gina m poirier

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My Home Workout Routine: How Fitness Blender Gets My Mommy Butt in Shape

January 11, 2018 by Gina Poirier 22 Comments

Hey friends! Are you looking for an effective home workout routine that works well with a busy schedule?

I’ve been using Fitness Blender for several years. I’m a big believer in being a good steward of your body and the rewards that you will reap, and this program has been such a blessing to me that I can’t help but share about it. Try it out!

Fitness is just one important piece of self-care. If you’re looking for ways to improve your physical, mental and spiritual health, check out my self-care resources:

Printable Bible Verses for Moms

At church recently a young man came up to me and asked me about about my athletic “glory days.” Yeah, for real. Apparently he had been talking to my husband, who told him about my high school soccer days as well as my diving-for-ultimate-frisbee-just-for-fun days in my early 20s. I admit, I was competitive…but that was also over a decade ago.

Now that I’m in my cough early mid-30s, it’s hard to imagine throwing my body around in that way without also imagining the ensuing very expensive trips to the chiropractor, massage therapist, and possibly orthopedic surgeon.

Three pregnancies were rough on my body. The pulled muscles, broken fingers and sprained ankles at the height of athleticism don’t even compare.

After my third baby, I had chronic back pain—it was too painful to run like I used to. I did some home stretching and strengthening home workout videos when I could fit them in a few times a week, but they weren’t enough. I remember one time when I played in a recreational volleyball game and had to lie down the rest of the day from the strain.

What had happened to me? I saw chiropractors and physical therapists, and nobody could diagnose anything other than my core muscles were weak. I made annoyingly slow progress.

Something had to change. The longer I’ve been a parent, the more I’ve come to believe that my physical health is a vital if I’m going to do my job as a mom well. What’s more, it’s very closely linked to my emotional and spiritual well-being—and I have a responsibility to take care of the gift of my health. I needed a new plan that I could work into a my very busy life. Not any easy task to accomplish!

Related post: 3 Ways Overwhelmed Moms Can Truly Rest

Fortunately, I found something is effective, affordable and simple enough to implement for a busy mama: FitnessBlender.com

Home Workout Routine | Fitness Blender Review | Workouts for Moms

Disclosure: this post may contain affiliate links, which won’t change your price but will share some commission. See here for more information. This is NOT a sponsored post for Fitness Blender; I just think they’re pretty awesome.

My Mom-Friendly Home Workout Routine

Before I get on with this review, I thought I’d point out that motivation can play a big part in following through with your fitness goals, obviously. Check out How To Be Motivated Based on Your Personality Type to learn what might work for you. 

When my daughter was about two years old, I started trying out some free videos on YouTube from a website called FitnessBlender.com. It’s run by husband and wife team Daniel and Kelli. Their videos are friendly, fun and accessible to everyone.

I liked the free videos so much that I decided to try their scheduled home workout routines. I had never seriously tried strength training before, and I was hoping this home workout routine would be my ticket to feeling good again.

It was. I took personal fitness tests to track my progress. After just six months of training I could:

  • Run mile in 6:49.
  • Do 24 pushups.
  • Hold an elbow plank for 2:02 (after running a mile and doing pushups!).
  • Do 89 uninterrupted squats (don’t ask me to do it again though!).

While I only lost a couple of pounds (wasn’t trying to lose weight anyway), I built muscle mass and lost 1.5 inches from my waistline!

My back pain started to diminish and gradually got under control as a result of strength training. That’s the part I’m most excited about.

So what is it about this program that has me raving about it? (By the way, this is NOT a sponsored post; nor I am I affiliated with Fitness Blender, it’s just an honest review!) I can break it down into a few components:

1. Time-effectiveness

My favorite program is called FB30 – 8 Week Fat Loss For Busy People. (Now there are three of them!) With this plan you can plan on working out for around thirty minutes a day or less, five days a week. Sometimes I skip one and do just four—shhh don’t tell them! This can sound like a lot if you’re not in the habit of setting that time aside, but consider that even the US government recommends 2.5 hours a week of “moderate-intensity” physical activity (source).

I usually get my workouts in during the morning. I try to finish before the kids wake up, but on the days when I start late, they will come downstairs and watch me—or even try to imitate it themselves. They’re my mini trainers :).

home workout routine

Related Post: Should Christian Moms Prioritize “Me Time”?

2. Strength Training

As I said, I had never done any strength training prior to trying this home workout routine. The health benefits of strength training are numerous. Daniel and Kelli teach you everything you need to know to build lean muscle (and burn fat). If you follow one of their programs, they will help you know how to target different muscle groups as well as how to pace yourself. They will also teach your proper form, which is essential for you to achieve the best results as well as prevent injury.

This component has been the game-changer for me. It wasn’t until I started lifting weights that I started noticing significant improvements in my back pain, not to mention overall posture and muscle tone.

3. Variety

At Fitness Blender they are pretty vocal about how they dislike cardio equipment, mostly because it’s boring and ineffective. With their programs you’ll learn a large variety of circuit cardio exercises, including HIIT (high-intensity interval training). It keeps your mind and body engaged. Even if you’re new to fitness, they provide alternatives to help you move at your own pace. I’ve been doing this home workout routine for several years, and I haven’t gotten bored yet!

4. Convenience

All you need for these at-home workouts is a computer with Internet connection and a small space. If you’re serious you’ll want some basic equipment like cross-training shoes, an exercise mat and some weights. Right now I just have a few dumbbells (3 pounds, 5 pounds, 10 pounds and 15 pounds). In the videos they use PowerBlock dumbbells, which seem like the most space- and cost-effective option. I’ve still got my eye on them for the future, but in all honesty the hand weights are just fine for my fitness goals.

 

5. Positive Message

This is straight from their website:

We started Fitness Blender because we believe that fitness should be accessible to everyone, regardless of their income. We also felt like there was a lack of reliable health and fitness information on the web, and too many people in the industry were more focused on appearance than they were on good health.

Health is what they are all about. They walk the walk and talk the talk, in their videos and on social media. A lot of other fitness programs focus on physical appearance, but they say time and again that superficial motivation isn’t what matters.

Related post: 5 Surprising Truths about Stress Management

6. Cost Effectiveness

You can access any of Fitness Blender’s videos for free. If you want to download one of their programs (highly recommended), you pay less than $15 for eight weeks of training (and you can use it over and over again!). Yeah. Break out your piggy bank.

