Time Management & Priorities

I received this email from a lovely girl the other day and thought I would share it with you guys. Reason being: I get similar questions like this all of the time so I decided to write a post about this very subject: time management!

What an amazing site you have with so much information and inspiration! I share your views on good nutrition for the little munchkins. I've got a 19-month old who starts every day out with a green smoothie and loves the food I make for my family. But my question is this .... do you have any tips on time management in the kitchen?  I find that I spend a lot of time blending, chopping, whirring, stirring, juicer cleaning, etc. so that my family can eat well (and I won't compromise that), however, it does take a lot of time during the day which can be difficult when someone else needs my attention. Any tips?
Keep up the great posts. Love it!

-- Amy 

My first response to Amy was that it's not always time we are lacking; it's motivation. Not only do we procrastinate by nature but quite often peoples' priorities do not line up with what they say is important to them.

It's first necessary to know that you DO in fact have time. Phew! But do you have enough motivation and excitement about what you 'say' is important to you in order to get it done? That's the big question. That part is all up to you and nobody can really help you with that part. If you have that and just need a few tips, then here goes:

+ We all have that friend who at one time has said, "I can watch your son for you. I'd love it!" Take her up on it for just an hour or so.
+ Find a neighbor friend who also has a baby. Trade an hour every other day.
+ Turn on your child's favorite show. Just 1 or 2 episodes will allow you to get tons of stuff done. 
+ If you use the TV or a movie to keep your child occupied then once their time is up, do something outside {help your guilty conscience}
+ Instead of taking a nap, whip up a green drink or smoothie for extra energy. Sometimes that's all it takes. Go to bed a little earlier tonight instead.
+ Put your son or daughter in a high chair and let them eat and watch as you prepare. 
+ Love this one: Facebook and emails can wait until evening time in bed. Get off your computer and into your kitchen. Computers are super distracting and time wasting.
+ Do you really need a pedicure or could you paint toes at home today instead?
+ Instead of going shopping as a getaway, I promise that accomplishing a health tasty meal with feel MUCH better than a new top! {most of the time - wink} And cheaper.
+ Once in the kitchen - FOCUS! Get it done! The more you do it, the easier it will be. Don't think about how 'gross the sink is with all the dishes'. That takes too much energy. Once you get your house looking clean and a healthy meal is prepped and/or ready, you'll feel so wonderful. 

OK. Those are some of my tips. And remember if being healthy at home isn't a priority then you really WON'T find time for it. Making it something you care around and something that is important is whole other blog post. 

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My day

Today I put my son in his playroom with his favorite show on {Thomas the Train} and decided to get some 'domestic' stuff done. I'm always busy and always have work stuff to do {Kookie Karma} so I have to literally dedicate time to this stuff or it will never get done. And I feel so fantastic when it is. 

SO. I haven't been to the store in quite some time. I am planning to go later today and stock up on everything. But first I wanted to gut and clean out my refrigerator:

+ I pulled out any veggies that were left and needed to be eaten. 
+ Cleared off shelves and bins and scrubbed them in the sink. 
+ Threw away any old stuff that had mold or was expired. 
+ Put everything back in.
+ Made a new grocery list. 
+ Washed and chopped kale {for kale chips that I will make later} to store in bins. 
+ Pushed all the veggies {1 apple, 2 lemons, 3 cups kale, ½ jalapeno, huge chunk of ginger} through the juicer and made myself a wonderful green juice.
+ Cleaned up the kitchen and picked up the REST of the house. note: unexpected spills or accidents don't help when trying to manage time - so be sure to leave a few extra minutes for that just in case {see photo below}. 

This took me exactly 1 hour. 1 HOUR!!!! That's it. How many do we have in a day? Think about what you can accomplish in just one hour! We just gotta get motivated. {sorry to use myself as an example. In all honesty, I have to find motivation all of the time. It's constant work and a constant battle. I would WAY rather chat on the phone, email friends, do facebook, etc. most of the time. ha}. There definitely are ebbs and flows and of course we NEED BREAKS for goodness sake. Being a mom is an endless job. But we can also admit that sometimes we do procrastinate and then wish later we had cleaned the house? A little kick in the butt is NEVER a BAD thing. 

Anyways...then it was nap time for my son, so I used the hour or so nap time to write this blog post, get dressed and even get the next project started! 

The rest of the day was spent out of the house running errands and taking a trip to the health food store - a fun thing we like to do together - and finally we got back to make an easy dinner {quick veg tacos}!

I hope this helped a little bit.