The Best Organisation Hacks For A Single Parent.

Are you a single mom with endless responsibilities, stress and hassle? Learn how to get organised so your life is stress less. Here you can find the best organisation hacks for a busy parent.

Parenting in general is the most difficult job ever, let alone when you are a single parent. You feel you’re banging your head against a wall. You’ve tried everything; you have listened to your parents and friends with a similar experience but seems like nothing brings any result.

Just imagine having well-organised days, so you have the time and energy to spend quality time with your lil ones and yourself.

It might be overwhelming and stressful something. I know – I have been there!

What you must remember, is that you are the only one that your child/children and yourself can count on. And trust me, If I can do it, you can do it! It will

Why Does Single Parenting Need To Be So Stressful?

Let me tell you something: IT DOES NOT HAVE TO BE!!!! Single parenting can actually be a good and enjoyable experience if you really want it.

Some single parents will tell you single parenting is extremely hard, whereas some parents (including myself) will tell you it is easy.

Let me guess, you fall into the first category. You struggle with your parenting and are desperate to find the solution to easy parenting.

Good news – you are in the right place. Keep reading to find out how to manage all of the roles and responsibilities as a single mom.

But before I jump into that, let me cover all the struggles that single parents face.

There is probably a very long list of the challenges single parents face; however, I will focus only on the big ones. That includes:

• Guilt
• Fatigue
• Financial Strain
• Decision pressure
• Social isolation/limitation

Let me ask you a question: do you want to improve your life? Do you dream of a stressless life, where you have enough time and energy to invest in your kids and yourself?

If the answer is yes, then I have the perfect solution for you. Let’s get started with all the best organisation hacks that you can adopt to simplify your life. Keep reading to find out more.

The Best Organisation Hacks For Single Parents.

I prepared a list of tips and things that can help you manage the day-by-day responsibilities as a single parent and still have some time to yourself in the evening.

Routine

Routine is your best friend! Whether it is a morning, evening or after school routine, make sure you have them and you stick to each of them. As a single parent, I created a new routine for me and my child.

Morning

I always get up at least 1h before I wake my daughter up. But to be honest, I try to get up 2h before, so I have time for my meditation, journaling, some morning exercises or stretches and to get ready. When I am ready, I wake my lil one, make us breakfast so we can eat together.

Once the breakfast is ticked, she can then start getting ready and I can do other household responsibilities that need to be done.

Afternoon

I work from home full time and I don’t use my working time for house chores. If I have any spare time, I will take my pets for a walk, so I can catch some fresh air, and refresh my brain and thoughts. Plus I can stretch my body!

If you also work from home, I would suggest doing the same. Focus on your job during working hours. Don’t get distracted by a pile of clothes, dirty carpets or dishes.

If you work from the workplace, then you won’t have distractions. However, you might feel a bit stuck in one place. I would recommend using the lunch break for a quick walk. It is very important to chahe the environment/scene even for a short period of time.

Evening

After school and work (which is usually early evening) we empty our lunch boxes so they are ready to clean and use for the next day.

Once my daughter is home, I start preparing dinner. I usually prepare more, so I can use leftovers for my lunch for the next day.

I found that tray bakes are the best and quickest way. I prepare the vegetables (can be potatoes, carrots, parsnips, broccoli, baby tomatoes, and onions), and season them. Then I chuck everything on the hot baking tray with a bit of olive oil. I add meat or fish (depending on what we want to eat) and I bake it for about 25-30 mins. All I need to do is to shake the tray once or twice during baking.

In the meantime, I can prepare a lunch for my child, so that is done straight away. I also clean the kitchen while cooking.

Once the food is ready, we sit down by the table together and we eat. This is the time we can talk about our day, and we can spend some time together.

I never sit down on the sofa after eating dinner – as that would end up me not getting up till late evening (I bet we all have been there).

What I would do next is house chores. I always include my daughter in helping me.

