How to use your free time to refresh your mind

"Life is all about balance. You don't always need to be getting stuff done. Sometimes it's perfectly okay, and absolutely necessary, to shut down, kickback, and do nothing." Lori Deschene




It can sometimes feel that we have a lot on our plate and we must get everything done. Yes, the things we do in our daily lives are important.  Especially our role as parents, but what is also important is not getting burnt out and mentally fatigued.  Therefore, it is imperative that we make free time a priority in order to keep our sanity and live happier and more fulfilled lives. Here are some ways we can use our free time.








1.Enjoy Nature




Enjoy natures gifts by going to the beach, go hiking, snorkeling, sight seeing whatever there is to do in your area that will help you simply enjoy mother Earth's beauty and help relax your mind.






2. Do a project




Why not do that little project you wanted to do for a long time, like making a flower garden, learning to crochet, writing an e book, trying out that new recipe you saw on Pinterest, there are so much more you can delve into.
 Learning new things changes your perspective on life and sometimes that is just what you need to look at and change how you do things.





3. Do absolutely Nothing




If we seat back and let our minds wonder, we will be amazed by the big creative ideas that we will come up with. Sometimes when we just let go, we create effective systems that make our lives more convenient.




4.Volunteerism/ Community service




Being of service to others can be a very rewarding experience and sometimes if we take the time off to help someone in need, we will be more appreciative of our own blessings and realize how insignificant our complaints can be.




5.Sleep




As individual, we tend to have so much to do in limited time, that the only thing we can sacrifice is sleep. While I believe that the healthier option is to maintain a consistent sleeping routine that will help your body rejuvenate it self,  sometimes that simple act just do not happen, so use this time to catch up on well needed sleep.




6.Get inspired


Pray, meditate, read self development books or even listen to some TED Talks. Opening our minds to different teachings can only help us grow in to better human beings.




How do you use your free time let me know in the comments.




Thank you for reading  

Weight loss after pregnancy and a busy schedule

when you are a mother, finding time to exercise at the gym can be tricky and sometimes straight out impossible. I am here to tell you, all is not lost, with consistent baby steps you can see big transformation in your body.


Before I continue with my  tips, I must say, I am not a fitness expert, nor am I at my ideal weight, what I will be sharing are tips that helped me with my weight loss journey.

1. Reduce sugar intake

This has been the most effective change I have made. The cutting out of sugar from my diet has helped significantly with my journey, not only in the shedding of pounds but also in the way I feel.  Prior to making this change I constantly felt fatigued or exhausted, now I have more energy at the end of the day, I no longer feel sluggish.  I must warn, that the sugar withdrawal was a challenge for me at first, and at times I was straight up grouchy because; I wanted sugar! but I stuck to the commitment.
What  I will suggest though, is that you take it in stages, you can start by replacing soda with water and reducing the amount of sugar in your tea.














2. Incorporate the kids





  By now you must be thinking, 'she must have a lot of time on her hands. I don't, the kids follow me even to the bathroom, how am I going to do this?' Trust me, I do not have much time on my hands  either. what I do is have my kids join me. So, how about you have your kids join you, blast the music or put on a video and dance or jump away. This brings me to my next point.














3.  Make it fun


Put on some up beat music and freestyle dance away or do Zumba, Latin, hip hop dances. You can even mix it up by taking short brisk walks outdoors while you pushing the stroller. You can also at times do yoga so you would not get bored doing the same thing.










4. Meal Plan







Plan what it is you are going to cook for the week, if you do that you will be able to check out the nutritional value of what is it you are putting into your body. You will be able to plan alternatives to the not so healthy quick meals that you will usually cook.








5. Drink lots of water


Drinking water is good,  it helps with the flushing out of toxins, it increases energy level and relieves fatigue, it promotes weight loss plus a whole host of other good stuff.  So, set reminders in your phone to help you drink every hour.












6. Schedule Workout






I know, I know, schedule workout sounds like something big and 'I am a busy mom I do not have the time'. Well, I simply mean make a note of when exactly you plan to do your  'exercise' so if it is as soon as the kids  arrive home from school, then change and go with them for that brisk walk.
















7.Skip it out




If all else fails, get a skipping rope and when ever you have a few minutes to spare just skip away.






How do you plan to shed the extra pound? Please let me know in the comments.












Thank You for reading.

Five ways to find time for dating partner with a busy schedule 

Having a hectic schedule makes it difficult to maintain any type of meaningful relationship. As mothers, it is especially important that we take the responsibility to ensure that our relationship is well nourished.


