Pancakes can solve your productivity problem.
Now, before you call me crazy, hear me out.
Mornings are probably the most hectic time of day for most families. Getting everyone one up, out of bed, and moving fast enough to make it to daycare, school, or work is a job.
I mean, who knew that it would take a kid ten minutes to get to the bathroom and another ten minutes to brush their teeth?
Now…
You could be that frazzled mom who yells and fusses all morning or you could be that mom sitting at the kitchen table chilling out eating homemade pancakes that you had time to prepare.
I bet you want to be the latter. This is how you make it happen.
How to Increase Your Productivity at Home
1. Rise and shine
Pancakes are nearly impossible if you wake up at the same time as your child or children. Do yourself a favor and set your alarm to be up at least thirty minutes to an hour earlier than your family.
This gives you an opportunity for peace and quiet before everything gets wild. It’s your time to get energized and focused without distractions.
I like to use my quiet time to write in a journal, stretch, and/or shower alone (I have a toddler).
Use your time to do something that brings you joy. It could be something simple as drinking your coffee out on the porch alone, reading, or listening to a podcast.
This is valuable time because it could be the only time you get to yourself until the end of the day. Make it count.
2. Prepare meals
Homemade pancakes take time but if you meal prep them beforehand, you’ll have a batter that is ready to go on the skillet in less than five minutes. It’s the art of meal prep!
Meal prep can seem like a hassle but it can save you tons of time and reduces our dependence on fast-food. Also if done correctly, it can save the family money.
You don’t have to meal plan every meal but having an idea of what you want to have available for breakfast, lunch, and dinner throughout the week saves you valuable headspace.
Before I began making meal planning a priority, I wasted tons of time just thinking about what would be for dinner. Now, I only need to think about what to serve once or twice a week and it makes executing meals each day much easier.
3. Do it the night before
Pack your lunch
When you get good at meal prepping pancakes and all your other meals you’ll have no problems ensuring you have food for lunch.
Adding everyone’s lunch to their lunch bags in the evening is a time saver and can eliminate the need for morning rushing, just make sure the lunches don’t get forgotten in the refrigerator – this happens to children and the adults and it’s no fun having to spend the morning dropping off your kids lunch at school.
Choose outfits
Searching for sock matches in that load of clothes still sitting in the dryer isn’t a task you’ll want to take over your morning. You can avoid this by choosing what everyone is going to wear (from head to toe) the night before. The time you don’t spend looking for matching socks, matching shoes, hats, or belts is the time you can spend having pancakes.
Tidy up
Nothing makes us feel unorganized and behind on productivity more than waking up to a messy home.
Now… things don’t need to be sparkling clean but imagine if you woke up and there were dishes to be washed, no toys to be picked up, stacks of papers to go through.
Your mind could be free to enjoy pancakes.
4. Do it while they’re awake
If you really enjoy pancakes this point is a biggie if you have young children.
I used to do household chores while my toddler slept and then I’d try to do tasks that took mental focus while my daughter was awake. When I finally, switch this around my productivity increased.
Think about the tasks you want to complete and determine which ones are best suited for when your children are napping and those that are better for when they are awake.
For me, awake tasks include laundry, dishes, sweeping, mopping, light food prep. Napping tasks include reading, writing, creating content, business management tasks and occasional naps for myself (eek).
Surprisingly, I learned that my toddler enjoys helping out with many household chores. I wonder how long her enthusiasm for the housework will last.
5. Enjoy a flexible routine
Giving yourself and your children a rigid routine is a recipe for disappointment. Children are wonderfully unpredictable. While a routine is useful for the family, it’s important to make it flexible.
What do I mean?
I save the routines for morning, naptime, and bedtime. Other than that – our days are super flexible and I don’t stress if it rains and we had plans to go to the park. We just switch the plans up and do indoor play stuff instead.
6. Say ‘no’ more often
Motherhood has turned me into a productive machine and it’s not because I have more time in my days. We all have the same time but I’ve gotten more comfortable taking charge of my time.
I used to give my time away frivolously. If someone asked for something, I’d agree and try to make time even if I didn’t want to.
Now I respect myself and my time so much more. I always suggest that other people do the same.
Ask yourself this question: If your time was your money would you let everyone have it whenever they asked?
Your answer is probably ‘no’, right?
Well…
Our time is more valuable than our money. So, next time you’re considering whether or not to accept an invitation to do something, decide intentionally how you want to spend your time.
You could be enjoying time in your jammies on a Saturday morning eating pancakes or rushing to an event you don’t want to attend. (I’m talking about events for adults – the kid events are a whole other story).
If you have trouble saying ‘no’, read this post.
I hope these tips help you increase your productivity and resolidify your relationship with pancakes or any breakfast you love. 😉
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