Who needs a gym membership anymore? 

I highly recommend this home workout routine website to anyone, and especially busy moms. You can work their plans around your lifestyle and your fitness level.

Need to level up your self-care on a lot of levels? Be sure to checkout my toolkit!

Printable Bible Verses for Moms

What works (or doesn’t work) when it comes to home workout routines and your personal fitness? Leave a comment!

Gina M Poirier

Filed Under: Encouragement for Moms, Stress Management

Work-Life Balance Secrets for Busy, Stressed Moms

November 2, 2017 by Gina Poirier Leave a Comment

Whether you work outside the home or your home life is your work, a somewhat mystical objective that many moms long for is work-life balance. Is it real? Is it possible? Can I raise kids, run a home, grow in my work, marriage, homemaking and faith and still…I dunno, be alive?

Work Life Balance | Stressed Moms | Self-Care

Related post: Feeling Overwhelmed? Choose Rest for a More Peaceful Life

I recently came across a podcast called Your Life Rocks with Jenny Stemmerman, and her passion is about just that: finding balance. She is a working mom and a coach and she gets the struggle. It was an honor to be a guest on her podcast, and she and I jumped into this topic that is eating away at so many moms: STRESS.

You can check out the episode here. In it we talked about three strategies that help you manage stress and work toward work-life balance, outlined below:

1.  Create a healthy perspective about stress

Stress is not a bad thing; it was designed by God for our good.  Once we can see stress in our lives from a neutral place, we can be better equipped to deal with it in a healthy way.

2.  Know you can’t always control stress but you can control your stress response

Let’s talk about stress resiliency. As you begin to build up this up for yourself, here are the things to think about:

Physical: Taking care of your body with good nutrition, staying hydrated, exercise, and getting the right about of sleep for yourself.

Emotional/Mental: Setting boundaries, minimizing toxic self-thinking, working on better relationships, limit screen time.

Spiritual: See below

3.  Practice spiritual rest

God created us to do amazing things, but he also called us to slow down and rest. The Bible calls us to this over and over and God has set examples through nature and through his own actions. It’s about celebration and showing gratitude. So choose your Sabbath. Pray about it and see how God would have you implement this into your life.

I hope you enjoy it! Again, you can check out the episode here: Busy Moms Dealing with Stress.

And don’t forget, I have a free 5-day course on stress management called StressLESS that will walk you through this process. Sign up below:

Filed Under: Stress Management

How To Avoid Christian Burnout by Choosing Spiritual Rest

October 5, 2017 by Gina Poirier Leave a Comment

If you think you might suffer from Christian burnout I hope you’ll enjoy this final post in this series on choosing rest. Check out the first three posts: 1. Feeling Overwhelmed? Choose Rest for a More Peaceful Life, 2. Always Tired? How To Choose Rest for Your Body and 3. Mommy Brain Fix: How To Choose Rest for Your Heart and Mind

If you want to learn more about how to better implement self-care and rest practices in your life be sure to sign up for my free StressLESS email course!


As of last week, I hadn’t been to Sunday worship in about a month.

That’s weird for me because, with perhaps the exception of when my children were born, I have been quite the dedicated attendee for all of my Christian life.

I had the excuses: being out of town and sickness on consecutive weeks. And while I was otherwise doing well spiritually (I mean I hadn’t committed any crimes or anything), I nonetheless felt a little…off.

Excited to return to the fold after my absence, my heart sank when I realized I was on rotation to teach in children’s ministry during the service. I can listen to the sermons online, but to be perfectly honest, hanging with kids is not my favorite way to spend Sunday mornings, considering I am herding children all the live long day every other day of the week.

I couldn’t get out of this commitment, but I knew that I desperately needed spiritual food. So I had to assess: how could I continue to give, without falling into the trap of Christian burnout?

Christian Burnout | Spiritual Rest | Sabbath | Self-Care

Disclosure: this post contains affiliate links. See here for more information.

Understanding Christian Burnout

Let’s just call a spade a spade, okay? Christian burnout happens when you give and give and give for the spiritual good of others but you’re bone dry yourself. I’ve been there. A lot.

What’s tricky about it is that it looks like you’re doing well. You’re serving in your church; you’re practically laying down your life for your family; you’re reaching outward and helping people. You could even be reading your Bible dutifully and be doing everything “right.”

But inside, you’re a bomb waiting to go off. All it takes is for your child to speak in that whiny voice or your husband to say the wrong thing at the wrong time, and you snap in a quite ugly, non-Christ-like way.

How do we navigate these tricky waters: doing the work we know we’re called to, without wearing ourselves down? For me, a key answer to this question is rest.

How To Practice Spiritual Rest

Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me (John 15:4, NIV).

The word Sabbath means a deep rest, a deep peace. It’s a near synonym for shalom—a state of wholeness and flourishing in every dimension of life. When Jesus says, ‘I am the Lord of the Sabbath,” Jesus means that he is the Sabbath. He is the source of the deep rest we need. He has come to completely change the way we rest. The one-day-a-week rest we take is just a taste of the deep divine rest we need, and Jesus is its source (Jesus the King by Timothy Keller, p. 44).

I like to make things complicated, but it’s really quite simple. Jesus. The beginning and the end. The source, the vine.

It’s hard to wrap my head around how this works, but I know if I am seeking Jesus, I’m pointed in the right direction. When I remain, or abide, with him, as he commands that we do in John 15, he works through me.

So what does this look like?

Unfortunately I can’t provide a formulaic way to rest or a spiritual checklist that will answer that question. Resting in Christ is primarily about relationship, which is full of nuance. But I can offer you some guidelines and principles that have helped me tremendously, and you can apply them to your own situation.

