So often we hear that we need to “put our oxygen mask on first”, meaning that we need to look after ourselves first before others. Let’s face it, it’s hard. Regardless of what you are juggling in your life, we all have competing priorities. Then there’s what society expects of us, what we see online, and the expectations we put on ourselves. It’s no wonder so many parents are rung out, stressed out, and tired. So how do we make sure we’re taken care of? We’ve gathered up some tips for you to try.

Plan out your week

Ok, so there’s no accounting for those last minute surprises that get thrown at us but if you plan out your week, each week, you can see where your time goes & where you can steal some time.

Some people use a wall calendar and others use a bullet journal to do this. A weekly plan with all your appointments, kids activities, important events, and due dates will have your week there at a glance. If you use a weekly planner, include a space for things happening next week so you can prepare in advance.

While shared online calendars are handy for appointments, they  don’t offer the flexibility for those tasks that “just need to be done this week but it doesn’t matter when”. Sure you could schedule a time for them, but there’s always the temptation to shifting the time or date and before you know it they’ve not been done!

Outsource

Honestly, buy yourself the time. Do online groceries in your lunch break and have them hone delivered. Buy prepared meals and save the prep. Carpool with other parents for events and activities.

There are so many ways to gain more time for yourself. It doesn’t have to be expensive. It doesn’t have to mean getting a cleaner. It doesn’t have to save you a lot of time. Saving 5 minutes every day means an extra 25 minutes for each working week, or 20 hours over a standard work year (that’s almost one full day).

Don’t forget that the Bop till you Drop team are here to help you with party and event entertainment which will save you a lot of time.

Change the way you think about time

Have you heard of the Law of Attraction? You can use it on time too! We tend to think that time is fixed. It isn’t. Each day, week, year, has a little less or a little more time in it than the one before.

I’m sure you’ve had the feeling of time standing still or flying by. The thing is that if we think we don’t have enough time, we won’t. The opposite is true, if we are relaxed about the time we have, then we will have plenty.

We have an amazing ability to use up all of our resources (including time) no matter how much we are given. Be mindful of how you choose to fill your time.