Lesser-Known Planning Techniques Suitable Even for Mothers on Maternity Leave

Why do mothers need planning on maternity leave?

The term “planning” itself does not mean that your day should be scheduled by the minute, and any deviation from the schedule will cause pangs of conscience. This process can and should be approached creatively.

What will it give? You:

• stop wasting your strength and energy;
• you will achieve more in different areas of life;
• you will begin to enjoy life more (planning makes it possible to find time for interesting activities);
• stop chewing “mental chewing gum”: “you should do it in time”, “it’s time to run there”, “think about it”;
• you will reach a qualitatively new level of life — more conscious, pleasant and real.

In addition, planning will help you keep up with the main thing, weed out the secondary and organize things in a way that is convenient for you. This will help little-known, but effective methods of planning.

1. FLEXIBLE PLANNING

Write a plan for a long period of time — for example, for a month. Specify the results that you want to achieve during this time: change the curtains (for this you need to choose and buy them), knit a scarf for a child, write an article.

Make a rough plan for the day. It should include up to 10 items, of which 1-2 are global, the rest are daily routine processes: washing, cleaning, walking. The points of the plan can be transferred, but it is necessary to mark what has been done.

How does it look in practice? For example, you want to knit a scarf. With a rigid planning system, you wake up every morning at 6:00, sit down to work and do not get up until you have knitted ten rows. Under the terms of the decree, it is quite difficult to do this, especially if you do not have grandparents. With a flexible plan, you set yourself a goal for the month: knit a meter long scarf, and today you can knit three loops, and tomorrow you can knit 30 rows.

2. PLANNING BY SPHERE OF LIFE

Without noticing it, we are working every minute on one or another area. We clean — we are in the «home» sphere, we walk with the child — «children», we meet our husband from work — «relationships». In addition, it is important to find time for the areas of “physical development” (exercise, sports, massage, body care), “intellectual development” (books, courses), “emotional and sensory development” (watching movies, meeting friends), “ spiritual development ”(meditations, mantras, trips to the temple, whoever is closer).

How does it look in practice? Make a table with the names of the spheres of life in the header. In each column, list a list of potential cases. For each day, plan a maximum of three things in each direction, in the evening mark what is done.

3. BLOCK PLANNING

It is similar to the previous method, but here it is not spheres that are highlighted, but blocks of cases. Most likely, your affairs can be divided into functional blocks: household (cleaning, laundry, child care), cultural (family travel, leisure activities), educational (trainings and courses), creative (hobbies).

Of course, the first block takes the most time, but with proper planning, there will be enough strength for the rest.

How does it look in practice? Draw a table with block names in the header. For each day, write down tasks in each block, and in the evening mark what you have done.

4. USEFUL FIVE MINUTES

This method works great when you have a lot of small things to do, and you don’t have the opportunity or desire to allocate significant time for them. For example, you can devote a whole day to cleaning, spend a lot of effort and, as a result, have nothing more to do. And you can analyze one specific place three times a day for five minutes, and pretty soon the apartment will be transformed.

How does it look in practice? Write a big list of things that can be done in just 5 minutes: water the flowers, turn on the washing machine, hang up the laundry, put the ingredients in the slow cooker. Keep the list handy and, as soon as the time comes, cross off one of the items.

And to quickly restore strength, use cheat sheet «10 Ways to Boost Your Energy Levels in 5 Minutes»

5. PLANNING FOR THE WEEK

Plan not a day, but a week and move important things forward. Today you have a lot of energy and strength — cross out 5-7 points of the plan. Tomorrow you may need more time to rest.

How does it look in practice? Write a to-do list for the week, every night mark what has already been done.

6. ROUTINE PLANNING

Mom performs many routine actions that are periodically repeated. Something every day (washing, cooking, cleaning, washing), something weekly (change of bed linen, cleaning of outerwear). In order not to miss anything, you can plan things in blocks by day of the week and time of day.

How does it look in practice? Make a table of daily and weekly tasks and every day check what has already been done and what remains to be done.

7. ORDERED CHAOS

This method is suitable for creative individuals who do not like restrictions and routine. There are no tables and lists, and at the same time you can manage to do the main thing.

How does it look in practice? Write down in a notebook all the tasks that you face, allocate a page for each task: bake a cake, vacuum, sort out the laundry. The next time you have a free minute, take a look at your notebook and start doing one of the steps.

8. PLANNING WITHOUT A PLAN

It is important to focus on the three main areas that you will be working on today, and at least one point should bring joy.

How does it look in practice? Select three areas for the day: for example, «home», «child development» and «hobby». During the day, mentally return to the spheres, noting what has been done.

Yes, the days on maternity leave are similar to one another, and once and for all it is unlikely that it will be possible to redo all household chores. But you can plan your every day (week, month) so that it brings a little more pleasure.