  1. Keeping the Sabbath: this concept has been all but foreign to me until recently. I liked the concept, but I just didn’t see how it would work practically.But then I thought I’d do a little experiment. The need to rest was practically screaming at me from the scriptures, so…why not try it? Starting every Saturday evening and ending Sunday evening, I keep a personal Sabbath. I do not check email or social media. I don’t do major housework, errands or work. As much as possible I try to only say yes to social commitments that are relationship-building, like Sunday dinner with some of our extended family or a casual Bible study with close friends in the afternoon.I have found this simple practice to be the most powerful in helping me feel refreshed and Christ-centered as I start my week. 
  2. Connecting with Christ: speaking with being Christ-centered, it takes intention. Taking communion, prayer, worship and digging into my Bible is an essential piece of my Sunday, even when I’m “serving” in children’s ministry or elsewhere. Focusing my heart and soul on the cross is not something I strive to do just weekly, but continuously.When I create space in my life for this kind of connection, I am much more likely to pray deeply, to examine my heart and to surrender my anxieties, as I discussed in Part 3.
  1. Community: this one can be tough for me because I am indeed an introvert and, as I’ve indicated, I can burn out. But I need people, and they need me. Christ is in the church, and therefore to be connected to him, we must be connected with each other.True community for me goes well beyond saying hello in fellowship on Sunday. This week I’ve prayed with my friends and laughed and cried over coffee and lamented our weaknesses while marveling at the way God works. Without these kinds of connections, I’m disconnected from the vine.

As with every aspect of rest I’ve explored in this series, spiritual rest is a choice.

Last Sunday I fulfilled my commitment to teach the kids…but I didn’t suffer from Christian burnout. That’s because I deliberately started my Sabbath on Saturday night as I sat down for dinner with my husband. I opened my morning in prayer and took communion thankfully before teaching the kids. I enjoyed my time with then and then enjoyed lunch with my family and a friend. And then I relaxed…entrusting God with my never-ending to-do list, abiding in him, and enjoying a piece of his creation (which on this particular day was a good book).

By the time Sunday evening rolled around, I was ready to take my week by the horns and give it my heart.

That wraps up our series on rest, my friends! If you want to learn more about how to live a more restful life, be sure to sign up for my StressLESS email course!

Do you ever suffer from Christian burnout? What spiritual rest practices do you think can prevent it?

Filed Under: Choose Rest, Stress Management

Mommy Brain Fix: How To Choose Rest for Your Heart and Mind

September 28, 2017 by Gina Poirier Leave a Comment

Got mommy brain? I hope you’ll enjoy the third post in this series on choosing rest. Check out the first two posts: 1. Feeling Overwhelmed? Choose Rest for a More Peaceful Life and 2. Always Tired? How To Choose Rest for Your Body.

If you want to learn more about how to choose rest and get updates to the series as they come out, be sure to sign up for the Choose Rest Challenge by clicking below!

Disclosure: this post contains affiliate links. See here for more information.

Mommy Brain Fix | Mom Encouragement | Self Care
Nicole Harrington

On any given day, I have been known to misplace my keys, phone, wallet, purse, watch, glasses and a number of small accessories. I find myself spacing out during important conversations and making thoughtless decisions. And like many women in my station in life, I identify a single culprit.

Mommy brain: The phenomenon known to mothers where their brains become useless piles of goo after being around their children for too long (Urban Dictionary).

Funny as it is, there is actually scientific evidence that overstimulation, in combination with sleep deprivation (again, see Part 2 of this series), does in fact turn your brain into a useless pile of goo as far as intellectual capacity is concerned.

Not only do we have the normal pressures of stress and sleep deprivation that just come with the role, modern moms have another factor working against them. What do you do when you have a moment of breathing room in the middle of your day? I’ll admit it: I reach for my phone.

But it’s like drinking saltwater when I’m already dehydrated. While there’s nothing wrong with checking in with an app or a message, it does little to nothing to provide the recharge that my heart and mind desperately need. What’s more, it can actually hurt me.

Consider this:

  • Excessive social media use interferes with clear thinking and decision-making and leads to lower self-control, impulsive buying and poor eating decisions.
  • It’s also associated with higher BMI, binge eating, a lower credit score and credit card debt.
  • “Milkshake multitasking” (specifically overstimulation from screens) prevents focused thought, which opens us to shallow judgments and decisions, along with passive mindlessness. (Source: Switch On Your Brain by Caroline Leaf)

Related post: Social Media Addiction: 20 Strategies To Break It

To sum it up, we have a lot of factors working against us. That’s why we need to be very mindful about how we combat mental overstimulation in our hectic lives.

How to Banish Mommy Brain

I’ll be clear: electronics or being around our kids 24/7 isn’t the heart of the problem.

The problem is not prioritizing rest for our hearts and minds (in addition to more sleep).

It’s called wakeful rest. You’re not asleep, but your mind is disengaged from stimulation. You might be surprised at just how refreshing it is to just give your mind permission to wander.

Amazing things can happen when you daydream. (Personally, this is why I enjoy a looooong shower). Your brain processes everything that is jostling around in there. You start solving problems and having original ideas. You can approach the next task without feeling completely taxed.

If you don’t have that space, your brain can’t process all that it’s taking in over a given day (or longer). Combine this with sleep deprivation, and you have a guaranteed recipe for chronic mommy brain.

Sidenote: you might want to retain a little control when your mind wanders. If you’re prone to depression and anxiety, I suggesting learning practices for guiding your thoughts in positive and productive directions.

Related post: How I Manage Anxiety with 5 Calming Steps

Remember that leaving space for mental rest also gives you opportunity to pray and surrender all of your thoughts to God. Be sure to stay tuned for Part 4 of this series to learn more about that.

Strategies for Mental/Emotional Rest

I know it’s hard to practice this kind of rest. I’m a work-at-home, homeschooling mom; quiet time for my mommy brain seems like an impossible dream on some days.

But here are a few suggestions for creating that much-needed space:

  • Have set hours in your daily schedule when screens are off and phones are out of reach.
  • Turn off your phone’s app notifications.
  • When your mind is feeling taxed, give yourself permission to just stop what you’re doing and reflect or pray for a few minutes before continuing on with your task.
  • Leave space in your daily schedule for breathing room. Don’t just jam as many tasks as possible into your limited free time. (Not sure where to fit it in? See How a 7-Day Time Log Helped Me Get My Daily Schedule Under Control)
  • Ask for help when you feel like your head is going to explode. Have your husband or another friend or family member watch your kids for as little as ten minutes so you can get some time to think and reset.
  • Find an enjoyable, restful activity outside of scrolling through your phone that you can do during down times, whether that’s listening to music, crocheting, gardening, cooking, etc.

For me, the biggest change I have made personally in this area is simply giving myself permission to stop and rest my busy mind. And because it’s a priority, I make sure that I have breathing room in my daily schedule.

