When I'm asked: "How do you do it all?"

I am so proud of my accomplishments! I'm a mom, I'm an SVP, I'm on the Board of the Parent Teacher Association at my kiddo's school, and I coach my kiddo's basketball team.

When people ask me: "How do you do it all? You must be super woman. Or you must not sleep."

But the truth is quite different...

I am able to do all of those things because of the boatload of things I do not do. There are only so many hours in a day and only so much of me to go around.

For this post, I am going to tell you about what I do NOT do!!! And believe me, the list is long.

Before I dive into the laundry list of things I don't do, please remember that these are my tradeoffs. You must make your own tradeoffs, and they may look similar to mine or they may look very, very different. And that's okay!

#1 I do not cook. Cooking does not bring me joy or satisfaction. I find it overwhelming and stressful (and stinky). I cannot think straight at the grocery store, not to mention the dishes that come with a meal. Instead of wracking myself with pressure and guilt, I have chosen not to cook. My family and I eat takeout 7 days a week.

#2 I do not pair socks or turn shirts right-side-out. When I am folding load number five on Sunday evening, I toss all of the kiddos' socks into a pile and all of my husband's socks into a different pile. I then take those piles and dump them into their respective sock drawers.

#3 I don't worry about the mess in the house. My living room has toys strung about, there are bags and papers on my kitchen counter, and there are smudges on my baseboards.

#4 I also tried to stop sorting the silverware. I just dumped all the silverware from the dishwasher into the drawer, but that is where my husband drew the line. Hahaha.

As I said, there are only so many hours in a day and only so much of me to go around, so how did I pick which things to do and which things to not do?

I read this one time, and it has been my guiding principle ever since:

Whatever it is, try replacing

"I'm too busy to ______"

with

"______ is not a priority to me"

and see how it feels.

Cooking is not a priority to me. Check!

Pairing socks is not a priority to me. Check!

Living in a model home is not a priority to me. Check!

I make it seem so easy, so do I have it all figured out? Does this work 100% of the time?

Sadly no. For example, I don't exercise, but I should! If I'm Superwoman, then exercise is absolutely my kryptonite.

But this is just me. And this is just right now. I'm sure in 5 years, 10 years, 20 years, my priorities will shift just as they have in the last 5, 10, and 20 years before today.

The last thing I'll say is this:

Would some small part of me enjoy looking at an immaculate house and eating a home cooked meal? Of course!

Do I ever re-evaluate my priorities or second guess myself? Of course!

But above that, I am kind to myself, I trust my decisions, and I'm proud of my choices. And you know what, I'm doing the best that I can.

I want nothing more than the same for you!

--------------

The things I've written about here are things that work for me. Just because they work for me, does not mean they will (or should) work for you. This is just one out a million ways to do things. Take what you like, leave what you don't.

You do you. You're doing a great job!