power hour
Every mom knows you have to take advantage of naptime. And in our house, we still have two naptimes per day. Not everyone necessarily falls asleep in the morning, but it’s quiet rest time—and that’s my power hour. (Afternoon naptime is my own version of rest time: writing time!)
Getting things accomplished during naptime has always been—and is still—my biggest struggle. I easily get bogged down in one task all morning long, only to realize that naptime is gone, everyone’s ready for lunch, and I’ve only accomplished one thing on my to-do list.
So instead of wasting my entire power hour on social media or the one item that above all others screams “tyranny of the urgent,” I’m trying to make use of my timer and my notebook. It doesn’t happen every day. And I’m still tweaking it. But here’s what I try to do for my power hour…
- I sit at my desk with my “next thing” notebook and my timer.
- I look at the day’s schedule to see what areas I’ve planned to concentrate on.
- I turn to that role’s section of my notebook, set the timer, and take care of the responsibilities for one role until it’s time to go on to the next.
- If I don’t finish, it’s okay, because I’ll be coming back to it again on another day.
How about you? Do you have a “power hour” in your day?
I’m glad I’m not the only mama who struggles during nap time with effectively spending my time 🙂 I do not have a “power hour” in so many words, but what has been working for me lately is “time blocking” my day and my house-stuff. So when baby is awake, we do dishes together. Then clean the floor while he’s having quiet play time. The only thing I never do when he is awake (so always nap time) is fold laundry. Too frustrating when he helps 😉 I also try to have reasonable expectations of him AND of me 🙂
I don’t know if that makes any sense… but that’s what I try to do.
Claire