Stress happens. It’s unavoidable in life. Like death, or taxes. However, we can reduce the stress we face every day. For this to happen one of the first things we need to do is identify the cause of our stress. For busy mum’s such as myself, stress is often surrounding getting the family organised. Who has to be where, when and with what belongings? Then on top of that there is daily chores such as washing (we all need clean underwear) and meal preparation (we all must eat). We can’t just stop doing all those things, the world just doesn’t work like that. So what can we do to reduce the amount of stress we feel from these things?
Let some of it go. Not all of it, just some. It is however, far easier said than done, but with some simple tools together with some time and some patience it can be done. My biggest tool for stress reduction is a family planner than is on my kitchen wall. Every member has their own column and all activities are recorded onto it. It is up to the individual to check their column daily to see what they need to do. This is especially helpful when it comes to kids activities. It is up to them to make sure they are ready on time, and with the necessary equipment that they need to take with them. If they forget it, well, that’s on them. When we first started doing this there were a few hiccups, like the 9 year old forgetting to take her rod to a Calisthenics Comp, but we dealt with those as needed.
Also included on this calendar is a column for meal planning. This way meals can be planned in advance, and I can see what activities are going on and plan meals around them accordingly. This isn’t fool proof and occasionally whatever meal is planned doesn’t happen and something easier (or takeaway) happens. The calendar can also be used to create a cleaning schedule. Once again it can be planned around whatever else is going on. One of the biggest benefits my family has found from meal planning is that it saves money. Gone are the days where hours in the late afternoon are spent wondering what to have and then it becomes too late to cook so take-out it is. The meals are also far more nutritionally sound. I try and make sure not to be hungry whilst doing the meal plan as I find if I do it whilst hungry, I make poorer choices about what meals to have. Each family member also gets a say in what we have for dinner. That way there is less room for complaints.
I’ve got to say though, right now my calendar is still on June. I will not be moving it to July and possibly not even to August. I did this earlier in the year during our March/April/May lock down and now that we once again find ourselves staying at home, complete with more remote learning, the calendar has become something I don’t wish to even think about, let alone look at. So meal planning right now is on a little scrap of paper on my fridge. Both my girls have pointed out that besides meals there is nothing to go on the calendar anyways. The truth the exists in that makes me rather sad.
Organisation is what I believe to be the key to reducing stressors. It can take a while to get it running smoothly but once it does the impact it has is enormous. You do need to be flexible with your planning though and understand that sometimes things change with a moments notice. By implementing some organisation though, you can also carve out some time for you to be able to focus on yourself or your family a little more.