Who are we?!  Single Parents! What are we?!  Overworked! What are we doing?!  Who knows, we’re a mess! And you know what?  That’s ok because you aren’t alone!  We grind it out, day in, day out.  We grind in the mornings, getting the kids ready for school, getting ourselves ready for work, fighting traffic.  We grind at work, getting our work done, and often picking up the slack for co-workers.  We grind when we get home, cook dinner, do laundry, help with homework, bath time.  Sometimes it just feels so overwhelming.  How much can one person do?  How many hours can one person stay on the go? We’ve all heard the phrase that we can’t help others if our own tank is empty.  To keep your tank full, you must have an organizational plan and you have to take care of yourself.

1. You have to know when it’s ok to say no.  You also have to know when it’s NOT ok to say no, unlike our friend Karen over here.  Obviously, we can’t be delinquent in our parental duties to our children under the guise of taking care of ourselves.  But you can say no to the phone ringing, you can say no to the last minute (or even long planned) outing.  Changing plans to give you time to yourself is ok!
2. For the tasks that you cannot say no to, that you absolutely have to get done, follow these steps to help get you on track and relieve some of your *How am I going to get this done* anxiety.  They may seem pretty straight forward, and they are.  But when we are overwhelmed is when we have the hardest time focusing on what is right in front of us.  Seeing this list and checking them off one by one will help, I promise!
3. Write down your tasks – you can’t be effective in completing your tasks if you don’t know what they are.  I suggest in investing  in a good planner.  Monthly and weekly overviews are best.  If your children are in sports, maybe go even a little deeper into a daily planner as well.   Thee are a million digital calendars out there, but I personally love the quick overview of what’s going on and what I need to accomplish in a planner.
4. Write any due dates on your tasks.
5. Organize your tasks – Now that you’ve got your list with due dates, put them in chronological order.  Make sure you schedule enough time for each task.
6. In between your tasks, be sure to schedule some down time for yourself (See above, know when it’s ok to say no).  Even if it’s that warm bubble bath at 9pm after the kids are in bed, seeing it scheduled will be calming.

When you’re overloaded, it’s important to be able to focus on something other than your to-do list and worries.  By having a plan, your mind slows down because it’s not so worried about how to get everything done at once.  It knows there’s a plan, and it can see that there’s a bubble bath coming, too. Until next time, keep grinding! ~W