Would you say that you are living a meaningful life as a Mom? While it was brought to my attention by my dear daughter that I am the best Mom in the world. There were days when I felt as I was the worst mom because I allowed other things to control my time. I don’t live like the typical American Mothers. Most moms work full-time, send their children to school, and only spend 2 hours a night with their children. I do the opposite, I am a homeschool educator, work part-time, spend lots of time with my daughter and run multiple business from home. No this doesn’t make me better than the next mom, however I am positioned to teach other mothers how to become more intentional as a mother.

In this season you want to become more intentional about how this life at this moment will works for you, your family, and those who are dear to you. In realizing this, you have to understand that things aren’t going to be straight and narrow or go the way you want to go but in order to be more purposeful as a mom, we have to be unconventional. Let’s talk about 10 ways you can start to live more intentional in 2019.

1. Monitor your social media. Social media can wreck your intentions. We sometimes get lost in time and trans in scrolling. There are so many people doing so many things, and you feel like the odds are against you because so many people are doing what you do. But no one can do it like you. After my daughter told me that I spend too much time on my phone, I felt horrible, because I realized how much it had taken over my life. I then, took advantage of the Screen Time tracking that’s within my smart phone settings. While tracking my time, I was clocking at 6-7 hours on social media per day! Yikes, time not well spend! You may have a monitoring app that helps you track how long you are on social media. Here is my sound advice: take 15 minutes later in the morning to check in on your news feeds, 15 minutes mid-day and 15 minutes at night. This will allow you to focus on gaining favor in your line of work, for yourself, your family and the Most High Divine.
2. Create uninterrupted working time. Working from home can be a challenge when you have children who have needs and a list of demands that need to met but it is imperative to block your schedule on a daily basis to focus on expanding your capacity in your work. Find 30 minutes in the morning before the little ones awake to identify 3 things that are a high priority for that day and create the time to completes the task through the day. Putting to much on your plate, will not allow you to focus or finish. So do the work, one step at a time.
3. Abandon Business Goals. The point of working from home is to spend more time with your children and this is a priority. I often speak with clients who have a 10 goals this year for their business and I ask “does these goals include your family?” Sometimes our business goals can be filled with selfish ambitions and it knocks us off the trail our vision. So, ditch the business goals and focus on allowing the Most High God to lead you to the BIGGER vision of who you are becoming and this will allow you to start being more intentional in your business.
4. Pick 7 meals and rotate them. As a home educator, business owner, and working part-time, cooking every day is a challenge! It isn’t about meal planning, its about simplicity in your meals. You can plan a complicated meal or you can plan something that aligns with your dietary factors and make it work! Find 7 meals that your family enjoys and rotate them. I find that cooking most of meals on a Sunday and Monday and freezing what needs to be is helpful in time-management.
5. Take naps. The biggest debt in this world is sleep! There are so many people who are sleep deprived and as a Mother, we lack this in a big way. Find 10-30 minutes through your day to get your zzz’s. Your health depends on it.
6. Pitch the clothes that you don’t wear. I don’t go to an office, most of my time is spent at home. So I decided to throw out a ton of clothes that no longer serve a purpose and stick with clothes that bring me joy such as scrubs, black bottoms, a few pair of jeans and lots of tops! It is solely up to what you keep and what you pitch, but be sure that you use the KonMarie saying ” Does this bring me joy?” If it doesn’t, thank it for serving its purpose and bless it forward!
7. Simplify your home products. OMG, this is HUGE! Do you have tons of makeup? Do you have a ton of cleaning products? Simplify it! Most of the makeup you may have is expired or no longer an in-style color or even the products you have may be toxic ( if you are looking for chemical-free, environmental safe products, I recommend these http://www.modere.com/838880) . Go through all of your products and check the expiration date on them and get rid of outdated products.
8. Stick with a strict to-do list. As a mom, time flies daily, but having a must-do list will allow you to be intentional with your time. This is the “3 things I Must Do List”, that you create each morning. I suggest making a list of all the things you need to do through the week on Sunday and focusing on three at a time each day. This will make things go a lot smoother through the day. You just have to be consistent.
9. Shop online and ditch the stores. This happens to be something that isn’t unorthodox these days. More and more people are starting to shop on because it saves more time and you actually save more money. And not to mention, it is delivered directly to your door steps! I love the fact the fact the I can get all of my makeup, clothes, and other consumable products from one place ( check it out: http://www.themakeupmochmom.com ) Heck, you can even grocery shop online!
10. Focus on your man!! I know this seems wildly crazy but it is wildly needed. We spend so much time focusing on the kids, our must-do list, our calling, purpose and self,that we often neglect one of our greatest supporters, our hubbies. Go on more dates, have a romantic evening without the kids, sit on the porch after your children are sleeping and have a heart to heart conversation, engage in more pillow talks, ask him “what he needs?”, and have more sex! Focusing on your biggest supporter, can mean big win for you all, so don’t forget to focus on your man.

While this year is in full swing for many people, that we are intentional, brave, authentic, open to change, and life-learners.

How do you simplify your life? I would love for you to share your tips and if you love these tips, share this with Moms who need them.

I don’t know about you but winter can be hard on a sisters motivation! I always want to just hibernate until spring. But we all know that is not about to happen because we are not bears, we are humans. We just have to shift our mind-set about winter. This can actually be our most winning season! Yep, you can WIN in the WINTER! Let me share with you three things you can do to conquer the depressions of winter.

1. Conquer your clutter. I know that it seems everybody is saying “get rid of the clutter” but GIRL! clutter is BIG! Clearing it is life changing, seriously. Netflix ran a series about the KonMarie Method of cleaning and I loved it! If you don’t know who Marie Kondo is, you should youtube her. I read her book “The Magic of Tidying Up”, a few years ago and did a clean sweep of my home. Over the past summer, I did another clean sweep, getting rid of loads of clothes and 2 bulk pick ups. It seems as if you are getting rid of the your whole life but in some instances you are. Look at it as clearing away things that no longer align with who you are. This will help you prepare for the new season.
2. Run a Trial. I know you are thinking, “Ok what does that mean?” Well as you start prepare for a new season, start trying new things. Last week, I decided that I wanted to try a new dish. So I gathered the items on the recipe, cooked and sort of love it. There were a few ingredients that I could eliminate and replace with the ones I love. But trying it is the key to actually learning if you will love something. If you want to start a business, go for it! With so many direct sales companies on the market that cost very little to join, I am sure you can find one that suits your needs. Here is one I recommend for women, http://www.themakeupmochamom.com .If you want to start a new weight loss routine, try this for 30 days, http://bit.ly/ashotofwellness. If you want to do a marathon in the spring or summer, start saving your money, creating a work out and meal plan to jumpstart in the next 30 days. My mentor always said “be ready, so that you don’t have to get ready”. When you run a trial, you are only prepping yourself for the things that you want to achieve during the year or the month. But you must start with a plan. And if it doesn’t suit you, stop and start with a new thing until you find your thing.
3. Dial a friend. Listen, you are not the only one going through this cold, dry, dreary season, your friend is too! Checking in on each other is like having a warm bowl of soup, it’s comforting. We all go through it but we are not here to go through it alone. So girl, call your friend! Shoot, why not Facetime and have a good, belly bursting laugh! It will soothe your souls.

While we can not predict the weather, we can control how it affects our being. Having a good mind-set and putting forth the effort, will allow you to own you season.

Remember, you are one shot away from a completely different life.

What are you doing to win in the winter? I would love for you to comment and thank you for sharing!