I was ill today. I had come down with that disease all mums suffer from on a regular basis; I'm-not-getting-enough-done-itis. You know that illness where you look about you and wonder what you've done with your day and kick yoursef that you still haven't gotten to the ironing, or the accounting, or the many millions of things that populate your to-do list on a regular basis. I was stressed thinking of how little I had done and how much I had to do.
And then it struck me, I was focussing on the negatives, when I should be taking note of all I had achieved. And so, for one day I decided I would do just that. And this is what I came up with:
Fed Freya for an hour at 7am
Went back to sleep (I have a lovely boyfriend)!
Got up at 9.45am
Put away dry dishes
Put away steriliser and sterilised bottles etc
Tidied lounge room
Made coffee and toast
Fed Freya for an hour at 10am
Had 15 minute phone call with Maria (@verybusymama) during feeding
Checked emails and replied to a couple
Started this blog
Put Freya's folded clothes away
Changed Freya's pooey nappy
Dressed Freya
Had a shower
Wrote more blog
Blow dried fringe and popped on a few creams
Put Amelie on the naughty step repeatedly for about 6 min
Had brief conversation with Shazia of Third Door (@thirddoor)
Tidied Amelie's room
Made egg and beans for Amelie and I
Fed Freya for 45 minutes, whilst watching The Biggest Loser
Tidied the lunch dishes and kitchen
Put Amelie on naughty step again
Checked Twitter
Got the three of us ready to head out
Drove 10 min to the Health Visitor
Had 10 min appointment for Freya
Drove 15 min to a friends house for play date and stayed just under 2 hours
Endured 15 minute tantrum in the car as my daughter didn't want to go home
Drove 15 minutes home
Put away dishes
Cooked dinner
Drove Amelie to her Dad's house to stay the night
Fed Freya for an hour as soon as I walked in the door and ate dinner at the same time
Played with Freya and changed her
Fed Freya for another hour while watching last few minutes of The Biggest Loser, Cougar Town and then Junior Apprentice
Did work, sent emails, tweet and finished this blog for two hours
Went to bed at 12am.
Are you exhausted too? Because I know I am, just reading through that list! But I'm so glad I made it because it helped me realise a few things:
1. I get a bloody lot done every day and there isn't really a second wasted. I couldn't be doing any more if I tried.
2. It makes me feel great concentrating on what I've achieved which is so much more preferable to stressed, because I have so much looming over me, or upset, because I feel I'm not getting enough done.
3. That it's easy to feel you're not getting anything done in a day when you don't take into account the little things like car journeys, making a bed and disciplining your children.
4. This is a great way to identify if there is any double handling of jobs or time wasting and actually do something about it!
5. That I breastfeed a hell of a long time in a day - but what you gonna do?!
So, now not only am I a mum, mumpreneur and girlfriend, I am now also a doctor as I just cured my own illness! Why not give it a try and see if it cures yours?
p.s. if any of you mums reading this are thinking, my god, look how much she gets done in her day (as all mums are predisposed to comparing themselves with others) I say to you:
1. This is exactly what I am talking about in my blog post and you need to try my exercise to see just how much you really do.
2. No two situations are the same, so there is no comparison. My daughters may have been better behaved/naughtier today, my boyfriend may work longer/shorter hours than your partner, I may do dishes slighty quicker/longer than you - so just don't go there!
Brilliant, gonna do that tomorrow, you wouldnt believe how timely my finding your blog is, I suffer mostly with I'mnotgoodenoughistus and Ishouldbeworkingharderitus lol what are us mums like? look forward to reading more of your blog xxb
ReplyDeleteThank you for this. It has helped put things into perspective for me
ReplyDeletelol I wrote a similar blog post myself this morning, listng everythign I did yesterday. Mine was not quite as detailed as yours, but I sure was knackered after reading what I do in a day!!! Mich x
ReplyDeleteOh I'm so glad you don't all just think I'm crazy for writing every thing I did in the day from scratch my bum to pick my nose!
ReplyDeleteNicely put. I'm sure there are many out there who could use the perspective. Now, like Birgitta, if only there was something to be done about its-still-not-good-enough-itis, as the judge and jury on that is yourself. Typically, a woman's worst enemy.
ReplyDeleteJust think of how spoilt you will feel for time each feed you drop (without rushing through this phase - they are so small for such a short time).
Keep up the insights...I'm going to need every one, I'm sure!
great post, I run my own web-design company around my two little ones, so from the casual observer, all I do is sit on the sofa, in fact in between playing, feeding, classes I try to desgin sites, advertise my services, carry out SEO for my own site and other. Facebook, twitter, email and everything else, I cram so much in, but thank you for helping me see it as part of the bigger picture
ReplyDeleteThis is so true especially when everything is so bitty - or rather I am procrastinating and can't tackle the "big job". My grandmother had a saying (which was so annoying at the time) "Don't put down, put away". I realise how much it would help me if I could consciously do that - but I am way too random!
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