5 Tips To Be An Organized WAHM

This blog post has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and Pure Protein. All opinions are mine alone. #KeepOnTrack #CollectiveBias

Check out my 5 Tips To Be An Organized WAHM, a.k.a., Work at Home Mom. Check out how Pure Protein Plus Bars help me keep on track during my day! Be sure to enter the sweepstakes below!

Definition of WAHM

For those that are not familiar with the acronym, let's Define "WAHM":  WAHM stands for Work at home Mom

5 Tips To Be An Organized WAHM

At the time of this post, I have been blogging on Life's Little Sweets for 16 months - getting close to a year and a half. At the same time, my daughter M. is under 2 ½ years old. I am simultaneously a mom and working from home during this time and in the past year, it has only gotten busier.

No matter what your line of work is as a WAHM, there are practices that you can set in place to enable you to work at your best, maintain yourself and enable you to be the mom/parent you want to be.

Here are my 5 Tips To Be An Organized WAHM:

#1. Go Minimalist

The saying that "less is more" could not be more true. When you rid your home of things you don't need, do not know why you have and are not servicing your life - a new freedom can be found. This can be applied to every room in the house, any closet and the home office. Definitely keep the things you need to function in your life and things that matter but be strict and intentional with yourself about what stays and what goes.

There are so many services out there online and donation sites/organizations that you can bring your excess stuff to. For me personally, there is no place in my house that is safe from me applying minimalism to! I do not understand the point of having things just to have things. Anyone can acquire "stuff," really, but can you have a handle on the stuff you have? Can you value what you have? If you have things in your environment that you feel impartial about and it's taking up your living space, that situation is not servicing you. Let your environment service you and you will be rewarded. You have to find the right balance point for you and that will be different for everyone. What works for me, might not work for others.

It's important to know when to be strict and when to relax. For example, we do have collections of things that we have an interest in and actually use. I love office supplies & stationery and Eric and my daughter have a bunch of Hot Wheels toy cars we all play together with. The rule is, if we have it in our living space, then we use and value it. I do have places in the attic that I do want to organize too and when I do, you bet, I will keep applying these minimal rules to those spaces as well!

I use minimalism as an organization strategy to contribute to my productivity and it has wonderful ripple effects. You will be able to breathe easy in a house that is easier to clean, an organized work space and have less stress now that you are unburdened.

#2. Practice Time Blocking

Ever have the feeling that there are not enough hours in a day to get things done? Let me ask you this, have you tried practicing time blocking?

Time blocking is a practice of blocking of large amounts of time to get a project/assignment accomplished. This can be a whole day, a number of days or even just a chunk of a few hours to devote to what you need to get done. You decide the amount of time you need and I recommend giving more time and you will be pleasantly surprised if you get done early.

Time blocking is a great way of planning where you can hyper focus on the main thing you need to get accomplished and sets you up so that you can block out any other distractions or other "to-do" items that might get in the way. But what about the mom part of this equation? What about the little kiddo(s)? Read on, I talk about that in #4.

#3. Feed Yourself

Have you ever been running around, trying to get errands done and then you are left with a hunger headache, a growling stomach and find yourself falling prey to poor food choices?

I vote to have a plan in place to stop that situation from happening and set yourself up for success so that you can stay on track and get what you need to get done.

It is important to avoid being hungry - or worse being "hangry." It can steer your entire day off course and then you have to spend time re-charging yourself. It's better to never let yourself get hangry in the first place!

Carry water and/or your favorite drink to stay hydrated throughout your day and it is a must to carry snacks with you to nourish you throughout your day between meals.

I carry these Pure Protein Plus Bars in my purse/diaper bag and that way I know I have something that I can grab if I get hungry when I am on the go or need a quick snack.

Pure Protein Plus Bars come in 4 flavors:

• Cookies and Cream
• Mocha Brownie
• Apple Pie
• Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

Being a chocolate fiend, my favorite flavors are Cookies and Cream, Mocha Brownie and the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough.

Here are the Benefits I found for Pure Protein Plus Bars:

• Taste and Texture - I like that it has real food bits mixed inside which makes for a more satisfying snack.
• High Protein (20-21 grams) -  These bars deliver on protein which helps to fuel your focus.
• High Fiber (15-16 grams) - Another important fact about these bars and important for general wellness.
• Low sugar - This is good to know if you are trying to cut out sugar from your diet. My husband Eric is very sugar intake conscious and he has been bringing these Pure Protein Plus Bars to work.
• GMO-free - If you are a regular reader of this blog, you'll know that I advocate for GMO labeling and feel strongly that brands should have GMO labeling. I am supportive of brands that do this on their own.
• No Artificial Sweeteners - This is a great bonus, I am not a fan of artificial sweeteners and try to avoid them whenever possible.
• Gluten Free - I personally am not gluten-free but I am sensitive to those that are and I have shared gluten-free recipes here on the blog. This is a good fact to know for those looking for an easy, gluten-free snack.

#4. Practice Interdependence

Interdependence is defined as "Interdependence is mutual dependence between things" -vocabulary.com

It is important to nurture the relationships in your life with family and friends.

One of the people that helps me be an "organized WAHM" is my husband Eric. Even when I am not feeling organized, the support I get from him gets me to the place or frame of mind where I need to be. We try to make time for each other and I can work with him to help with my daughter if I need to get something done.

My Mother-in-Law and Sister-in-Law also help with my daughter and it really does "take a village" to raise a child. I know that there are things my daughter can learn from others that I might not be able to teach her.

I try to do as much as possible with my daughter and just involve her with what I am doing. I have learned over time that doing things with her is really the way to go. For the times that I need to focus without distraction, I try to get as much done during her naps and after she goes to sleep or she will have "Daddy-Daughter Time."

#5. Nurture Yourself

It is really important to nurture yourself and how you do that is going to be different for everyone. Nurturing yourself might be meditation, getting enough rest or watching your favorite show.

I love to go on walks and hikes because being connected to nature restores my mind, body and soul.

Making time for yourself, taking care of yourself and giving yourself kindness and compassion is only going to add to your ability to be a better WAHM.

To overlap #3, making sure you get enough to eat during the day is definitely another way to nurture yourself.

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I hope you found these 5 Tips To Be An Organized WAHM helpful! Best Wishes, ~Sara

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