5 Routines to Simplify Everyday Mom Life
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Let me start by saying that I have a love hate relationship with routines. Before I had my daughter, I would have told you that I hated routines and that they were ridiculous. But, that was before I found myself responsible for raising another human being.
Once I became a mother, I discovered that routines - and automating those routines - really did make life so much easier. Not only were they great for my daughter, but they left me happier, calmer, and more energetic than when I was just flying by the seat of my pants. Not to mention how much more productive I was every single day.
Routine #1: Your Morning Routine
The first routine that you need to set up is your morning routine. Yikes! I can feel your eye rolls from way over here. Okay, if you are not a morning person, this one is going to be tough, but I promise the rewards are worth it.
I’m not talking about getting up at the crack of dawn - just at least 5 to 10 minutes before your kids.
This lets you wake up on your terms and not on someone else’s. Honestly my days are SO SO SO much better when I wake up before my daughter. It took me too long to realize this, but it really is a game changer.
Now, I get it if your kiddos are still too little to be on a super predictable schedule so you will have to adjust this to work for your individual situation, but don't automatically put up a road block on this okay? If your children are young and wake up SUPER early, remember that this is a season of your life and as your kids get older, this will get easier.
Something that worked for us when our daughter was younger and not able to tell time was an Okay to Wake Clock. There are a few different versions and we’ve had 2 that we really liked. The functionality is pretty much the same, but one combines a nightlight and smart features. The other one is more basic and thus cheaper.
Either way, here’s how they work…you set the time when it’s okay for your kids to get out of bed - or come out of their room - and the clock changes color letting your child know the time is right.
It sounds too simple and like it won’t work. I had the same reaction. I thought, there is NO way my kiddo will obey this light, but she did. Even if you are skeptical, I suggest you give it a try as sometimes the easiest things are the ones that work the best. Just remember to talk to your kids about how it works. Make it fun and something they want to do. Reward them if they follow it for 7 days straight. You get the idea.
Once you have a predicable time for getting up, let’s talk about the actual routine.
One of the books that changed by perspective about getting up early is the book, The Miracle Morning. If you have not read it, I highly recommend it. In fact there are several different versions and I prefer the one for parents or the one for millionaires. Not that you need to try and become a millionaire, but the tone in that one resonated with me.
The book claims there are 6 habits you should do before 8:00 am that will transform your life. They are:
Start your day with mediation, prayer or breathing to quiet your mind
Write down your affirmations to encourage yourself to live out your purpose
Visualize yourself reaching your goals and what it will feel like when you succeed
Do a little exercise to get the blood flowing for a few minutes
Read something to expand your mind
Write in a journal as a way to process your thoughts and reflect on your life.
I will admit that this is a lot to squeeze into a morning, but the steps do not need to be long and complicated. In fact, I can get this done in about 30 minutes when I stick to the plan and don’t dilly-dally.
Here’s what my version of the Miracle Morning routine looks like.
First, I combine meditation, breathing, and visualization for 5 - 10 minutes. Then I stretch for 5 minutes to get my body moving. I work out later in the day so this is just to loosen me up. After that I write downy my affirmations and journal at the same time for another 5 - 10 minutes. Finally, I end the routine and read something while enjoying the first few sips of my coffee.
I look at it more as a way to start your day on your terms and with you in the driver seat instead of reacting to people putting things on you and asking for something from you.
If all of this seems like too much to take on at once, experiment with adding one thing at a time.
Don’t like any of the Miracle Morning ideas - how about starting with writing out your to-do list for the day or putting in a load of laundry before everyone wakes up.
I want to point out that I don’t stick to this routine everyday. That’s a goal of mine, with Sundays off, but there are some days I don’t get to everything in my routine, and that is totally ok! Depending on how the night before went, I may only take 5-10 minutes to meditate or stretch before my daughter wakes up. Or maybe I need to hammer out a blog post or podcast notes because I’m behind. That’s life and I make sure not to beat myself up about it.
On the flip side, when I do spend some intentional time in the morning, I’ve noticed that more often than not I feel like I can tackle anything that day!
Each person’s morning routine will look different so start experimenting and see what works for you. I recommend starting with one or two things and do them for at least one week before adding in more.
Routine #2: Your Afternoon Routine
The second routine I want to discuss that will simplify your everyday mom life is your afternoon routine. If you’re a stay at home or work from home mom, you are most likely in charge of picking your kids up from school.
Even if your kids are not in school yet, getting in the habit of a good afternoon routine is a great foundation. It makes your days go smoother, and helps everyone get into a rhythm.
