, and put away.  In reality, it’s hard being a full-time working momma, a stay at home momma, a momma.  Period.  There is no magical way to stay afloat in the deep, churning sea of work meetings, dirty diapers, and housework, but there are several keys to not drowning – staying on a schedule (as best you can), good time management, and being organized. 

The most important thing in my opinion, and what I’ll be focusing on in this post, is to stay on a schedule.  I used to laugh at parents who kept their kids on a ridiculously strict schedule and think, “Surely they could loosen up a little,” but once you have kids of your own, you understand exactly why it’s so important.  Their little bodies crave schedules.  They like to know what to expect.  And they act like little heathens if you don’t oblige.  Bottom line is, keeping your kids on a schedule = waaaay fewer meltdowns, and that’s reason enough for me.   

Vacation = off schedule = DISASTER
 

 

Here's what a typical weekday schedule looks like for us:

5:36 AM – my alarm goes off… I hit the snooze button five times (ridiculous, I know, but I can’t function without it) and then finally get out of bed at 6:21.  Not toooo terribly early compared to some people I know, but certainly a far cry from rolling out of bed at 8:15 to make it to class by 9 like I did back in college.  And why the alarms at 5:36 and 6:21?  No idea how those weird times got started, but I’ve been doing it for years and it works, so don’t ask questions.

6:21 AM – stumble into the bathroom, pry my sleepy eyes open, (refrain from turning around, diving back in the bed, and pulling the covers over my head), shower, brush teeth, makeup, dress, hair.  Hubs gets up sometime during the “hair phase” of my getting ready and then he’s ready to go by 7 like me… makes me sick. 

7:00 AM – I wake Olivia while Brian wakes Jacob.  We do a quick snuggle, get her dressed, shoes on, and do her hair.  Takes all of ten minutes.  For now, anyway.  I know eventually she’ll start lollygagging like her big brother does, but until that day comes, I’ll enjoy the few minutes of extra sleep. 

7:10 AM – interrupt Jacob’s getting ready so I can snuggle him for a couple of minutes before I go, followed by hugs and kisses for all three of them, and then let Maui out to potty on my way out the door (by 7:15 at the latest).  I work on the opposite end of town from the kids’ school, but Brian is only five minutes from them, so he is the primary munchie taxi.

She follows me over to the stairs and shouts bye over and over every
morning when I leave.  So, so sweet!

7:30 AM – barely make it to work on time… I usually walk in around 7:29, sometimes 7:30 on the dot.  (I’m very fortunate to have a fairly quick commute.  I don’t know how people deal with 30+ minute commutes.  I would go insane. And I’d have to wake up much earlier.)  I work 8 hours with an hour lunch (to which I use for running errands, cleaning the house, and getting other things done to avoid doing later when I could be spending time with the kids – more on that in my next post!) and then I get off at 4:30, and not a minute later… just ask my co-workers! ;o) 

4:30 PM – go straight home, pass out on the couch, tidy up the house or tackle a short chore like ironing, or putting away laundry. 

5:15 PM – start cooking dinner (on the nights that I do cook) and Brian and the kids usually get home around the same time I start.  B has tennis one weeknight per week, and we usually go out to eat on Fridays and Saturdays, then we eat at my parents’ house on Sundays, so I usually cook three times a week, or four if B doesn’t have tennis.  On the nights when he does, I usually feed the kids sandwiches or easy microwaveable veggies, and then Brian picks something up on the way home for the two of us, which we eat (in peace) after the kids go to bed.  When he doesn’t have tennis, he spends time with the kids while I cook.

6:00 PM – all gather around the table for dinner.  We are firm believers in family mealtime (except on nights when Brian plays tennis… it’s just not practical for the kids to eat dinner at 8:30 since they’re snoozing by then) and I know that one day we will have crazy schedules once the kids start after-school activities, so we try to get in as much family meal-time as possible while we can. 

6:30 PM – Brian usually cleans up after dinner since I cook, which gives me some time to spend with the kiddos.  Some evenings when the weather is nice, we ditch the dirty dishes altogether and all go on a family walk around our neighborhood or play with the kids in the back yard. 

7:15 PM – everybody heads upstairs to get the kids ready for bed.  We bathe Jacob and Olivia together, let them play in the tub for a bit, and then I take Olivia to her room to get in PJs while B takes Jacob in his room to get in PJs.  I give Olivia some milk, we read a couple of books, and then she’s usually down for the night by 7:45 or so.  After that, I head into Jacob’s room to finish reading books, brush teeth, and prepare for bed.  He likes to be patted to sleep, so most nights I do that to get some one-on-one time with him, but some nights he requests for Daddy to pat him.  The goal is to have him down by 8, but most nights it’s around 8:15 and then he sometimes doesn’t fall asleep until much later than that. 

8:00 PM – Brian and I head back downstairs, finish any cleaning that wasn’t done before, and prepare for the next day – check backpacks, make sure purses, wallets, keys, and anything else we need for the next day is ready to go so we’re not scrambling in the morning.   

8:05 PM – run back upstairs to give Jacob water, take his stuffed bear out of his bed because the bear “hit him,” kiss his eye that has randomly started “hurting” out of nowhere, and cater to whatever other crazy requests this kid comes up with while he’s stalling so he doesn’t have to go to sleep. 

8:30 PM – I work out and stretch while we catch up on the TiVo.  I stick to simple strengthening exercises – squats, lunges, bridges, crunches, etc. – anything that can be done without too much bulky equipment. 

9:00 PM – pass out on the couch pull out the ol’ laptop and catch up on blogging and social media or work on any projects I feel like doing while still watching TV.   

9:30 PM – unfreeze a chunk of cookie cake that we keep on hand to satisfy my sweet tooth.  You know, to add back all of the calories that I just burned off during my workout (plus five hundred more).   

10:00 PM – Hubs and I both usually go up to bed at the same time unless he has work to do from home, which isn’t too often (right now).  We get ready for bed (which, of course, takes me three times longer than him… why?!), read a little, and we’re usually lights out and headed off to dreamy land before 10:30.   

I do not, I repeat, I do NOT function well without sleep, so it is always something that I make time for.  As long as I get 7.5 – 8 hours, I’m good.  Anything less than 7 or 7.5 and I struggle.  Majorly.  And I don't do caffeine.  So for the sake of everyone I have to come in contact with the next day, I try to get to sleep by 10:30 every night.   

Most nights this is the way things go in our house.  Times, of course, will vary depending on the situations that arise.  Last night, for example, Jacob went to bed on time and then awoke at 9:30 because he wasn’t feeling well, which led to me being up until close to midnight AKA waaaay past my bedtime.  Needless to say, I’ve been keeping to myself all day today. ;o) 

Stay tuned for my next post where I’ll discuss the time management portion of being a full-time working momma.  I’ll be getting down to the nitty gritty – when I clean, grocery shop, etc. – and posting a few helpful tips that I’ve learned along the way. 

 

I hope all of your little ones are behaving this evening!  XO