Need help making rest a priority in your life? Sign up for the Choose Rest Challenge and get notified when the next posts in these series come out.

Next week, we’ll be talking about how to choose rest spiritually.

Leave a comment: do you suffer from “mommy brain”? Which of these strategies do you think can help you choose rest for your heart and mind?

 

Filed Under: Choose Rest, Stress Management

Always Tired? How To Choose Rest for Your Body

September 21, 2017 by Gina Poirier 2 Comments

Are you always tired? I hope you’ll enjoy this second post in this series on choosing rest. If you haven’t read the first post about how rest is a choice, check it out here. And if you want to learn more about how to choose rest and get updates to the series as they come out, be sure to sign up for the Choose Rest Challenge!

Confession: I have been known on more than one occasion to wish out loud that I just didn’t have to sleep. Just imagine all that I could get done! (Especially if my kids had to sleep and I didn’t.)

But alas, the mind is willing; the body is weak.

Trust me, I’ve tried to push the limits. I had many a late night in college. I thought I was a champion then, but a few years later babies came, a period which redefined the meaning of “sleep deprivation.”

My body was literally pushed to its limits in every sense of the word during the baby years. And you know what my response was? Tearful joy and gratitude Frustration. I felt like my rights and ownership of my time and energy were completely stripped away.

Even then, I’d try to calculate the minimum amount of sleep I needed to still feel like a human (somewhere around seven hours, I guessed—not too bad, right?). I’d set my alarm like a good disciplined mama should so I could get a good jump-start to my day, even though by the time afternoon hit I’d be reaching for my umpteenth cup of coffee to make it through.

The result was: I did “make it,” technically, with “just enough” rest. But it wouldn’t take much to tip me into a very cranky, self-centered fatigue. I also suffered from chronic back pain due to stress and inadequately rebuilding my muscle strength after three pregnancies in four years.

I share all these things with you to illustrate that for many years, I’ve had a problem when it comes to my body. And that problem is: I’m just not content with its natural limitations.

There are complex reasons why people might suffer from fatigue, and I certainly don’t have all the answers. But I do know that if you’re always tired, it is a signal from your body: pay attention to me! I need help!

Always Tired | Extreme Tiredness | Why Am I So Tired

The Answer When You’re Always Tired

While some people do have complicated and chronic health problems that contribute to fatigue (hang on for a minute if that’s you), for many of us it’s the result of our choices.

If you’re always tired, cranky and weak, it might be time to take a little pause and do some self-reflection. You are not a victim of your circumstances. No matter what stage of life you’re in, you are in charge of how you spend your limited time and energy.

Recently I got certified as a stress management coach. While my ultimate goal was to help others, I quickly learned that student #1 is me. And hands down, the biggest takeaway from my training was embarrassingly simple.

I need to sleep more.

As I’ve already explained, I have been in the habit of pushing my body to its limits since pretty much forever. But here’s the problem with that. Each night, your brain goes through several cycles as you sleep, typically about 90 minutes in length, which get increasingly longer over the course of a night. During the first part of each cycle, the rest is primarily regenerative for you body. For the second part (also called REM or dream sleep), it is for your brain.

Up until recently, I denied myself my last cycle of sleep. In other words, my brain didn’t get that last bit of regenerative time it has needed to function at full capacity. The result:

  • Crankiness/short patience
  • Increased anxiety/worry
  • Decreased mental sharpness/productivity
  • Memory loss
  • Frazzled mama/mommy brain
  • Lack of energy/motivation
  • You get the idea

And so I started making sleep a priority. Simple right? I now get 8–8 ½ hours most nights. And the difference is astounding. I can honestly say I don’t miss that extra hour in the day one bit because during my time awake I am so much more energized.

Strategies for More Sleep

I know, I know, you’ve got a million excuses for why you can’t make more time for sleep, or even if you do, you can’t fall to sleep. I never said it was easy. But consider some of the following strategies and see if you can’t make some small changes:

  • Increase the amount of time you sleep in small increments (in other words, don’t jump from five to eight hours a night because your body will not adjust well).
  • Experiment to find how much sleep you actually need versus what you’ve been forcing on yourself. Try to sleep as long as you can without an alarm (do the math; you’ll have to either get up later or get to bed earlier).
  • Stop drinking caffeine after lunch.
  • Turn off electronics at least 30 minutes before bedtime.
  • Follow a calming nighttime ritual. This might include activities that trigger your brain into “shut-down mode” like dumping all of your thoughts onto a piece of paper so you can save your worries for tomorrow. Make a mental “turn off” point.
  • Keep your bedroom cool, quiet, dark and tidy to make it more relaxing (if you have a night owl husband, I highly recommend earplugs and an eye mask!)
  • Go to bed and wake up at the same times each day.
  • If you have babies or other things that wake you up, try to compensate. Give yourself even more time to sleep in or go to bed earlier. Take short naps. Try to adjust your work schedule. Ask for help from your husband or support network so you can find the time you need to rest.
  • Keep a sleep diary and track your patterns throughout the day so you can identify what might be causing sleep deprivation (I recommend this one).

Now, as I said in the last section, some people are suffering from more complex health conditions, whether mental, physical, or often both. If this is you, seek help from a medical professional. If they don’t have the answers, ask another one. Don’t stop searching for answers.

These are all simple strategies. The hardest part is deciding, or giving yourself permission, to follow them.

Need help making rest a priority in your life? Sign up for the Choose Rest Challenge and get notified when the next posts in these series come out. Next week, we’ll be talking about how to choose rest mentally and emotionally.

 

If you’re always tired, how much sleep do you get a night? Which of these strategies will you try?

Filed Under: Choose Rest, Stress Management

Feeling Overwhelmed? Choose Rest for a More Peaceful Life

September 14, 2017 by Gina Poirier 4 Comments

Feeling overwhelmed with the chaos of everyday life? I believe there’s a better way. That’s why I started this four part series on how you can choose rest. If you want to learn more about how to choose rest, be sure to sign up for the StressLESS free email course by clicking below!

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This headline popped up in my Facebook newsfeed. I couldn’t resist clicking because this topic was so familiar to me. The reporter interviewed families and researchers to get a snapshot of the typical middle class American home: frantic schedules, more toys than people know what to do with, and a general attitude of “well that’s just the way it is.” I was sad to reach the end and see that there was no solution or hope offered; so many parents are simply feeling defeated.