We often say we do not have the time to do things that will help our relationship grow and flourish, because of the kids and whatever else that is taking our time. Here are a few creative ways you can use to help find the time to make having dates possible.

1.   Wake up earlier

Wake up before the kids and take the opportunity to enjoy a  nicely prepared breakfast while enjoying the beautiful sunrise and set the mood for a wonderful day.

   

   2.   Work out together

Find a time every day when you can release your stress and push each other to the limit while breaking a hot sweat .

  3. Utilize your Lunch break

If you work in the same area as your partner use your lunch break to reconnect and bond with  each other.

4. Use car time



We spend a lot of time commuting utilize that time !!









5. Before Bed



Ensure your kids have a bed time routine and make it your routine to make a date with your partner right after.





Let me know how you make time to have date nights by commenting.





Thank You for reading.

How to start effectively managing life as a Mom, Wife, Student and employee

Keeping your head above water when you are a busy mom, juggling numerous other roles can be a challenge, but IT CAN BE DONE. Here are my tips to effectively manage your situation.





Have a vision

Your first step is to envision what is it you want to achieve, what you want your life to look like, when it is at its best, remember not perfect, because you have kids and they do throw curveballs. So be realistic in your expectations, it will not be perfect but it can be good. you may dream of your house being clean..ish. Increase in the amount of study time you can possible put in per week or whatever goals you want to achieve.





Assess your situation


Take a critical look at what is it you are doing now, are some of what you are doing working for you?  can it be improved? do you have to change what you are doing? what is practical for you given your situation? do you need to cut out watching television? do you need to cut down on social media? do you need to tweak what you are doing? for instance; are you trying to do all your laundry in one day but at the end of the day clothes are all over the place and you cannot find that blouse you were supposed to wear on that certain day?  should you schedule different days to do your laundry so you can fold and put them away in order to be in a manageable state?


 Assessing where you are is important because it helps you see what needs to be fixed.




Research


Use technology to help you see what and how other people are getting things done. There are a lot of information out there  that will help. You will find information on YouTube, you can read blogs and you can even go on Pinterest to get information on systems and routines that will help, for example, in meal preparation, laundry routines, study scheduling, cleaning routines and other things you do in every day life.




Plan

After critically thinking  and doing the research the next best thing is to put a plan in place that will fit in with your lifestyle. Ensure your plan is feasible for  your situation, take the time to plan out actions that will help you manage your time and to get more done, be less stressed and adequately perform your different roles. for instance  on Sundays you can plan what is it you will prepare for breakfast lunch and dinner for the week ahead.

Plan your actions step by step for example: Meal plan, plan when you will shop in your pantry or local supermarket for the ingredients that you plan to prepare for the week ahead.

Plan when you will season your meats and package amounts needed per serving.

Plan how you are going to carry out your cleaning routine, when and how you are going to study  and what structures you plan to put in place to ensure systems remain effective.

Communicate the plan

In order to have buy in you need to let your family know what are the goals, how it will be beneficial to them so that they can work with you for the greater good, after all happy wife happy life and happy mommy means happy babies .Let your kids know that they will have more fun times with mom if they assist, let the hubby know there will be more time for date nights.



Solicit Help from your family



You cannot do it alone, Things around the house will  get done faster if you allow others around the house to help you. They will get better at things if you allow them opportunity to do different task. If you think they are doing it to your standard show them what it takes to reach your standard. So allow all  hands on board to make life better for the family. Its always a good idea to give people task that they are good at so it would not seem so hard.




Thank You for reading .

About me...A busy mom, Wife....Life

Being a mom, wife, student or an employee are all difficult roles on their own, but being a woman sometimes you have to wear all four caps.

I perform all these roles and between you and me it is not easy. Because I am sure you will understand that  Some days I am overwhelmed, other days  frustrated and still at times fatigued, but I must say nothing is more satisfying to me in the world than knowing, that I am  helping to inspire, motivate and  raise two smart, disciplined beautiful girls who will, one day, leave a positive mark on the world.

Being a supportive, loving wife to an incredible man with whom I am blessed to share my life with and one who encourages me to dream bigger and strive to be more, want more and love more.

I am also blessed to have a job which not only pay the bills but also allows me to meet incredible people every day.

As a student I am also blessed to have the opportunity to learn and strive for more so that I can  be an inspiration to my girls, Hubby and people around me.

In conclusion, life is difficult, and I do not expect it to be perfect. Therefore, I  plan to share my ideas and tips that will help us live a happier, more satisfied and fulfilled life. At the same time, ensuring that we  enjoy what we do, while we do it and hopefully be an inspiration to each other. Thank you and  I appreciate that you took the time to read my blog.

Please free to give your input.