5 Motherhood Hacks

A common question I get asked is 'do you ever sleep?' The answer is, yes, but I don't really require 8 hours like some do. I actually function worse on too much sleep, weird, I know. Don't get me wrong, there are days where I desperately need that 8 hours but 90% of the time I'm good on 5-6 hours a night and pretty peppy in the morning too! However, try hanging out with me past 10 pm and I can barely make it, especially if the lights are off and a movie is involved!

While I may not require a ton of sleep to get through the day, I have come up with a few little tricks, habits, or hacks, whatever you want to call them, to make motherhood easier in hopes to gain back some free time for myself! You may already do some of these things but if you've found something new to try, you're welcome!

BEDTIME/ ALONE SHOWER TIME // Putting Tracen to bed is a routine but one I have down pat. However, sometimes there are nights where I don't want to wait till he falls asleep to take a shower because that cuts into my time I want to spend with Jerek. So about once a week I'm completely selfish and I let Trace watch a show on my phone in bed. Yup, guilty "bad mom" move.  I then race off to the bathroom and take a quick 5-10 minute shower. I will also whiten my teeth and sometimes even self tan if I can squeeze it in before his 25 minute show is up. I don't do this every night and sometimes I don't do it every week but it saves me a good 30 minutes and I can go straight downstairs and snuggle up with Jerek and our beloved Netflix!

NETFLIX + EDITING // How do I manage to squeeze in watching shows on Netflix, Blogging AND editing for YouTube?! I literally do it all at once. I'm currently writing this post while watching Breaking Bad as well as uploading footage to edit for a video I filmed today after work. BOOM. Just like that, I'm one bad ass multitasking betch!

BLOG + YOUTUBE TIME // Similar to the above, I multi task while at work. I won't lie and say I don't do any other things at work, other than work! I mean who doesn't pay their bills and do personal things while at their 9-5! My usual routine is I come in, go to a few meetings and get a few hours of work in before I then take my 15 minute 'smoke' break. While those losers are killing their lungs, I'm working on some blog posts, editing some photos or even catching up on YouTube videos. This helps break up my days and gives my mind a rest from everything I'm stressing about. If I'm really busy or in meetings all day, then I save the personal stuff for lunch or at home. [Sorry if I called you a loser but seriously people, PUT DOWN THE WHITE STICKS, as Tracen would say!]

PLANNER // I'm old school when it comes to calendar and to-do organization. Occasionally I use the notes section in my phone to write things down when in a pinch but I don't rely on the calendar app, I use my good old paper planner! Next week I'll have a whole video on how I stay organized with kids, work and wedding planning so keep your eyes open for that!

WORKOUTS // I believe I've mentioned this before but my 'go to the gym' schedule is Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. I then try and do something active the other days IE: bike rides, walks or an at home workout. How I have it worked out is I go on Tuesday's and Thursday's usually at 745/8 pm while the boys are unwinding and watching shows with Jerek. I am then home right at 9 to start Tracen on his bedtime routine. Saturday's I usually sneak out by 8 am, if not earlier, while everyone is just waking up and watching cartoons in bed. I've tried many other days and times and this is what has worked SO SO well for us!

Hope you got a little glimpse into how I manage to squeeze in my fun stuff among the everyday mom stuff! But remember, I'm not super mom, I don't have 10 hands or more hours in a day than anyone else, I just try and use my time wisely. Know that there are weeks where I'm "barely" on social media, I forget to respond to emails or miss out on opportunities because I'm busy being a mom and fiancé. I'm not a full-time blogger. I blog and do YouTube for fun. Like all hobbies or things we do for ourselves, I've tried to figure out a routine that works well to make sure that my family is first before anything else.

Workout Schedule

Last month I talked about my January goals which you can find here if you want to read. One of them being 'get a work out plan together and actually stick to it.' Here is what I've figured out that will best fit my lifestyle as a full-time working mother of 2 that suffers from laziness and having too much on her plate at once. It's a real condition, I swear.

The Answer: small, concentrated workouts

The reason this will work for me is because of the above. I get up at 530/545am as it is and I REFUSE to get up any earlier than that to work out. I need SOME sleep to function and Sky doesn't sleep through the night like all you other lucky moms of a 5 month old. I also need a schedule, some type of structure, to push me. I can't just say every night after dinner I will work out. I have to have a plan as to exactly what I'm doing or I won't do it. So below is what I've come up with as a schedule, which was half the battle. Sticking to it is a whole other story and a conversation at a later date.

So here it is folks!

MONDAY/THURSDAY:

These are hard days. The beginning of the week where you dread going to work, let alone getting out of bed! This will get you excited for the week and excited that it's half way to the weekend! It's a great full body workout that gets all limbs moving.

TUESDAY/THURSDAY/SATURDAY:

These days I do the morning workout below, right before I shower. Then I will do my Jillian Michael's 30 day shred at night. Or if I'm really feeling feisty, in the morning (this will probably NEVER happen because as I said above, I NEED my sleep!)

WEDNESDAY/FRIDAY:
Bootay time! I should have also explained that I really want to work on my bubble butt...that I don't have...but want! You know, that real nice bootay that looks good in oh ANYTHING.

I've found a lot of these workouts through other blogs and Pinterest and have taken bits and pieces and put together my own plans. I then, printed each of these out so I can easily refer to what I need to do that day and not get on my laptop to search for them, which might will lead me to be on Youtube, watching hours of videos and NOT working out. I also keep these workout cards in the same spot, next to my weights, so I always know where they are. (TIP: If you don't know what a certain workout term means IE: Burpee, bridge, etc, Youtube that shit, don't just guess!)

Another thing I've found that is helpful is Spotify! They have workout play lists that are amazing. You no longer have to stop what you are doing to change a song because 'Train-Marry Me' comes on and you're sobbing like a baby...Just me?

I plan on making more workout cards once I try out more things but for now, this works.  In the days or weeks to come I might get real ballsy and show some 4 weeks post baby bod pictures compared to now and hopefully there is some improvement. We can then revisit the pictures at a later date and maybe I will look like this, but probably not. Oh and if you are wondering why there is nothing for Sunday, that's because I rarely get out of my sweats on Sundays. So unless I'm feeling real feisty will I even attempt to work out on these holy days.