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6 Habit-Changing Helps for Stay-at-Home Moms

Tsh — Mon, 05 May 2008 22:00:12 +0000

So – those of you focusing on a change of habit this month… how’s it going so far? I personally have been surprised how difficult going to bed at 10:30 is for me.

Photo by gblock

When the kids are finally asleep, it’s so much easier to get stuff done. But the clincher is, my youngest is still not sleeping through the night, and when I’m sleep-deprived, not much gets done at all during the day. I operate on survival mode, and if I do that day after day, I burn out. And that’s not pretty.

Here are a few tips when it comes to changing to a new and better habit while juggling kiddos at home:

1. Don’t halfway it. Pick the most pressing thing in your daily life that needs to change, and be all about it. Commit to it. Assume you will be able to change, and tackle this habit with success as the goal. It might be hard to focus on a new discipline when the house feels like chaos, but focus on God’s applause and work heartily to the best of your ability. And live fully in His grace.

2. Only focus on one habit. Trying to stick to a new bedtime, work out five days a week, learn how to tap dance, volunteer at the local orphanage, and finally go to the Lincoln Memorial at the same time is just too much. Especially when you’ve got regular life to juggle, like carpools and laundry. That’s why we’re doing this thing once a month, one habit at a time. We want it to stick.

3. Get accountability somewhere. Find a fellow mom to call you in the morning if you want to stop sleeping in. Set a timer to go off if you want to go to bed at a certain time (talking to myself here). Even just telling a friend about your new habit gives someone an opportunity to ask you about it later on. Why not blog about it (shock, gasp!)? Then you can have all your kith and kin know about it.

4. Give yourself a little treat. When you discover that – wouldn’t you know it? – you’re staying on top of all your ironing, reward yourself. Spend one of the kids’ nap times sipping coffee and reading a book.

5. Take note of your triggers. Does checking your Google Reader first thing in the morning suck away 30 minutes of time you’d otherwise spend working out? Maybe wait to read your blogs after breakfast. Do you have more energy after dinner than just before bed? Maybe that’s the best time to do the dishes if you’re wanting to have a clean kitchen first thing in the morning.

6. Remember your reasons why. Write down your reasons for wanting to change habits. For me, my reasons are that more sleep would improve my health, would give me more energy throughout the day, would help me be in a better mood for my husband and kids, and would honor God by resting in His promises that He’ll always provide. I’ve got those written down in my notebook to remind me.

Have you discovered anything that’s helping you?

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6 Habit-Changing Helps for Stay-at-Home Moms is a post from Simple Mom

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30 Days to a New Habit

Tsh — Thu, 01 May 2008 21:44:17 +0000

hab•it: (noun) An acquired behavior pattern regularly followed until it has become almost involuntary.

Photo by in cherl pin

It is so very ironic that I am writing this post at 11:54 p.m. (and you’ll see why soon). I’m mulling over habits – habit changing, specifically – and what it means for us as moms.

What are our personal habits? What do we do without thinking about it – good or bad? Which habits of ours bless our family? Which habits hurt them? Which habits bless or hurt myself?

Brushing my teeth twice a day – good habit. Taking a shower – good habit. Choosing the stairs instead of the elevator – good habit. Hugging my daughter throughout the day and making a point to tell her I love her – good habit.

Then there are the obvious ones, the universal vices that get most of us – procrastination, not exercising, sleeping in.

But what about those little guys that sneak into our daily lives? Those unwanted habits that, because they are what they are, go unnoticed? Unbeknownst to us, they affect our personal well-being, our parenting, our marriage, our relationship with God, and maybe even our health.

They (whoever “they” are) say it takes 30 days of repeating a behavior over and over again in order for the behavior to effectively morph into a habit.

Conveniently, 30 days is more or less a month. I plan to focus on one habit a month through the rest of the year to see if this becomes true in my life. I want to bless those around me, I want to honor God and not my flesh, and I want to improve my health. I want to be an example for my children. And I want my habits to reflect that So without further adieu…

My NEW HABIT FOR MAY: Go to bed by 10:30 p.m. every night.

