We can all agree that being a mom is one of the toughest jobs out there for women. There’s very little that people can say to prepare you for the overwhelming responsibilities that come with motherhood.
You have to balance taking care of your own health and your relationships with your partner and family. If you have a career, that takes up time as well!
According to statistics, 26% of moms in the U.K. reported feeling exhausted at the end of each day. To make matters worse, new moms quickly realize through conversations with other moms that things aren’t likely to get easier anytime soon.
Many mothers can only breathe a sigh of relief when their kids are well into their teen years or are about to move out. In this article, we hope to show you how you can hold your ground against two of the most exhausting aspects of mom life. Let’s dive in!
Getting Quality Sleep: You Need It As Much as Your Infant!
Adults are supposed to get eight hours of sleep every night. However, there are many nights where moms will struggle to get more than a few hours of shut-eye. The biggest reason for this is having a newborn baby in the house.
Every parent dreads that nighttime wail that has them wake up and try and shush the baby to sleep once more. You may think this is an unavoidable phase, but there is a way out.
Sleep Nannies Are a Thing, and Yes, They Are Worth It
When you are tired and in the depths of your sleep, it is almost cruel to have to wake up. Nicky Sleep Nanny notes that sleep disturbances can be destructive to the family. It can affect your marriage, mental health, and career and even cause accidents.
Many moms don’t realize this, but hiring a sleep nanny is one of the best investments you can make. Thankfully, finding a sleep consultant in London or any other city is fairly easy. Good sleep is so essential to physical and mental well-being that people are willing to invest time, effort, and money to get quality sleep.
This is where sleep nannies come in. They have the skills to provide sleep training in order to prevent your baby or young child from waking up and crying at night.
To be more specific, they are trained to find the underlying reason for your child’s sleep habits and counsel you on how to address the issue. Being a mother is hard as it is. You don’t want to add sleep deprivation to the long list of challenges you face every day.
The Eisenhower Matrix: Free Time Does Exist, You Just Need to Unlock it
One of the biggest complaints that mothers have is that they no longer have time to lead their own lives. They don’t hang out with friends anymore or have sacrificed their hobbies for the sake of motherhood.
Even if you are a stay-at-home mom, there are simply too many responsibilities that eat into your time. Sometimes, getting up at 5:00 AM is the only way to have some personal time.
However, what if there was another way to free up time?
Enter the Time Matrix.
Created by the 34th U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower, it is one of the most effective time management techniques.
To use the time matrix, you divide your tasks into four quadrants based on urgency and importance. Let’s explore how it works.
Quadrant 1: Urgent and Importnat
In this quadrant, you list out tasks that need to get done right away. Tasks that would fit into this quadrant would include:
- The immediate needs of the baby (feeding, changing diapers, soothing)
- Handling urgent health concerns or emergencies for the baby or yourself
- Managing critical household tasks related to safety and hygiene
Quadrant 2: Important but Not Urgent
This quadrant would contain your more long-term goals and tasks. Tasks that might fit into this quadrant would include:
- Creating a feeding and sleeping schedule for the baby
- Researching nutritious meal plans for yourself and the family
- Scheduling and attending doctor’s appointments for the baby and postpartum check-ups
Quadrant 3: Urgent but Not Important
This refers to all those tasks that appear urgent but actually aren’t. You can delegate these tasks to a family member or friend. Tasks that would fit into this quadrant would include:
- Non-essential household chores like laundry, dishes, or grocery shopping
- Keeping an eye on the kids while you attend to more urgent matters
Quadrant 4: Not Urgent and Not Important
These are essentially unnecessary commitments, distractions, and other time wasters. You want to stop doing these tasks completely. Items that would appear in this quadrant might include:
- Engaging in activities that don’t contribute to personal well-being or relaxation
- Taking on unnecessary commitments or obligations that add stress without significant benefits
Based on where your tasks and activities fall, you either do, delegate, delete, or say no to them. The time matrix has helped numerous people in every area of life. If you sincerely apply it to yours, you are sure to see excellent results.
Conclusion
It is common for many moms to put their kids and family above themselves. Sadly, this ends up leading to a lot of frustration and resentment if there is no relief. Remember, you should never feel guilty about taking some time off for yourself.
After all, you are in this for the long haul. It is best to take the route that keeps you mentally and physically fresh.
Communicate with your husband and your older children if you have any. Get them involved with some of the chores that weigh you down. Every member of your house has an obligation to pitch in and help.
Motherhood is supposed to be a time of joy and fulfillment, and with the right approach, this is possible. Learning to manage your time and how to fix your infant’s sleep habits might seem like only two steps out of many. However, with a bit of self-reflection, it’s easy to see that a lot of frustration stems from being exhausted and not having any personal time for yourself.
