Thou shall de-stress your life...

“God didn’t do it all in one day...what makes me think I can?”

-Anonymous

It’s Friday! Friday means “Tips” Day and this week I have scoured the internet, read my magazines (and most importantly, quizzed my girl-friends) in order to compile the top 5 Tips to De-Stress your life. I don’t profess to be great at any of the below but I have to admit, they all work if you can achieve them.  

1. Manage Your Time 

Do you find yourself at the grocery more than twice a week? Did you forget the dry cleaning even though you were right next door picking up light bulbs at Home Depot? I used to do this ALL THE TIME...It caused stress because my days (and likely yours) are busy enough. The key, I believe, is to make lists. Keep track of your errands and group together based on location. Get in a habit of doing this and after just 2 weeks, you will have better routine in your life. Also, have a magnetic note pad on the fridge and encourage kids to put their wants and needs on the pad. Feel free to adjust once you’re shopping though unless you really do want your kids eating ho hos and  frosted  gummy bears for breakfast.

2. Say No. 

Simple as that. The more you take on, the more stress you create in your lives. Prioritize what must be done; work, exercise, etc. (these are your “core” responsibilities. Then fill in your schedule with a reasonable amount of what I call “non-essentials” (hair appointments, meetings at your kid’s school, dinner with your bff). After that, just say “no” to anything extra, no matter how appealing it may sound. Remember, your body and mind need a certain amount of down time. As moms, we try not to over-schedule our kids but somehow have no concerns with over-scheduling ourselves.

3. Don’t procrastinate. 

Isn’t it amazing how downright pleasant it can be to help your child with their Science Fair Project when it’s due a week from Tuesday and so completely miserable to help them the night before it is due. Why? Stress, of course! Deadlines create stress and the more demanding the deadline, the higher the stress level. Try to get a jump start on things with steadfast deadlines (bill paying, work projects, large school projects). Your stress level will drop dramatically. 

4. Plan, plan, plan. 

A friend of mine meets with her husband and kids for ten minutes every weekend just to see what they have on their schedules for the week ahead. Do they have big tests? Any items needed to bring into school?Meeting for ten minutes sounds simple, right? It is, but what she gets in return is a HUGE amount of predictability to her life and predictability is GOOD. I know it seems sexier to fly by the seat of your pants but you won’t feel sexy or carefree when you are scouring the aisles of the 24 hour mini-mart trying to find the popsicle sticks your son needs to bring in to science class the next morning.

5. Delegate, delegate, delegate. 

Ok, I must admit I flat out stink at this in some aspects of my life but I’m great at it at home! If your kids are over 2, chances are they can start helping you around the house and they should! It teaches responsibility and helps you de-stress. The key is choosing age-appropriate tasks for each of your kids (my kids were dusting by age 3, I swear) and have a manner to keep track of their tasks. There is a reason your kid’s teacher keeps those charts in the classroom...they WORK! If your kids argue about whether it is easier to clean windows that to vacuum floors, try what I do. At my house, once every two weeks we draw rooms. Each child and I end up with a few rooms (in addition to their bedroom) to maintain clean for those two weeks and then we re-draw. The kids learn how to maintain some order in our home and I get the privilege of not having to clean the entire house on weekends after a full work week...a win-win!

Have some great tips of your own to help you de-stress? I’d love to hear them and share them! Comment below or email me at commandmentsforlife@gmail.com

I wish you good luck and less stress!

Claudia