From OverWHELM To OverWELL – Become More Relaxed And Happier Mom

Does the feeling of overwhelm engulf you?

You might be overwhelmed by the tasks ahead of you, by the demands that keep pouring in on a daily basis, by all those bigger and smaller items you have on your to-do list…

Wouldn’t it be a great idea to simply hide in some cave and wait for the time to safely come out, when the storm passes?

(just sayin’… you can choose a refuge of your own! 🙂 )

Except for the fact you know it’ll never pass…

So not fair, but that’s life…

Ok.

We’ve discovered it ain’t worth behaving like an ostrich.

That’s something for a start…

Let’s go further now.

What CAN you do to defeat the feeling of overwhelm?

Let’s start uncovering and defeating it!

What is overwhelm anyway?

I won’t try to be a smarty-pants, so let’s see what the dictionary says about this. 😉

Overwhelm is defined as a transitive verb which means:

1. to cover over completely,
2. to overcome by superior force or numbers,
3. to overpower in thought or feeling.

Oh, how boring-official it sounds…

And now, let’s make a quiz out of the same answers!

What does overwhelm actually mean the vast majority of times?

What would you choose as the right answer?

Bing-bing-bing!

You got it!

The last one!

It’s that heavy feeling that burdens us when faced with too much to handle at the same time.

(you know, the feeling that makes you start hyperventilating at one moment and passing out in the next… just a joke – but quite picturesque and to the point! Oh, and by the way, it really did happen to me once. I have a few scars left to keep memory on it, so I know what I’m saying!)

Not a fun thing to experience on a regular basis (or any basis, as a matter of fact!).

Now we know who our enemy is, which means we can defeat it more easily 😉

The next step…

Overwhelm at home

The feeling of overwhelm is quite an extensive one, don’t you think?

And there’s no way I can cover it in only one post.

Therefore, today I want to discuss the feeling of overwhelm when being at home, doing regular household tasks because we are all at home at least at some point in time.

And the household work never ends…

Household work – it sounds so easy, right?

Uhm, wrong!

And honestly, I can’t tell who struggles with it the most.

Is it the women who stay at home, or the ones who stay at home and work from there, or women with a job outside the house?

Each comes with its own set of difficulties.

Women who stay at home are always there. They usually see every littlest, tiniest thing which should be done at home and want to make it perfect.

Who wouldn’t be overwhelmed if looking to achieve perfection?

Work from home women (especially moms) have a hard time juggling both work and household tasks while being in the same place most of the day(s).

What’s more, quite often some household “necessity” interferes and disrupts the work-from-home part of life. They’re overwhelmed by the number of (often unrelated) tasks that compete for their attention. All happening in the same space.

Women with a job that requires them to leave the house each day have a strict period of time in a day to do the tasks which the household demands.

They can also be overwhelmed by a number of tasks mixed with an inevitable time constraint.

To whichever category you fit in, you can easily see the feeling of overwhelm at home is common to all of us.

Let’s face it, household work is a true job on its own.

A lot of different tasks are being mingled throughout the day – day in, and day out.

We’re talking mealtime, cleaning, all the different errands we should do, not to mention taking care of the kid’s needs (and sometimes wantings) plus being a beloved wife. Oh, and it would be nice to make a room for taking care of ourselves in a day, as well. And don’t forget, we should also be super-skilled at managing the budget.

Urgh, just listing it like this gives me stomach cramps!

(a quick grumpy observation in the form of a question – can you believe there are still people who think the household work is easy?!)

So, how can we start fixing it?

The key is in…

… Good organization!

It will help you create a system that works for you the best, while also dealing with all of those items you have on your to-do list.

Here’s what I do to be a little less overwhelmed by the day-to-day tasks.

Basically, and you have to agree on this one, the household tasks keep repeating themselves – if not on a daily basis, then in some other time period.

So first of all, I made a list of those tasks and grouped them accordingly.

The majority of day-to-day household obligations belong to one of the three segments:

• cleaning,
• mealtime,
• or kids.

Some other household tasks like various home projects and car maintenance are also the things I need to take care of at some point during the year.

But since they are not happening as often, they don’t impact me as much. 🙂

Next, I first dealt with those recurring household jobs.

And when I say it, I mean mealtime and cleaning.

I didn’t count the kid’s stuff in here because, to be honest, I like spending the time with them no matter what the reason for it is (not a big surprise, right?).

Thankfully, you don’t have to clean the entire house each day, and with smart meal planning, you can even save some time (along with having a positive effect on a budget).

And I’m no different than you – that’s why I know you can nail this, too. 🙂

I dedicated specific cleaning tasks to specific days in a week (or even to specific months). Like, vacuuming on Saturday, thorough vacuuming on a monthly basis, dusting every other week, doing the laundry on Sunday, and so on.

I used to thoroughly dust more often, but then I realized it’s only a waste of time.

Nowadays when I’m near some dusty surface, I simply clean it straight away (and it takes like 10 seconds), and continue off with whatever other work I was into at that moment. (you could say I’m “multitasking”! 😉 )

I also streamlined my meal planning so I don’t bust my head each day in the evening with the question “What will I make for tomorrow?”.

Taken all together, planning out the household tasks helps me be (at least a little) less overwhelmed by them.

I can decide on how many tasks I would do in a day, so I don’t put pressure on myself.

I usually plan out meals at least a week in advance (so I can do grocery shopping the most effective way), while I can set up a cleaning schedule for the whole year in half an hour max.

I keep a record of it in my bullet journal (just in case… there’s a saying -at least where I live- A wise man writes, a fool knows everything 🙂 ).

Life can be hectic and stressful anyway, so let’s not make it any worse, right?

So, plan out, write your household tasks down, and work according to them.

You’ll see, you’ll be waaaay less overwhelmed at home, pinky promise!

And that’s what it’s about.

Becoming a happier mom – for your kids, your spouse, family, and friends, and maybe the most important – for yourself.

Organize and enjoy your time at home!