Would you like to join me? I’d love to be an encouragement to you for making healthy changes in your life. I could use some encouragement and accountability myself. If you’re so inspired, leave an idea for your “New Habit for May” in the comments, or e-mail me using the contact link if you’d like to keep it more personal. Let’s see if this works!

More to come soon on habit-changing, and how it can radically simplify our home management.

• Good Reading – posts tagged “habits” on Zen Habits

(A side note: I meant to start this little idea for myself on January 1, but my body decided to give birth on December 29 instead. The idea kinda moved to the backburner. Nonetheless, late is better than never.)

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Plan to Eat - meal planning made simple.
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30 Days to a New Habit is a post from Simple Mom

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Getting a Grip on Email Chaos

Tsh — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 12:00:38 +0000

It’s been almost one week since I stared my email inefficiency in the face, and I have to say, I’m already doing better. Here are some of my thoughts since I devised a new plan:

Photo by Coco Sunday

• Problem #1: My husband and I share one particular e-mail account (it’s work related), and we were always back-tracking and marking emails as “unread” when we knew the other person needing to see one. Very annoying. Solution: I’ve now redirected said email account to my Gmail account. I delete any emails for him because I know he’ll see them in iMail (the mail client he’s still using); he deletes any emails for me on his iMail. We just take care of our own emails. So far, this system works fairly well.

• Problem #2: I would check iMail anytime I heard it “ding,” telling me I had received a new message. It would distract me from whatever I was doing. Solution: I am forcing myself to close Gmail whenever I’m done using it, so my email isn’t up at all. It’s helping me curb distraction when I’m focused on something else, and I’m actually better at managing my email time, knowing I’ll close the window when I’m done.

• Problem #3: I’d read emails, then wait until I had more time to reply to them. This resulted in a backlog of too many emails to ever have time for responding. An in-box full of emails needing a response is not a pretty thing. Solution: I only read emails when I can give them at least a five sentence response. If I don’t have time for that, I leave it unread. If it seems urgent, then I’ll close out what I was working on and give that email my full attention. If it’s not urgent, then it can wait. The world won’t stop.

Initial Observations - It’s much harder to close out my Gmail account than I thought it would be. I don’t really consider myself an email addict, yet it was difficult to not just leave it up in case something “important” landed in my in-box. That was surprising to me. I’m also pleasantly surprised at how freeing it is to see an empty in-box. Before, I didn’t think it was a big deal to leave emails in my in-box, but it just got overwhelming to see all those conversations vying for my attention. No longer.

I’m going to closely monitor my email habits for one more week, and then I’ll switch my focused attention on a new habit on my list – while still keeping up with my new email system, of course.

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Plan to Eat - meal planning made simple.
The Justice Conference - Justice hangs by a thread.
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Getting a Grip on Email Chaos is a post from Simple Mom

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Slaying the E-mail Inbox Dragon

Tsh — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 06:02:39 +0000

I admit it – I have let my e-mail inbox get the best of me. I like minimalism and simplicity, and yet I do not delete e-mails for some reason unbeknownst to me. Maybe I fear as soon as I delete it, I’ll need it. Maybe I think one day I’ll want to re-read certain e-mails, just for one. Why I think I’d do that (or have time for that) is beyond me – I must think that during late night nursing sessions.

Photo by Glynnish

I’m incredibly visual, so keeping something clean, simple, and clear calms me. Simply not seeing tons of text and requests to talk to me reduces my stress level.

So my current goal towards simplicity is really pretty basic: clear out my e-mail inbox, reply to e-mails that need a response, and come up with a system that keeps this from happening again.

I’m hoping that by keeping an online list, I’ll better reach my goal.

This guest post by Leo Babauta on ProBlogger has a great outline on what might work for me.

Though I’m more of an e-mail avoider than an e-mail addict, this article makes some great points for me as well.

They say it takes 21 days of consistently doing something to morph into a habit. I’d like to see if it’s true.

How about you? Have you found an e-mail system that works for you?

CURRENT SPONSORS:

Plan to Eat - meal planning made simple.
The Justice Conference - Justice hangs by a thread.
Lil' Soak - Sewing hope with handmade goods.
Treed - A simple, flexible, effective project planning tool.

Slaying the E-mail Inbox Dragon is a post from Simple Mom

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