I’ve been caught in that cycle myself.

Not too long ago, I was feeling overwhelmed as a mom of small children and just accepted that this was my lot in life. In 2013, I had three of them under the age of four. As they got older, the demands on my body, time and energy changed, but the stress level really didn’t. The clutter piled up throughout the house; our schedule got fuller with activities and demands. And I saw the direction we were headed as I watched some of my friends with older kids get swamped with life.

In 2016, I decided to make same changes. It started with cleaning out my closet and it’s still in process as I grapple with the biblical concept of rest.

Related post: What Happened When Our Family Got Rid of Most of Our Clothes

To be honest, I can’t say that I’m completely out of the woods when it comes to everyday overwhelm and I doubt I ever will be. But there’s a difference in mindset that has made a profound difference in the way I look at my life.

Rest is a choice.

feeling overwhelmed | encouragement | stress management Luca Upper

Disclosure: this post contains affiliate links. See here for more information.

Why To Choose Rest When You’re Feeling Overwhelmed

Rest is not a new concept, but it is unfamiliar to many of us in the way we live. In Present Over Perfect, Shawna Niequist writes about the trap moms fall into; we “fake rest.” There’s no such thing as a lazy Sunday afternoon; we pack productivity into every margin of the day: folding laundry, wiping counters and catching up on phone calls. If we get that special moment to collapse into a nap it’s out of sheer necessity and we feel guilty afterwards.

Or maybe that’s just me.

Fake rest is the way of the world, friends. It is not the way of God.

What do you mean, Gina? I hear you say. The Christian life is one of self-sacrifice, is it not?

Yes it is. And that’s why maybe we need to sacrifice the old way of thinking: that I will work myself to death for my family and community, and somehow be more righteous in the end.

God instituted rest from the beginning. In the creation account (Genesis 1) he rested. A weekly holy day of rest was one of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20). He commanded his people to even let the land rest every seven years (Exodus 23). He has built cycles of rest into nature: days, nights, seasons.

Why?

Perhaps when we choose rest, we acknowledge that we can’t do it all or be it all. If Jesus himself had no qualms about taking naps, sneaking off by himself, and shutting all but his inner circle out from time to time, why do we treat self-care like it’s some luxury or guilty pleasure?

Related post: Should Christian Moms Prioritize “Me Time”?

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28–30).

Perhaps when we choose rest, we give God the opportunity to show us how he works.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed with life, I want you to know that there’s hope, that you can break the cycle, that you can choose rest. Rest is physical, mental/emotional and spiritual.

It isn’t easy. In fact, choosing rest takes faith. But I can tell you from experience that the rewards are abundant and everlasting.

Next in the series I’ll be digging into the ways we can choose rest physically, mentally/emotionally, and spiritually. Click to read: Always Tired? How To Choose Rest for Your Body.

Don’t forget: if you love this topic, don’t miss  StressLESS.

Are you feeling overwhelmed with life? What do you think are some ways you might choose rest?

 

Filed Under: Choose Rest, Stress Management

How I Manage Anxiety with 5 Calming Steps

August 24, 2017 by Gina Poirier Leave a Comment

Do you get anxious? Yeah, me too. That’s why I developed this five-step process to manage anxiety, so I can pray and talk myself down in a powerful and effective way. Click below to get access to printable anxiety-buster prompts, so you access this strategy at any time. It’s just one of many resources available in my resource collection for Christian moms.

This past weekend my brain was in a fog. Our family has had a very busy few weeks with guests visiting from out of town, day trips and starting school. Not to mention I was feeling a lot of work pressure and so was my husband.

I hadn’t had much time to rest and so my stress level was…kinda high. To top it all off, it’s felt like our finances have gotten out of control. We have a vacation coming up soon that we’re pretty locked into, but to make a long story short, the unexpected has happened. Repeatedly. The numbers aren’t looking good.

For someone who really prides herself on being “in control,” these conditions are a foolproof recipe for high anxiety. Not to mention guilt and fear and shame and a host of other related emotions.

Anxiety looks a little different for everyone. Your heart can start racing at the speed of your thoughts; your breath gets shallow; you can’t sleep; you’re panicky and scared. Maybe you drift into a full-blown panic attack where your whole world is spinning; or if you’re like me, the anxiety hums in the background while your life hurtles along at breakneck speed.

(By the way, panic attacks are a sign you need to seek professional help. There’s no shame in that.)

Since I’ve become a stress management coach, I’ve fortunately picked up some tools to manage anxiety as well. (Surprise! Stress and anxiety are related!) When I get worked up, this process helps me calm down quickly and effectively.

Related Post: Stress Management: 5 Surprising Truths for the Busy Mama

5 Steps To Manage Anxiety

Manage Anxiety | Control Anxiety | Defeat Anxiety Biblically

Photo by Suhyeon Choi on Unsplash

1. Deep Breathing

It almost seems too simple. But when we’re anxious, we forget how to breathe. Instead of inhaling deeply with the diaphragm, our breaths are shallow and our pulse races; we don’t get enough oxygen, which stresses our bodies out even more. You can see how this might quickly spiral out of control.

Breathing deeply slows down the heart rate and the release of stress hormones. It will instantly make you feel better in the height of an anxious moment.

So here’s how to be better at breathing:

  • Practice it when you’re calm. Like, daily. I’ve made it a part of my morning ritual to take several deep breaths when I start to pray. From time to time I also do deep breathing with my kids before they go to bed (because they need practice too!).
  • Check if you even know how to breathe properly. Lie flat on your back and place your hands over your belly. Breathe from the diaphragm, which is the muscle beneath your lungs. Your belly should rise significantly. Shallow breathing, on the other hand, comes from the top of your chest and is not nearly as effective making your calm.
  • When you’re in the height of anxiety, stop. Think of breathing and nothing but breathing for a few minutes. Count how many seconds you inhale and exhale; focus on your diaphragm; listen to your body. Observe as it naturally becomes more relaxed.

2. Ask: What Are You Afraid Of?

I ask myself this question to manage anxiety because anxiety is rooted in fear. I believe God created us with the capability to be anxious because it can protect us from danger, which is sometimes appropriate (sociopaths have like zero anxiety). But anxiety gets out of control because sometimes our fears aren’t rational.

