Constant disruptions are a part of every mom’s life. As I sit here, a barrage of dings alerting to texts, emails, and notifications battle for my time. Even my household appliances are in on the conspiracy and ding for my attention. Oh, and the kids? The dog? All of them want a piece of me.
With every disruption comes a choice: Do I leave what I’m doing and attend to the ding? Or, do I wait and run the risk of completely forgetting about the ding?
Ding Me Not I’ve made the decision to turn them all off. They can wait. Distractions take away my focus and decrease my productivity. Simply put, THIS moment is deserving of my attention.
As moms, we have thousands of responsibilities and we’ve been trained to multitask to make the very most of our time. All multitasking does is make us too busy to appreciate the life we are so busy trying to create. Busy is a choice. It can be controlled. It doesn’t have to be your lifestyle. Is that 70-hour a week job requiring two weeks of travel each month a choice? You bet it is. Do you clean the kitchen during baby’s nap, or take a rest instead? Your choice. Next time, maybe just buy the darn cupcakes instead of making them from scratch!
Freedom Steps The first step to making better choices is to set priorities that align with your goals: find your inner balance and be more productive with the time you have. Who among us doesn’t want to be more present in our own life and the lives of the people we love? Instead of chasing our tails, try the tips below.
First, declutter as much as possible. Clutter causes distractions, and distractions take us away from the moment. As distractions decrease, your clarity will improve. When our clarity improves, our life improves.
Adopt Airplane Mode Next, block out designated times for certain tasks and turn your phone on airplane mode. We shall no longer be victims of the “ding.” You mindfully create a space in your schedule for this task so nothing else is more important that what you are doing at that moment.
Finally, get more rest ladies. We have learned to accept “busy” as a lifestyle and have forgotten the art of rest. Perhaps one of the blocks of time in your schedule is to read a fiction book, pray, or meditate. We are hurtling so fast through life to get to the next thing or reach another goal we sometimes fail to consider this: sometimes we have to slow down to speed up.
Write? Right! So right now, write down your goals, and make sure they get along with your priorities. Accept “busy” as a choice, and commit to rework your schedule so you can slow down and be present with the ones you love the most. Begin to seek opportunities to eliminate distractions you can control, and know that all you have is here and now.
Erika Ervin is a wife and mother of two boys as well as an expert group fitness instructor and lifestyle mentor. She specializes in motivating and enabling women to create a healthy work/life balance. Email her at erika@yourfitnessgirl.com.
