| It's springtime here in the South and to my family, and | | | | your To-Do lists for an evening. Have a glass of wine |
| probably many of yours, that means that there is a lot | | | | under the stars with your spouse. It'll reduce some |
| going in our lives. Baseball games for the kids, guitar | | | | immediate stress and get you rejuvenated to tackle a |
| lessons, yard work, keeping the house clean. Oh...and | | | | project the next day. |
| we do try to eat and have some fun from time to | | | | Use the grandparents for a Saturday. One issue |
| time! So...if your family is like ours, spring can be both a | | | | with knocking out a bunch of projects in a day is |
| really fun time and it can also be a bit stressful. | | | | having constant interruption from your children. Ask the |
| Here are some tips to be more efficient at home and | | | | grandparents, friends, or other relatives to take the |
| reduce your stress: | | | | children for a few hours on a Saturday and stay |
| Crock-pot!!! The crock-pot is your kitchen friend & | | | | focused on completing as much as you can in that |
| savior. Okay, so maybe it is not the gourmet, | | | | time. You'd be amazed at how productive you are |
| three-course dinner you strive to provide but you can | | | | when you don't have to stop to break up a fight, get a |
| put it on in the morning and have a tasty, nutritious | | | | glass of juice, or remove lipstick from the family cat. |
| meal to eat before the ballgame. It's definitely better | | | | Even when kids are playing with each other and letting |
| than the concession stand hot dogs! | | | | you work they have an amazing ability to distract you |
| Daily & Weekly To-Do list. Throughout the day I jot | | | | constantly. |
| down things I need to take care of that evening after | | | | Hire some help. If you're the do-it yourself type, |
| the kids are in bed. I also keep a list of things I need to | | | | sometimes you just have to give in and bring in the |
| accomplish by end of the week. It's proven that simply | | | | professionals. My husband is frugal and prefers to do |
| keeping a written to-do list helps reduce stress by | | | | all his own yard-work and as much of the house |
| eliminating the repetition of things you need to do in | | | | maintenance as possible. One of our projects recently |
| your head. It creates anxiety and a sense of being | | | | was to paint the kitchen a new color. It took us two |
| overwhelmed that is unnecessary. I use the note | | | | months to buy the paint and then the paint sat in the |
| feature on my iPhone to keep my to-do lists and it | | | | garage for two weeks while we tried to find time to |
| feels really good to backspace over a completed task! | | | | paint the kitchen. Painting the kitchen would take us, off |
| Put some things off! Is it a must-do or a like-to-do? | | | | and on, through the weekend to complete. So...we |
| Go through your list and decide what really doesn't | | | | finally decided it was worth the $150 to bring in a |
| need to happen right now. You probably have some | | | | painter. It was done in four hours and $150 was worth |
| projects on your list that aren't pressing. Sports will be | | | | the time we would have lost with our family. |
| over by June or July and most families have a break | | | | Hire a cleaning service! Seriously, it's worth every |
| until the fall. If this is the case for you, let some things | | | | penny. My husband and I argued about this (again, b/c |
| slide. For instance, my husband and I would like to | | | | he's frugal) for years before we finally did it. It was |
| re-do the laundry room. Well, that'd be great but it's not | | | | totally worth every penny and he agrees. It's so nice to |
| causing immediate issues...it's simply aesthetic... so it's on | | | | know that on Wednesday the house will shine and we |
| hold for now! I keep a House To-Do List for projects | | | | won't have to be involved to get it there! To save on |
| that I want or need to do that are not creating | | | | the cost, see if they will come in every other week. |
| immediate issues that must be solved. | | | | You can keep it up in the off-week by touching up the |
| Keep it in perspective! So the above described | | | | high-traffic areas and then they'll come in and give it |
| lists are growing for you and now they are starting to | | | | the ol' elbow grease the next. |
| freak you out. If it isn't costing you financially and isn't | | | | Just a few things to help you keep your sanity during |
| hurting your health there's no need to stress! With the | | | | the busy spring and summer! There are a plethora of |
| laundry room example from above...it's not hurting | | | | ways to reduce your stress levels but I think the best |
| anything so don't allow it to mentally stress you. | | | | way is to just keep it in perspective!!!! |
| Take an evening off. Here and there...just ignore | | | | |