I get out a pen and paper and just start writing and praying through my fears. Usually there’s more than one; they’re often connected. The more specific I can be, the better.

With the aforementioned financial situation, some of my fears include:

  • I have failed in financial management.
  • We are failing in our marriage because we can’t manage our money well.
  • We might have to go into debt.
  • We might never get out of that debt.
  • God is punishing me.
  • My family will suffer.
  • People will judge me.

I’ll admit, it’s not easy, especially when you see how ridiculous some of your fears look on paper. But it creates a new perspective.

Related: 10 Bible Verses about Anxiety—for the Mama Who Fears Failure

3. Ask: Are Those Fears Valid?

Look at your fears (or mine, if you need inspiration). Hopefully it’s obvious that some of them are more valid than others.

Whenever I do this exercise to manage anxiety, it makes me aware of a much bigger story. Namely, that I have an enemy whose mission is to feed my lies and turn me away from God (See Genesis 3:1, 1 Peter 5:8 and John 8:44, for starters). But it’s my choice whether I want to believe those lies or not.

This part is tricky because a lot of lies are half-truths (Satan’s a pro at those). That’s why it’s so important to get as specific as possible about your fears and break them down. For example: perhaps I have failed in financial management. But is that even an accurate way to describe the situation? By assessing the validity of my fears, I’m forced to get even more specific. I made a mistake about one or two decisions. But that doesn’t make me a failure overall. And that doesn’t mean we’ll suffer or that people will judge me.

I highly recommend using scripture against some of your fears to clarify what is true and what is false. One of my regular go-tos is 1 Corinthains 12:9.

Related post: Words of Encouragement: 3 Ways To Use the Bible When Mama’s Losing It

I also find that making a mind map or flow chart can be very effective in this stage of managing anxiety. Instead of writing on lines, make bubbles and lines and get messy on your blank sheet of paper. Go nuts. It helps.

4. Surrender What You Can’t Control

Once you’ve hashed out your fears and determined what is valid, then you have to figure out what to do with that information. My fear is that we’ll go into debt because of some car repairs. That’s a valid fear. What’s outside of my control?

Well, I know that my past decisions are outside of my current control. I also know that many future circumstances are outside of my control.

I’ve got to let those things go. In prayer, I give them over to God.

1 Peter 5:6–7 says, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” Perhaps you know the second part, but it comes after the first. We must humble ourselves to let go of those things we so tightly grasp.

5. Act On What You Can Control

This might be my favorite step because I am a woman who looooves control. But I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to save this step for last. Otherwise you risk wasting your time and energy on the things you really have no power over.

Once you’ve thoroughly examined your fears and you’ve surrendered them to God (which you might have to do repeatedly, by the way), it should be fairly evident what you can do next. In my case, my husband and I need to simply go over our financial goals and our budget again so that we can be better prepared for the future.

But even then we’re not going to be in control of the unexpected. All we really have control over is the way we prepare for the unknown, and the way we respond.

If you found these tips helpful, you might enjoy printable the printable worksheet I created that will guide you through the process to manage anxiety, which you can find in my free resource collection for moms. You might also enjoy my 5-day email course, StressLESS. Sign up below for access to BOTH!

 

What makes you worked up? Are there any steps you take to manage anxiety?

Filed Under: Stress Management

Should Christian Moms Prioritize “Me Time”?

July 5, 2017 by Gina Poirier 2 Comments

Ever wondered if it was okay for you to get more “me time” but you’re not sure if you actually need or deserve it? You’re not the only one. Read on…

Me Time Christian Moms

Photo by kosal ley on Unsplash

Related Post: Stress Management: 5 Surprising Truths for the Busy Mama

“I’m struggling with not enough time for me right now.”

I got this message from one of my readers recently when I asked moms what they were wrestling with. I shook my head in understanding…because it’s a sentiment I’ve heard again and again.

She went on: “I feel like a brat saying that, but in the hustle and bustle of motherhood I sometimes feel like I’ve lost myself.”

It’s an issue I think so many of us relate to. We know we should probably be taking better care of ourselves—“filling up our tanks,” so to speak—so that we have more to give.

But then we feel guilty…because isn’t a life of self-sacrifice the Christian way to live?

There is a lot of secular self-help information out there about stress relief, finding yourself and meeting your full potential.

You may have heard the analogy of the oxygen mask; on a plane that’s losing air pressure you’re supposed to put your own mask on first before helping someone else, and the same applies with your personal energy.

That’s all fine and good in theory, but…are these conceptions of “me time” and “self-care” actually Biblical?

And what about practical questions like:

  • Is it okay for me to be on my phone when I’m with my kids?
  • Do I have to get up early to read my Bible?
  • Whose needs come first: mine? My husband’s? My kids’?
  • Do I really need to suck it up and go to church when I’m feeling so exhausted I can barely move?
  • Can I say “no” when someone asks for my help? (Really, not just in theory?)
  • Can I spend money on something frivolous or indulgent and not feel guilty?

It’s tricky territory, striving to live a life that imitates Christ but doesn’t leave you so drained that you end up feeling exhausted, spiritually empty and resentful.

I think about this a lot, and I think that while self-care is essential for Christians, it might not be in the way you think.

I have the honor of being a contributing writer at Equipping Godly Women; click here to read the rest of this post!

If you’re struggling to make time to take care of yourself amidst a busy schedule, check out my free 5-day email course called StressLESS to discover the truth about “me time.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: Encouragement for Moms, Stress Management

Stress Management: 5 Surprising Truths for the Busy Mama

June 3, 2017 by Gina Poirier 4 Comments

I’ve come to realize over the past few months that one thing most moms have in common is stress. Stress over parenting, work, managing the home, scheduling, marriage, money and more. So when I was looking for some training I could pursue to better serve you as my readers, Christian stress management just made sense. So…

While having a cool certificate means I have some very helpful tools and information in my knowledge bank, I realized over the course of my training that I was already more equipped in stress management than I thought I was. And chances are, so are you.

I thought it would be helpful to break some of what I’ve learned down into five basic truths. While there are a lot of practical suggestions for stress management and relief out there, what I don’t see a lot of is the why, particularly for anyone with a Christian worldview. And so that’s a big part of what I want to contribute in my little space on the Internet.

In addition to this post on stress management for moms, I’d also like to introduce my five-day email course that goes into this topic in much more detail. Sign up below!

