Welcome to Mom Motivation Mondays where weekly contributing writers share their motherhood experiences to encourage you to find the joy in being a mom.

{This week: Post by Lauren Gaines}

Being a stay at home mom was my dream job growing up. Now don’t get me wrong, I love my husband and kids. They always know how to bring a smile to my face and cheer me up. But there are days where I sometimes question my “profession” as a stay at home mom.

I often feel disorganized and like I never get to anything on my to-do list. I also occasionally ask myself questions like:

Am I doing enough?

What am I doing with my life?

I recently discovered putting myself on a schedule as a SAHM makes a huge difference in life!

I thrive with structure in my day. When I have too much time on my hands I often feel unmotivated.

Being a SAHM sounds great because you have a lot of time, but it has it’s drawbacks too.

I don’t have someone telling me what to do like I did at work. I also don’t have specific tasks to accomplish like I did as a school psychologist. If I don’t organize my time, I find less purpose in my day.

Here are a few things I’ve done to improve the structure in our home.

My Stay-at-Home Mom Schedule

First, I wake up before my kids. I need those moments of peace and quiet before the chaos begins.

I notice a big difference when I do this! I feel refreshed and ready to take on the day. Depending how late they sleep I may even be able to check some things off my to-do list.

After breakfast with the kids we have free play. I’m not sure why, but they are always best at independent play in the morning. This gives me more time to straighten up or quickly check social media.

Now that our kids are down to one nap a day I’ve been trying to plan an activity in the morning. Whether it’s going out, taking our daughter to preschool or hanging out at home I like to have an idea of what we are going to do. I try to plan this the night before.

In my planner I write down a list of manageable tasks to accomplish the next day. I love checking things off this list throughout the day!

During nap time, I try to do the difficult tasks first.

I’ve found if I just lay on the couch and scroll through social media, I fall into a trap! I never end up getting to anything on my to-do list. If I don’t start cleaning up or rinsing a few dishes right away it will never happen and I’ll keep putting it off.

Many times the first step is the hardest! Once you get going it’s easier.

I know it may sound simple and silly, but sitting down at night and planning our day has made a big difference. I’m more focused, determined and I don’t fall into the trap of “I’ll get to it later.” Because let’s be honest, later never comes!

How do you stay organized as a SAHM? Do you have a stay-at-home mom schedule that works for you?

Lauren has a background in school psychology and recently became a stay at home mom. She loves empowering women to parent joyful, healthy, Godly children. Come find support in motherhood, faith, healthy living, relationships and more as Lauren journeys through life as a daughter, wife and mother. Follow Lauren at Heart of Deborah, or on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter.