LIFE: The pressure of trying to keep up

Life is busy at the best of times, but when you add children into the mix it quickly heads to a whole new level. Prior to having Isabella I was a very organised worrier who wanted to get my to-do list completed yesterday, whether that be at work or home. Throughout maternity leave I learnt to become more relaxed about getting tasks done, doing anything with a newborn is a challenge at the best of times. It didn't stop me trying though - I remember spending 7 hours cooking a lasagne for dinner because I didn't want to stop having home cooked meals...madness!
Maternity leave was the perfect time to slow the pace of life down and try to focus on this incredible bundle of joy that had just entered our lives. I did manage to do this for the majority of the time and really enjoyed putting the never ending to-do list to the back of my mind. Obviously the fact that I wasn't at work helped because a lot of my work is actually done outside of 'working hours' (i.e. at home). I enjoyed a very stereotypical maternity leave lifestyle - many tea and cake meet ups, strolls around the park, picnics, baby groups, NCT friends...some could say a lady of leisure, just with a baby in tow. I loved every second of it, I mean who wouldn't?

But then the dreaded return to work date suddenly came around and life inevitably had to change. I was so lucky that I managed to negotiate returning part-time, so the maternity leave lifestyle I had so enjoyed didn't have to come to a complete stop. But that dreaded to-do list returned with a vengeance and I've felt a bit overwhelmed by life ever since. I can't blame work because at the moment I don't have a tremendous amount to do at home, but it's the life admin to-do list that has been playing on my mind. It's the washing, cleaning, tidying, blogging, running a business, gardening, food shopping, meal planning, cooking, organising, future planning, parenting that have all been contributing to the pressure and constant feeling of trying to keep up. It's left me feeling swamped at times and just generally useless when I don't get around to doing enough of the jobs. I have lists on my phone, iPad, laptop and in notebooks...they're all around the house with the aim of helping me, but actually are they hindering?

A complete lack of motivation has really not helped - I think I just feel a bit of overwhelmed by everything, so I don't do anything. Anyone else like this sometimes? I'm currently making some small changes to try and help with this, hopefully having a positive impact on my life. I believe being a parent is the best role to have in someone's life and I love almost everything that comes with it. It's the lack of time for everything else that is leaving me feeling such a pressure to try and keep up and that needs to change. You may have noticed that I have stopped publishing a blog post on Mondays, which has been one of the changes I've made to help feel more settled again. I now publish blog posts on Tuesday (a baby friendly recipe), Wednesday, Friday and Saturday (Toddler style), so hopefully there's still plenty for everyone to enjoy :)

As I'm sitting here now Isabella is napping, I'm writing this blog post (as well as scheduling tweets, keeping up with my etsy shop, replying to comments on twitter, choosing winners for a giveaway I recently ran on my blog, pinning ideas for work, stamping some joggers and writing a food shopping list...forever doing a million and one things at once), my husband is outside doing some gardening and yet I'm still worrying that not enough is getting done. What am I going to do about it? Stop writing this blog post and get more stuff done!

How do you try and keep on top of everything?

Feel free to leave a comment :)

Helen x