Stress Management: 5 Surprising Truths for the Busy Mama

Stress Management | Stress Relief | Busy Moms

1. The Stress Response Was Created by God (and It’s Not Bad)

When your start to care about something—be it trivial, like what to eat for dinner, or more substantial, like a loved one’s illness—your body responds physiologically. Your attention and your senses are heightened. Adrenaline and cortisol are released. Your heart beats faster; you mobilize your energy and start to sweat. You’re motivated to act and might be anxious or excited.

You may have heard of this defined as “fight or flight,” so named because these reactions help us respond in an emergency.

The problem is, when your body is in this state too much and doesn’t receive adequate recovery time, you can start to suffer. Chronic stress leads to a host of complications including anxiety disorders, addictions and a weakened immune system.

What many people don’t know is that stress has benefits, aside from enabling you to respond quickly. It can also help you reach out to others and grow in your knowledge and wisdom.

Related: Why Stress is Actually Good For You

Stress is not bad. It just has to be understood and properly managed. When I first started studying it, it dawned on me that God has known this and has been sharing this with us all along:

Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.
Romans 5:3–4, NIV

2. There Are Things You Can Control (and Things You Can’t)

Perhaps you’ve heard of the Serenity Prayer, attributed to Reinhold Niebuhr:

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
And wisdom to know the difference.

Someone once told me that the only things we really have control over are our little daily decisions. And over time, these decisions add up and help determine the course of our lives.

This is important to recognize in stress management because sometimes we spend way too much time agonizing over the things we can’t control, when we could be a lot more productive focusing on the things we can.

I call the things you can’t control stress environments and events. These include things like your workplace, your relationships, where you live, death, divorce, job change, new marriage, new baby or a move. In some cases you can remove yourself from these stressors, but sometimes you can’t.

But let’s talk about the things you can control. In essence, these are the things that either help you when you’re responding to stress, or hurt you. I call them aggravators and stabilizers.

Aggravators are poor responses to stress and unhealthy practices in your life.

Stabilizers are conditions and habits in your life that can minimize the impact of stress.

It takes work, but focusing on these two things can make you much more resilient to the stressors in your life you can’t control.

3. You Have Control Over Your Thoughts

I’m going to talk about one of the aggravators that can wreak havoc on your stress levels. You could call it negative thinking; I think it might be more accurately described as believing the enemy’s lies:

“I have to be perfect.”

“I need to be more like that other mom.”

“I need to read my Bible and pray in a certain way in order to be a good Christian.”

These lies come subtly and are easy to consume. We turn them over and over in our heads until we’re paralyzed and stressed out.

There’s a better way:

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
Philippians 4:4–9, NIV

You have control over your thoughts. It takes a ton of work, but you can actually retrain your brain to focus on what’s true, noble and right.

Related: The Science of Choosing Your Thoughts

4. You Have Control Over Your Boundaries

My tendency as a mama is to take the weight of the world on my shoulders. Not only do I worry about my kids and making the perfect life for them, but I worry about pleasing everyone around me—extended family, church family, work demands, you name it.

But when I’m not careful, I can skyrocket my stress level with this powerful aggravator called poor boundaries.

When you have poor boundaries, you take more ownership than you need to in stressful situations. You try to fix problems that aren’t yours. You have a hard time saying “no.” Not only does this steal other people’s freedom to own their own problems (even within your own family!), but you can start sliding down the slippery slope of resentment and blame.

And of course, through it all, stress hormones continue to pump through your body.

Proverbs 14:10 says, “Each heart knows its own bitterness, and no one else can share its joy.” While you can empathize with other people’s problems, coach them, and pray for them, you can’t and shouldn’t own them. Do you see the difference?

Better boundaries are something I have been working on for years in the way I spend my time and where I invest my heart. If you have difficulty setting boundaries, you’re probably not going to get an instant fix..

But you can start working on this anytime. Say no to the responsibilities that aren’t yours to take.

5. You Have Control Over Rest

God invented rest and practiced it on the seventh day of the creation account we read in Genesis 1–2. He made his day of rest, called the Shabbat, holy, or set apart as something special. He sat back, celebrated the completion of his work, and enjoyed what he had made. Later, he commanded his chosen people, the Israelites, to do the same at the end of their work week.

In Christ we are “not under the law, but under grace” (Romans 6:14), meaning that we’re not going to face the death penalty if we don’t keep a weekly Shabbat. But…maybe we’re missing out?

I define adequate rest as a stabilizer when it comes to your personal stress level. We’re better equipped to respond to what life throws at us when we’re better rested—not only physically, but mentally and spiritually too.

We need rest. Otherwise, not only do we get run down, but we also forget about our Creator who wants us to celebrate his creation with him.

I’ve found that what is truly restful isn’t always convenient. Sometimes you’ll just have to “let it go” when the work you so desperately want to finish has to sit another day. Just remember that, for many centuries, people have trusted God to provide when they chose not to work and to honor him instead.

 

I hope you’ve found these truths helpful as you seek to implement Christian stress management. When you’re mindful about managing your stress, not only do you equip yourself to be a better parent and spouse, but I believe you also give more space for God to work in your life.

To learn more, I’d encourage you to sign up for my free email course, StressLESS, in which you’ll get five lessons over five days. I’ve also got a lot of other stress management content on the docket, so stay tuned!

Click here to subscribe

Now it’s your turn, mama: are you stressed out? Which of these five stress management principles helps you the most?

 

 

 

Filed Under: Encouragement for Moms, Stress Management

How a 7-Day Time Log Helped Me Get My Daily Schedule Under Control

May 19, 2017 by Gina Poirier 2 Comments

As someone who is constantly struggling with time management, I heard about how keeping a 7-day time log can help you better visualize and manage your daily schedule. I decided to try it out and learned a ton! I created and used a printable time log, which you can access as part of my free resource collection.

I recently did a survey of my readers about their personal levels of stress. There was no shocking news; moms are generally under a lot of demands and pressure. The three areas that moms seem to have the most trouble with when it comes to their stress levels are:

  1. Managing their regular schedule
  2. Making enough time for recreation and personal growth
  3. Financial stability

You know what’s interesting about all three areas? They all have to do with limitations in our resources.

Most of us know about limitations on money. There is only so much of it. Once you spend it, it’s gone—and if you go into debt, you will literally pay for it later. That’s why it just makes sense to track where your money is going and have a budget.

