Mental Load

Same 😴😴😴 it's constant. I run which is a bit of me time with some music

I was really struggling with this and feeling super overwhelmed at the beginning of the year… I made it my focus of 2024 to figure out better systems for myself and I feel a lot better now! Heres some of the things I do now: -paper everything!! I identified that everything being on my phone wasn’t helpful and was adding to my overwhelm. I’m very visual so having physical visual representations of everything was very helpful & calmed the mental spirals of trying to keep track of everything. I have a paper calendar on my fridge that is up to date with everything going on in our family’s lives. Appointments, work schedules, events, activities, friend hangouts, play dates etc. i also have a notepad on the fridge that I write out daily to do lists. - I have a cleaning schedule that is printed out and laminated to I can check the items off with a dry erase marker. Each day has certain tasks that won’t take more than 30 minutes or so. This helps with the mental load of cleaning the house!

I also have morning, nap and nighttime tidy routines that don’t take more than 15 minutes that help keep things manageable around the house. These tasks are such muscle memory now that it doesn’t feel like a mental load anymore. I guess all to say routines and systems will lighten the mental load! I have so many now I could go on forever lol. If you want to chat about it dm me! I literally was drowning with this last year and now barely think about it!

I'm the same way!

Same! What tooling do you guys recommend or use, aside from.paper and pen? Any apps recommended?

I have white boards. I have a small one that fits on fridge, but when there's a lot going on I have a bigger one (about 1'x1') that I also use for math and handwriting practice with the kids. If it gets really bad, I can walk it through the house and write down everything that's bugging me, then start crossing things off the list.

It helps to have a day to yourself. A pampering day!!🩷🥳 We all need it!!

I'm a professional organizer and I started using the Sweepy app for tag teaming chores with my husband, and although I love it, my husband wasn't keeping up with it. So I invented a chore board made out of a shoe organizer and index cards that is very inexpensive and easy to make. Each card has a chore on it and a green check mark on the back for when it's completed. Even the little ones can get involved with chores and self care. Just made everything so much less overwhelming and now I feel like I'm not taking on the entire house and everyone's needs on my own. After a while, my husband got so good at being in the habit of helping me, we don't even use it anymore.

I plan and schedule and routine everything then post it on the fridge.

For me a constant “routine” helps a lot. My son is 3 months old and typically in the morning he will wake around 5:30 for his first bottle of the day and by 6:15 he is asleep again however my partner doesn’t leave for work until 7:00 so from 6:15 to 7:00 I wash bottles, throw in a load of laundry, and make my todo list for the day all which takes me probably about 20-24 mins so not really until seven but close enough by time I get done it’s usually about 6:40 so I go back to bed until LO wakes up again probably around 8:30 9 and I change the baby feed him again (if he is ready for it) and then I will turn on his show and sit him in his seat for probably about 30 mins while I switch laundry and have my breakfast. After that we have a routine of things like tummy time, reading, songs, stretches and then he will be ready for his nap which usually for him lasts about 2 hours during which time I nap for the first hour and during the second hour I’m picking up any thing “extra” that I can…

Within that last hour. When he wakes up usually around 12:30 -1:30 he will eat and then we will play for a bit and then he gets a bath before his dad gets home from work and then after his bath he goes back in his seat while I make dinner and then afterwards I will hold him while I eat dinner and then he will usually nap again up until time to get his dad from about 5:30- 6:30 then we get his dad at 7:00 and then his dad will hang with him while I put dinner away and make his plate then I will put baby boy down while partner eats and showers for bed. Having a constant routine really helped my mental load because I separated my time that I had with my child and doing things with my child and things I did for me like showering or keeping my house clean or eating or taking a few moments to myself. Another thing I do that helps is whenever something irritates me to the breaking point I will take a piece of paper write down EVERYTHING I was thinking and then I will throw it away…