Because you may be a mom, and a service provider, and a wife slash housekeeper, *but* you still need to keep the family running through the weekend (even though you’re “off” work for the business), and this doesn’t always lead to a break.
So here’s how to *not* let the household swallow up your entire Saturday or Sunday so that *you* can actually enjoy a weekend break (just like your kids are doing).
This scheduling hack comes from one of my client calls, when this client told me that her work week schedule was going great (yay!), but now her weekend was getting too crammed (leading to no downtime for her, and a *very* non-refreshed go-go-go start to every Monday).
Here are the 2 tips I gave her.
Number one, be sure you’re keeping to your daily routine/schedule on Saturdays and Sundays too – just because it’s the weekend doesn’t mean your kids don’t need naps or feeding or room pickups at the usual times!
You know how this works – “oh, it’s the weekend, we can flex a little” – and suddenly your 4-year-old is still up and running around the backyard at 8pm at night, while her brothers raid the kitchen at 9pm for “snacks” (that look suspiciously like a full-blown meal), and *you* haven’t gotten any downtime with your husband without the kids around.
Ah, yeah. This may be the weekend norm for you – but it absolutely doesn’t have to! (And no wonder you’re not feeling ready to go Monday morning after 2 days of sub-optimal lack-of-routines every night!)
You need to keep to *your* tried and true lunch schedule – breakfast time – afternoon quiet time – evening Bible story and bedtime – if you’re going to have any chance of liking your weekend just as much as your weekday routines. (‘Cause otherwise, I see why you like your work week better and wish you could just be doing *that* all Saturday!)
So, as much as you can, keep to your ordinary daily schedule on those 2 days. But at the very least, stick to normal nap times and bedtimes so you’re still getting your non-kid quiet time. Okay?
And then, give yourself permission to need down time, too – just like you’d take a break on your client work or podcast recording days – even if the *place* or *type* of activity you’re doing varies on the weekends.
So, like, if you always take a 30-minute walk by yourself to decompress from your CEO work day, maybe you want to take a walk Sundays, too – or maybe you don’t need one, because you *aren’t* dealing with clients!
In that case, award yourself the usual amount of flop time, but give yourself the choice of a different hobby (maybe one that takes more time than you prefer on weekdays, or just longer *on* it).
Oh, and by the way, if your *kids’* weekend chore schedule is messing up *your* preferred downtime routine, all you have to do is flex your room use space (since you’re not using it for biz or school on Saturday) and take your journal or book or yoga mat off to someone *else’s* room to be out of their way.
You’re still getting your downtime; does it *really* matter if it’s in a different space than usual? Let your kids vacuum the living room and clean bathrooms while you hole up in one of *their* rooms for a change, and tell ‘em they can kick mom out when they’re done with their chores – not a moment sooner.
Or spread out scrapbooking material all over your *own* bed, on top of a protective sheet, while *they* get busy deep cleaning the kitchen. Whatever works for you.
The key is, you *have* to give yourself the *same* amount of flop time you’ve found you need *every* day – whether it starts with “S” or not.
Okay?
And it’s perfectly okay to expect your KIDS to do their chores on Saturday while you do yours throughout the week – nobody said you had to match their schedule. (Yes, I know it’s uncomfortable kicking back when THEY still have a full round of bathroom cleaning to go.)
But YOU still need that alone time to recharge – to show up tomorrow with a fully filled bucket, ready to go on the mom front AND the business side of things – which means you need to QUIT hanging over the bathroom cleaning process and just take yourself out of the house already. You can inspect chores when you’re back. (Besides, it’s good for them to practice cleaning well enough to past muster on their own initiative!)
So no mom guilt – not allowed – and head off to your well-earned break. (You’ve been busy ALL week, and this is YOUR time to relax!)
(Oh, and if you really can’t get past the “but they’re working” or “it’s the weekend and that means family time all day” mindset blocks, come to me – we’ll do some extensive rewiring on that in my work/life balance program so that you’re all set and ready to go.) Got it?
