How to Do It All

How to Do It All | Outfit Details

Jumpsuit: SexyModest Boutique // Sweater: Nordstrom // Necklace: Made By Mary // Necklace: Kendra Scott // Bracelets: Alex & Ani // Watch: Arvo Wear // Purse: kate spade new york // Shoes: Target

How to Do It All | Can It Be Done?

A career, a family, hobbies, a life. It's hard to fit everything in. There is the constant debate, can women have it all? Of course we can! And it doesn't matter how we do it. If we set our minds to something, we can have anything we want. Today I want to talk about how to do it all.

I am no expert when it comes to "having it all" or "doing it all". But I realized that my life has changed a lot in the last year. I am a wife. I am now a mom. I still work full time. I blog 3 days a week. I am an Maskcara Independent Artist. I help organize the activities at our church. I cook, clean & buy groceries. I spend time with my family. And I haven't gone crazy yet. There are times were something falls through the cracks or is neglected (usually this space). But I have found there are a few ways to keep everything on track so you really can "do it all".

How to Do It All | Your Clothes Matter

When you are juggling a million things and you need to be running out the door to a meeting or the store with a baby in tow, your clothes matter. You need something comfortable that also looks polished. I am now obsessed with jumpsuits. They fit all of the criteria and I am always getting compliments on them. Your purse is key. What can you fit in it? Is it functional? Does it give your outfit that missing extra piece. Spend a little more money on a bag that does exactly what you need it to. When it comes to shoes, I have found that sparkly tennis shoes are the best. They look polished and put together with any outfit, including dresses!

How to Do It All | Stay Organized

This is probably my biggest secret. I am as organized as I can possibly be, in my mind anyway. I am sure someone could come an organize my kitchen cabinets a bit more. I have organized our new apartment so I know where everything is and so does my husband. Any family member could come in and find exactly what they needed if that was necessary.

I have a paper planner that I keep my to do list in. Every type of task as a color: Personal, Work, Blog, Maskcara Beauty. Once all of the lines for that day are filled with tasks, anything new that comes up is moved to later on in the week This is huge when it comes to making sure I get everything I need to done. You can only do so much in a day.

I try to do a load of laundry every day. This keeps laundry from piling up. I can put a load in when I get up in the morning and it's ready to go into the dryer when it's time to leave for work. I try to start the dishwasher as I am leaving in the mornings too, so when I get home everything is clean.

Every night, I make sure I pick up the house and clean the kitchen. Waking up to an organized & clean house is the only way I can stay motivated. Luckily, we live in such a small space, this is easy to do.

How to Do It All | Multitask

When I say multitask, I mean kill two birds with one stone. When I need to take pictures of an outfit for the blog, I wear that outfit for the day. When I need to do a live video on my Breezing Through Maskcara Facebook page, I do it while I am doing my makeup. I am just adding something to what I am already doing. Usually it takes 5-10 minutes longer than normal so it doesn't make my life any harder, it makes it easier.

Don't get me wrong, I still have to take an hour to write blog posts or take pictures. But when I can incorporate blogging/Maskcara into something I am already doing and it saves me time, I see that as a win.

How to Do It All | Let Others Help

This means friends, family, & companies. Before Jackie, I bought groceries every week and would make dinner 3-4 nights a week. Once Jackie arrived, this became more stressful and just hard to do. So we started using Hello Fresh. You can read all about my review here.  Since we have moved, The Husband beats Jackie and I home sometimes. Now he can make dinner too. He was never comfortable cooking but feels like the directions are easy to follow and the food turns out great. So I don't have to go to the store as often, and I don't always have to cook. Win, win!

When I feel like there is a lot going on at work, I do have the luxury of leaning on family to help watch Jackie. She has gone to my aunt's house a few times and that is a huge help, even though I miss her!

How to Do It All | Use Tools & Apps

This is my saving grace! I recently took over managing the social media accounts for my job. That means I am managing 4 LinkedIn accounts, 3 Instagram accounts, 3 Facebook pages, 1 Facebook group, and 3 Twitter accounts. It can be so overwhelming to keep up with everything.

I use lots of scheduling apps to make sure that everything is active at all times. I use Buffer for Twitter, Facebook & LinkedIn, Tailwind for Instagram & Pinterest, Facebook Pages for Facebook & RewardStyle for Instagram. I know that some of these are repetitive but I use certain apps for specific accounts.

How to Do It All | SLEEP!

This is key for me. I need 8 hours of sleep most nights. Everyone is different but that is what I need. So I make sure I am in bed when I need to be. I try to get up around 6 each morning, which is when Jackie gets up for a bottle. Without enough sleep I am irritable, tired and I can't focus.

Everyone needs different amounts of sleep. Some people can run on 2-3 hours a night. Whatever your number of hours are, make sure you are getting enough sleep!

How to Do It All | Take Time For Yourself

Sometimes it is easy to get burnt out. There is so much going on and your to do list is so long, you would rather just sit and watch tv. That is why staying organized and limiting your number of tasks each day is important. But taking time for yourself is key. You need to relax and decompress. Some people like baths, walks or reading. I like to catch up on my tv shows early in the morning when I am getting ready for the day. Taking a little extra time for myself really gets my head in  the right place each day.

Find something that works for you. It can be incredibly simple, but it needs to be something you can do on your own that allows you to recharge.

How to Do It All | Take Time For Your Family

Being a wife & mom come first, before anything else. So I have to make sure I take time out every day for The Husband and Jackie. We do our best to have dinner together as a family every night. Sometimes work hours don't allow for this but we do it at least 5 times a week. It gives The Husband and I a chance to talk about our days and spend some time with Jackie.  We then spend time together as a family until Jackie goes to bed. We go to the park, go on a walk, give Jackie a bath. Work and other things are put on hold until after she is asleep. We love these few hours we have as a family to connect and bond.

How to Do It All | Be Ok With Not Doing It All

Things happen. Life happens. You can't always get everything done that you want to. And that is ok. Being okay with not getting everything done in a day is part of doing it all. Being flexible is how to do it all. Move unfinished tasks to another day.

I get the most done when Jackie takes her naps. The day I wrote this post, Jackie took a 3 hour morning nap. But the day before, she only slept for 45 minutes, all day long. So I do my best to be able to move stuff around and have flexible deadlines.

How to Do It All | Have Deadlines

I know I just talked about having flexible deadlines. You need to have deadlines. For everything. At least I do anyway. I find if I give myself a week to get something done and I have a hard due date, it gets done. I may try to get it done on Monday but it doesn't get done until Wednesday. As long as my deadline is Friday, everything is good.

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