As I have a few pets at home, I need to hoover each day. But I honestly don’t have time for that! That’s why I have invested in iRoomba! I know, it’s not the cheapest gadget ever, but I swear – it saves so much of my time.

Usually, my lil one will make sure roomba is running so she can hoover the stairs and I can clean the dishes.

If I have any washing to do, I would usually load the washing machine and set the timer for the morning, so once I am up the next day I can sort the washing out.

I do little chores daily, so the house looks more put together. One day I will dust, another day I will change the bedding, or I will clean the bathrooms. The chores don’t take long when done separately, and I will explain why I don’t do them as a big bang over the weekend.

Weekends are for chilling and relaxing, not for catching up on shopping or cleaning the house. You need to learn how to organise your entire week ahead, so you have weekends for adventures, more fitness, meeting with friends and family and most importantly for yourself.

Cleaning

I have already mentioned that I do cleaning over weekdays. Now I would like to focus more on what is essential for cleaning.

• My number one is a robot hoover. And yes, I know it does not clean as good as a standard vacuum cleaner. However, if you run the robot every day it cleans enough. You can always set a timer so the robot hoover just before you come back home.

• Dishwasher – even if you need to remove one of your kitchen cupboards in order to fit a dishwasher, believe me – it is worth it.

• Cleaner – if you can afford a cleaner then go for it. That is so convenient and you have more time to yourself. It doesn’t have to be every week, you can hire someone for 4h per month. And if you stay on top of regular cleaning and tidying up, then 4h of extra cleaning by a professional is enough.

• Declutter regularly– make sure that your house is decluttered at least once a month. Go through cupboards in the kitchen, storage, understairs cupboards, kids’ toys, and your wardrobe. I also declutter my bathroom regularly.

I have a list of my fav products that I use for daily cleaning. The products are super inexpensive and will definitely save your time and make your life easier.

Spray Mops for Floors

Microfiber Telescoping Duster

Microfiber Cleaning Cloth

Zoflora Disinfectant Cleaner Spray

Microfibre Glass Cloths

Shopping

Online grocery shopping. It saves at least 2 h and also saves a lot of money as you are not tempted by all the products that are staring at you in the store.

I order food shopping around Wednesday for delivery on Friday. Depending on available slots I will use a standard supermarket like Asda or Tesco, but sometimes I will use Ocado, as they have a good variety of products so very good offers.

Fancy trying a Free Budget Planner?

Self-care

Maybe it sounds selfish, but you always need to put yourself in front of others, even your kids. Sound harsh, but will definitely benefit all of you.

If you haven’t tried Daily Gratitude, I must say you are missing a lot! Download a free template for morning and evening gratitude. Introduce affirmations, gratitude and visualisation into your daily routine. It will definitely benefit you.

If you are not able to sign up for a gym, bring the gym to your home. You don’t need all the equipment in your house. You can also pick a sport or a form of fitness that suits your circumstances. Callisthenics and crossfit exercises are easy to do at home. Yoga is another form of exercise that you can practice at home.

I think you might be also interested in:

100 Best Self-Help Books & Workbooks That Will Change Your Life

10+ The Best Self-Care Ideas For Mental Health

The Best Daily Affirmations To Boost Your Mood

To Sum Up…

Top Tips:

• Use a calendar – all appointments, events, school meetings are in one place.

• Make sure everything is ready night before, so when you get up, you don’t need to stress about preparing the lunch boxes or clothing for kids or yourself.

• Get up early enough to have time for yourself, for a cup of coffee, for self-care etc.

• Wake kids up 5 minutes before, so they have time to make the beds.

• When everyone is back from school and work, make sure empty all bags/lunch boxes, clean them straight away and put back in the place so the house doesn’t look like a war zone.

• Meal planning and preparation – Make sure you prepare meals in advance. You can make more pancakes/crepes and freeze them. You can make more dinners so you have leftovers for the next day. Or you can even prepare 3 meals in one day, and place them in any container so you can just grab the meal whenever you want to warm it up.