For some reason we have difficulty thinking about time in the same way: a limited resource that has to be budgeted.

Every time I check, there are 24 hours in a day, 7 days a week. Time is different than money because we all have the exact same allocation. But time is like money because we can track where it goes and plan how to spend it.

Time Log Printable | Time Management

How a 7-Day Time Log Helped Me Get My Daily Schedule Under Control

Personally, I have always had difficulty budgeting my time. I’m the equivalent of a shopaholic; but instead of buying clothes I’m addicted to things like productivity and efficiency. I will squeeze every last drop out of a spare moment I have to get something done and checked off my list. But inevitably I overbook, I tend to take shortcuts, and I get frustrated and burnt out.

In the past year I’ve been doing a lot of research and heart work about managing stress and how I should be spending this very precious and limited resource we all have but often waste: time.

I came across a strategy recently that I found very intriguing: keeping a 7-day “time log.” It’s different than keeping a schedule. A schedule is what you plan to do; a time log is what you actually do.

Some people are familiar with tracking their activity at work because it holds them accountable to their professional expectations. In the same way, we all have certain expectations of ourselves in our home and with our families, whether we’re aware of them or not. So it only makes sense; why not check in with ourselves and see how we’re actually spending that precious time and measuring up to our own expectations?

Related: Goal Setting for the Lazy Mom

So that’s what I did. I started keeping track. For 168 straight hours I monitored and recorded my activities on a simple time log. I started on a Friday because that’s when I got the whim, and I ended the following Thursday.

Time Log Printable

Here’s how this process helped me get my schedule and time management under control.

Getting Enough Sleep Takes Effort

Lately, as I’ve been trying to manage my own stress levels better, I’ve tried to be very aware of my own sleep patterns. Previously I thought that I needed about seven hours of sleep to function well; the truth is, after some experimentation, I actually do much better with eight. Keeping a time log illustrated for me in a very visual way what my daily routine needs to look like if I am going to get the sleep I really need. Essentially, I need about 2.5–3 hours from the time I start the kids’ bedtime routine to the time I am unconscious. That includes time to unwind personally and with my husband.

Things Take More Time Than You Think

In my head I must be much more productive than I actually am in real life. My imagination thinks that I magically put dishes away and take a shower and cook with lightning speed. What the time log taught me was that I am not a superhuman and that all those mundane little tasks take up a ton of time! And I need to plan accordingly if I’m not going to feel like I’m in a rush all the time.

Related: How To Rock Your Schedule

Taking Care of Kids is No Joke

Stay-at-home moms despise this question: “What do you DO all day?” Well, with my time log I can tell you exactly what I do. I spend approximately 9–10 hours each day ACTIVELY caring for my kids and for my home, including cooking, cleaning, and other chores; not to mention homeschooling, activities and all the other demands like teaching certain short people how to share. I was very particular about how I recorded this; any time that I spent relaxing or taking care of myself, or even watching a movie with the family, I didn’t count as “active.”

Oh, and I don’t get weekends off from this “momming” thing, although it’s slightly easier when my husband is around.

The point is, motherhood is more than a full-time job. Try keeping the time log, moms. Then show it to the skeptics.

Breaks Are Crucial

In addition to tracking what I did in the time log, I kept record about how I was feeling. If I felt anxious, I wrote it down. If I felt calm, I wrote it down. What I discovered is that if I’m not intentional about getting little breaks throughout the day, I start to lose my cool. I need some personal time three times a day: the first thing in the morning, at lunch, and after the kids go to bed. The morning and lunch respites are especially critical if I don’t want to turn into a bear by mid-afternoon.

Related: How To Manage Stress by Being Productively Lazy

The Daily Rhythm is Sacred

Call me a creature of habit. But the days that felt the best were the ones we were in a good rhythm and routine. When I get up at the same time, follow the same predicable schedule, and get a reasonable amount of work done with the kids and around the house, I’m generally feeling pretty satisfied. What’s more, the kids seem to be more at ease too. I know that not every day can be exactly alike, but I am more convinced than ever that routine, however loose or structured you like it, is key to sanity.

It’s an Ongoing Learning Process

Having said that, the ideal rhythm and routine within the home is always in flux. Perfection isn’t possible or really even the goal; finding different methods that work for particular seasons and moments in time is. For example, during the week I kept my time log, I had a particularly long grocery list and I had to take all three kids with me to the big box store. The whole excursion, from writing my shopping list to putting food away when we got home, took over two hours and was hard on all of us. I wrote a note on the time log that next time I take all three, I should better prepare them and myself for what that trip is ideally going to look like. However, each week my shopping plan varies slightly. I just have to adjust and do the best that I can to make it work.

What Next?

By the time my seven days were up I was more than ready to end my little experiment (my notes got increasingly less detailed). I learned a lot about myself and what gaps were in my daily routine that I could address accordingly when planning out my schedule each week.

I think ideally I’d like repeat this process again every few months, because when the seasons change, our schedules usually need to adjust too.

If you’d like to keep a daily time log, I can’t recommend it enough. Here are a few helpful tips:

  • Use a time-blocking system with 15-minute increments. You could just keep track on a lined piece of paper, but I just found it really helpful to visually see how my time was divided into increments each day. I made a handy little printable that was very helpful for me.
  • Keep notes not just about what you do, but how you feel. In particular, note when you’re feeling low or high energy, or when you’re feeling stress or various emotions.
  • Color code different types of activity. You can do this after you’re done recording. This can be a bit of a challenge if you’re like me and you multi-task, but just realize that it’s not an exact science. I ended up lumping “actively taking care of kids” and “actively taking care of house” into the same group, because I was likely working on both simultaneously.
  • Take the time to assess after you’re done. Otherwise there is no point to this exercise. Where are your stress points? What patterns do you see? What can you cut out (and what can’t you cut out?) Where are you wasting time? What do you need to add?

7 Day Time Log Printable

If you’d like to keep your own time log, you can download this printable, which is in my free resource collection.

Well, what do you think? Do you think a time log can help you get your daily schedule under control?

 

Filed Under: Home Organization, Stress Management

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I'm Gina, a happily married mom of four and stress management coach. I help exhausted, overwhelmed moms find peace and purpose in the everyday. Be sure to sign up for tons of free resources that will help you stop just surviving and start thriving! Read More…

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