Chaos

Feel that the days are just whizzing by you? Here’s how you can help slow down your family’s pace and enjoy motherhood again.

Recently I was on the way to school pick up – with an eye twitch – stressed out of my head.

Why did I feel so nervous?

Why was life so busy?

Why could I never just sit down?

Sure, we’re in a transition period, getting ready to move. But even so… we don’t have a lot of commitments or obligations that take up our evenings or weekends. And yet…

And yet I feel extremely busy. Like my life is on a runaway train I can’t manage to jump out of.

That’s when it hit me: there is physical busyness and mental busyness.

And both of these can cause us to have a fast paced family life we don’t actually like.

How To Have A Slower Family Pace

Become More Hands Free And Get Off Social Media

When our lives are stressful (busy) our gut reaction is to escape. Phones, tablets, and computers make such an easy escape source. But instead of that helping lessen the stress, it actually trains our brains to escape our emotions.

This leads to inner turmoil which leads to Excess Energy that many of us equate with busyness.

“Simply let go of distraction for one moment. In that moment, you have the power to make a significant connection with another human being. You have the opportunity to be in the right place at the right time.” Hands Free Mama

“Turn off the device and take your child for a walk through the woods or on a hike up a mountain. Go on a camping trip. Late at night, when it’s absolutely dark, take your child’s hand and ask her to look up at the stars. Talk with her about the vastness of space and the tininess of our planet in the universe. That’s reality. That’s perspective.” Leonard Sax

Stop Multitasking

Time slows down when you are really focusing on what’s in front of you.

“How often do you meet someone and instantly forget her name? This indicates that your mind was distracted, that it was preoccupied with something else entirely. The inability to concentrate on a name or conversation is evidence of what I deem SBS—Scattered Brain Syndrome.

Singletasking isn’t only about getting things done. It’s also about developing focus. Living in the present will affect the very essence of your life, including work, relationships, and everything else that matters to you.” Time

Read: My “Daily Escape” to a Quiet Place & Why It’s Necessary

Slow Down And Sit With Your Family

Research has proven time and time again that normal mundane everyday events like Family Dinner can make a huge difference in a child’s well-being.

It doesn’t matter if it’s all organic, from a can, or take out… the benefit comes in the uninterrupted regular time together that makes space for genuine relationship.

If you’re too busy to eat meals at home with your family then you’re probably too busy. With little ones, dinner ain’t easy. But as children grow older, the dinner table becomes a place to share stories, family history, and talk about what’s happening in their lives.

Regular unrushed family meals are touch points in family life.

Read: Family Traditions: The Indisputable Benefits of Rituals

Develop Habits That Work

Home systems are not a Super Exciting thing to think about, but disorganization and chaos actually takes up a lot of time. When life gets busy it’s time to tighten up the home systems.

Practical things to do when life gets busy:

• Declutter then donate or throw away. (My husband thinks everything in our home is one step away from being thrown out, depending on my mood.)
• Figure out where things pile up then put a system there. Baskets, containers, or trays make a pile seem more organized and less stressful to the eye.
• Take an hour or two, gather all the family members, and attack the mess together.

Brainstorm some new routines or habits that’ll help alleviate the pileup from happening again. Remember, only try to start one new habit at a time so you aren’t setting yourself up for failure.

Under Schedule Your Family

If you could teleport everyone from the house to practice to games to school and back you’d save a lot of time. Alas, time in the car increases the sense that life is frantic.

“Replay some mental pictures of your child over the past week. If all your images are of him or her on the go—heading to an appointment, on the way back from one, doing homework, practicing an instrument—and there are not many moments of Quiet and Relaxation, your kid is too busy.”

“Every hour kids come into my office and throw themselves onto my couch complaining that they are overbooked with too many appointments,” says Dr. Fran Walfish, a child psychologist and author.“All they want is down time.”

Ruthlessly Prioritize

“Lack of time is actually lack of priorities.” Tim Ferris 

In this modern age we forget we actually have limits.

We cannot do it all. Our kids cannot do it all. We cannot be both manic and relaxed. We cannot have a peaceful family life if we have 18 practices/lessons a week and 7 games/recitals per weekend.

Think about all that you do each week. Now, looking at those things, what does that say about your priorities?

If the way you spend your time doesn’t reflect your values, then it’s time to make changes.

Do New Things Together

I read something interesting the other day. It said the reason that time seems to speed up the older you get is because you’re always doing the same things.

Let me explain.

Our brain processes information in different ways depending on whether the information is new or familiar. When our brain processes familiar information, it doesn’t take much time.

However, it takes longer to process new information which makes time seem to slow down. Neuroscientist David Eagleman believes this is why time seems to go by faster the older we get.

“This explains why we think that time speeds up when we grow older,” Eagleman said, why childhood summers seem to go on forever, while old age slips by while we’re dozing.

The more familiar the world becomes, the less information your brain writes down, and the more quickly time seems to pass. “Time is this rubbery thing…it stretches out when you really turn your brain resources on, and when you say, ‘Oh, I got this, everything is as expected,’ it shrinks up.” (source)

So want to slow down time? Do new things. 

Cuddle, Read Books, and Talk More

Read: My “Daily Escape” to a Quiet Place & Why It’s Necessary

Cuddling is actually good for kids’ brains. Heck, it’s good for all of us. When we spend quality time with those we love – or doing things we love – it feels like time well spent.

It’s both satisfying and refreshing. Quality time with our children doing normal things help us feel connected and purposeful.

The trouble is, the small moments are the first to get crowded out by the tyranny of the urgent.

We need to do All The Things and – before we know it – it’s bedtime and we’re exhausted and we’ve had 2.5 hours of time with the kids and most of that was shooing them around.

Stop doing stupid stuff that doesn’t matter so you can make time for the people you love more than anything else in the world.

Our culture tells us to Do It All and not ever miss out. 

Our nervous systems, on the other hand, are saying the opposite. 

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