For babies younger than 1 your afternoon routine will include lunch and a nap. Other than those two non-negotiables, you can fill your days with playing, reading, cuddle time, and art.
Toddlers between a year and 3 years have often transitioned to only one nap per day. We were very strict with nap time in our home when my daughter was this age because boy does that girl NEED her sleep.
This meant that we could play harder in the morning and have a nice long rest after lunch. That gave me time to catch up on chores or work before playing again in the mid-late afternoon.
Now that she is in school, our afternoons include snack time when we get home, some homework time, art or craft time if possible, practicing the piano a couple times per week, and then downtime as I get dinner ready. And I do not feel bad saying that her down time is either a show on Disney+ or a tablet game.
Some people will say that the morning routine is the one that changes the most as your kids grow up, but for us, I have found this afternoon routine to be the one that needs to be the most flexible as your kids move into different stages of development.
Routine #3: Your Evening Routine
The third routine that is critical to everyday mom life is your evening routine. I think this is the routine that makes or breaks everything.
Here’s the thing. I love my child. I mean REALLY love her. And I think that if you ever saw us together, that love would be abundantly clear.
At the same time, I need my own time and time to hang out with my husband. There are shows I want to watch that are not appropriate for my daughter. There are topics to discuss with my husband that she does not need to hear about. And sometimes I just need quiet. Not to mention when I want to, as they say on the Bachelor, spend time together as a couple with my husband.
And having an evening routine that we can all rely not only makes that possible, but makes me a better mom.
That bears repeating…having time for myself, makes me a better mom, wife, and human.
Our evening routine includes eating dinner together as a family at the dining table and cleaning up after the meal. After dinner we will sometimes watch a TV show - currently we are loving the Girl Scout Cookie Championship and LEGO Masters - and other times we will play a game. No matter what, we try to spend this time together.
Then between 6:45 pm - 7:00 pm during the week, we do a 15 minute clean up as a family where we tidy up the house before starting the bedtime routine. We also check our family calendar just to make sure there isn't something we missed for the next day.
Our daughter’s bedtime routine is going to the bathroom, getting dressed, flossing, brushing, and using mouthwash, braiding hair, and reading a story. She is still young enough that we do not do bath time every day.
This puts her bedtime at 7:30 pm on school nights and she is 6 years old. On the weekends we are more relaxed when we are out and about, but if we are home bedtime is between 8:00 - 8:30 pm.
Just because she goes to bed later, does not mean she will sleep in. And I have learned the hard way - that sleep deprivation just spells disaster in our home.
So we have a pretty strict bedtime about 85 - 90% of the time.
This might seem crazy to some of you listening to this because your kids are wired at night and do not want to go to bed. I have found that is the case when bedtime has not been a priority. I never wanted to go to bed when I was a kid, but we all need sleep. We all do better when we are well rested.
If your kids resist an early bedtime, transition to quiet time first where they are expected to be in their room (they can read or do quiet activities) and you can turn lights off 30 minutes to an hour later. With all of our electronic devices these days, we have to be much more diligent about setting boundaries and teaching our kids how to use these responsibly.
And the final touch on my evening routine before I head to bed is to run the dishwasher - this is prepped and ready to go, but I physically have to start it. If you have a programable dishwasher you can set it after you clean up from dinner and you’ll be done. Then I get the coffee ready for the morning. My machine has an auto brew setting. I love coming downstairs to a fresh pot of coffee and it makes it easier to get out of bed too knowing that there’s piping hot coffee waiting for me.
I pack lunches and my daughter packs her backpack in the morning, but lots of people prefer to do that at night too.
Routine #4: Cleaning Routine
The fourth routine you need to make a habit if you want your life to be easier is a simple cleaning routine. Unfortunately this is just part of being an adult. It’s not awesome, but dwelling and complaining about it doesn’t make it better. So be thankful you have a home to clean and get down to business.
However, I have discovered that what does make cleaning better, is having less stuff to clean.
Well, that and this routine where you clean regularly so that it never gets so bad you have to call in the hazmat crew.
If you are looking for a weekly cleaning routine, I’ve written a whole blog post outlining how I clean our home. It includes tasks for 6 days a week - as well as a schedule for doing laundry. That way you are never behind.
If you keep focused and concentrate on one area per day, you CAN clean your home in less than 30 minutes per day. Remember this is cleaning - not decluttering. Decluttering needs to happen first so your home is more manageable.
