A lot of new parents confront a common dilemma during this stage of crucial transition when the baby arrives. If you have a career, you also have to juggle that along with your family priorities. You may be able to manage the time and tasks at the office but the real challenge lies in managing your household such as caring for the baby, preparing meals, or keeping the house clean. If not well-managed, these tasks can bring a lot of stress.
Having a child for the first time may naturally tend to give you jitters particularly with a new setup. But
there is a solution to this. You just have to face and deal with your situation because it is only by experience that you would be able to find the best approach to your family life. Here are some of the proven and reliable solutions that you may find helpful in managing your time as a new parent.Set your priorities.
Knowing how to set priorities properly is among the most important skills that each parent, whether new or not, must exercise. The key here is discerning the difference in schedule as compared to when you were still on your own now that your child becomes your main obligation. Then, you will be able to make the suitable changes.
Determine your top priority: is it your child or your work? You have to be aware that every decision has its own trade-offs, you would therefore have to figure out which of these has the least trade-off.
You may also try making a “to-do” list for your daily activities. That way, you will be able to easily update the priorities you need to focus on.
Delegate other tasks.
When it comes homemaking, it is usually the wives’ duty to handle them. However, wives should not bear the sole burden of all the household chores. Delegate other tasks to your husband, or another family member living with you so you will avoid physical and emotional burn out.
If your husband is not familiar with domestic chores, this is a great time to get him started. Divide the chores at home such as dish washing, laundry, or house cleaning. If not, have him attend to the baby while you carry out some chores. Aside from
being able to finish the chores faster, it creates a bond and produces a good teamwork between both of you as parents.If your children are old enough, you can now ask them to assist you with the chores at home. Start by training them to fix their beds or tidy up their rooms, as well as placing their dirty clothes into the clothes hamper. Aside from the help you get from them, doing these chores also trains them to become responsible individuals.
Plan ahead.
For mothersfind it best to plan ahead the tasks that has to be done for the next day or week. One of these things is making a menu ahead of time. Hence, when it’s time to fix lunch or dinner for the household, you already know what to cook.
Creating a weekly menu increases your efficiency. This saves you the time and energy spent wondering about what to cook for dinner after a tiring day at the office.
When you have to go out with the family, you also need to plan your itinerary ahead of time. This will help you organize the things to be brought with you ahead and figure out if anything is missed. Adequate preparation will see to it that you will have all the things that will be needed.
Shop wisely and systematically
Grocery shopping usually takes an amount of time. To save time, write a list of the important items you need to buy. This will not only help make shopping quicker, but will also ensure that you don’t forget anything. Or else you would consume more time when you have to go back to get the items you’ve missed. If your budget affords, you would find that buying in bulk would save you even more money in the long run.
Time management generally entails bare common sense. Basically, when you have your priorities at set in good order, you are good to go.