The cleaning routine is:
Monday - Bedrooms
Tuesday - Bathrooms
Wednesday - Living Room
Thursday - Dining Room
Friday - Dust and Vacuum
Saturday - Outdoors/Garage/Yard/Car
Sunday - Take the day off
You will notice the kitchen is missing, but that is because I cook in my kitchen everyday and therefore clean it everyday.
Again, I am not perfect so there are days I miss this schedule. If that’s the case or we have a really busy week, I will either catch up the next week or catch up on the weekend.
I also recommend getting your family to help you with the cleaning. You share your home so you should share in it’s upkeep.
Routine #5: Laundry Routine
The fifth and final routine is a laundry routine. Now laundry like dishes is one of the fundamental routines in your home. If you slack off and do not wash clothes for a week you will either run out and have to buy new items or have to wear dirty clothes.
That’s why establishing a good laundry routine is super important and there are two ways you can set up your routine.
The first will probably work best for most families, but it might feel the most difficult to start. This is where you will complete one load of laundry each day. If you need help deciding what load to run, check out the Weekly Cleaning Schedule post as it lists your laundry for each day.
The trick with this laundry method is to COMPLETE the load everyday. That means wash, dry, fold, and put away. It can be so easy to leave things in the dryer or shaken out on the back of the couch. Resist the urge and finish the load.
If you go this approach and work out of the home, perhaps you put a load in the washing machine on your way out the door. When you get home, you put it in the dryer. After dinner you can shake them out and finally you can fold the clothes while watching a show or chatting with your spouse.
We live in a townhouse so I use these white square plastic laundry baskets to transport our dirty clothes from the 3rd floor to the washing machine in the 1st floor garage. They are also great for transporting the clean, folded clothes back up to the 3rd floor to be put away.
If this method feels like too much work, you can batch your laundry and do it all on one day. The problem here is that depending on how many people you have in your home, it can take a full day to finish it all. Set a timer on your phone so that you remember to change each load as soon as it is done and make sure to see the laundry all the way through - wash, dry, fold, put away.
Now, I don’t know about you, but by the time Saturday rolls around, I want to get out and have some fun. Being chained to my washing machine is not how I want to spend my free day.
Plus, once you have a few weeks of the daily laundry under your belt, it gets much easier to remember and it only takes a few minutes of hands on time each day.
There you have it! By implementing these 5 routines you will not only simplify your everyday mom life, but you’ll start to enjoy more it as well.
And now I have a question for you. Which one of these routines are you going to implement first? Is there one routine that really resonated with you that you can’t wait to try? I’d love to hear about it.
Come on over to my free Wannabe Minimalist Facebook Group, introduce yourself, and share your thoughts. I’m so excited to hear from you and help encourage you on your journey toward less stuff, more happiness, and an awesome life. Routines are such an important part of that awesome life, so jump on over to the Facebook group and let us know more about you.
The group is totally free and you can find us by clicking on this link or by searching for Wannabe Minimalist on Facebook. I want to meet you there and hear about your journey. Learning from all of you is one of my favorite things so I hope to see you there.
And finally, I want to tell you about my upcoming beta launch of my newest workshop because I think it can really help you. I recently polled my readers and the number one thing that you all said you needed help with was keeping up with the basics - things like laundry, dishes, and cleaning routines. The course will address how to tackle and implement the 5 routines from this blog post as well as 4 others that changed my life.
If you are overwhelmed with your everyday tasks and tired of constantly feeling behind, then this is for you. In the workshop I will teach you how to put your biggest tasks on autopilot so not only will you no longer fall behind, but things will get done without disrupting your day.
This is like a super power…honestly. Imagine getting to the end of your day and still having energy. Think about how amazing it would be to get to play with your kids in the afternoon instead of dragging them all over town kicking and screaming while you run errands. Or worse - having them zone out while playing a game on your phone so you can make one more quick stop to get that thing you forgot at the store the other day.
Automate: Put Your Routines on Autopilot is a game changer for those of us who feel overwhelmed, constantly behind, and exhausted by the end of the day. I don't want that to be you anymore.
Come over to LittleGreenBow.com/automate and get on the waitlist. By joining the waitlist, not only you will get special early-bird pricing, but you will be part of my select Automate Group. And as an additional thank you for joining early you will get my personal attention and exclusive access to me.
So hop on over to LittleGreenBow.com/automate and be the first to know when the workshop is released. It’s going to be amazing and I can’t wait to see you on the other side feeling refreshed, in control, happy, and ready to tackle anything life sends your way.
