I get asked all the time, “How do you do it all”?

How do you keep a clean house, run a business, blog, and have dinner on the table every night? What’s your secret? Do you really have a Nanny?

Well, I’ve touched on all of this a little bit before, but to answer your questions again: NO, I do not have a Nanny, and although I do stay really busy, I do not “do it all”. At least not my definition of all.

But I do have a few secrets when it comes to taking control of your home and life. We’ve all heard people joke about having secret powers and what we would all love to have. Well, what if I told you that you do have a secret power inside you?

That’s right: initiative. YOU have the choice and power to create the life you long for. It starts with you and one simple choice to make a change!

This is how I get through my days. No secrets, no Nanny that I’m hiding in the closet.

1) You must take care of yourself. In order to be the best mom/wife you can be, you must be healthy. I know it’s sooo easy to put yourself on the back burner. Trust me, after Elizabeth was born I stayed on the back burner. In fact, I probably wasn’t even on the back one.

But for the past year, my days start with a glass of filtered water and my vitamins! They truly keep my immune system strong and give me the energy I need to accomplish my day to day things while chasing around a busy toddler!

2) Get up early. Even just 10 minutes before the baby wakes up. This sets the tone for my days. And I admit, I am the worst morning person ever. I hate getting out of bed in the morning, but the rewards are so worth it. I’d rather have those 10 minutes to myself than to wake up at the sound of Elizabeth crying. If I can just get dressed and get her a cup of milk before she wakes up the day goes so much smoother than me being fussy because she woke me up and now she’s demanding and I need to get dressed and her diaper needs to be changed, and the dog needs to go out… you get the picture. Ideally, I love to have enough time to get in a quick 30 minute workout, read a few scriptures, feed the dog, and get her a cup of milk and make my protein shake. But just 10 minutes makes a difference.

3) Tame your list. Do you feel overwhelmed by your to-do list? Let it go! This was sooo hard for me. I am ocd. I write lists for every thing, but they were making me nuts. So, I made a schedule of everything I would like to accomplish in a day, assigned times to them and I try to stick to it. Mine hangs on my fridge as a reminder. Anything else that gets done is just “extra”. Every day on my list is laundry, sweep, and dishes. If I can get these 3 things done, my home stays manageable. I try to toss in a load of clothes before bed and then I fold them while Bean eats breakfast. They don’t always get put away until bedtime, but at least I don’t have 4 mountains of dirty clothes scattered about my bedroom anymore.

4) Schedule work hours. If you have a home business, this is key to your success. If you want to be seriously successful like a real business, you need to act like a real business and set office/workshop hours. Up until about 2 months ago I felt like I worked all day and accomplished nothing. I was constantly checking emails, calling clients, facebooking, etc… My laptop or phone was always on the couch or the kitchen counter where I could “work from home”. But finally I decided I needed to change. The reason I work from home is so I can be at home with Elizabeth. To teach her and play with her. Not so I can sit on my laptop all day waiting for something to happen. So, I decided I would actually go to my office during naptime. And for the most part, that is the only time I make calls, reply to emails, and work. And you know what? Within 1 month, I made Director with Shaklee. I had a conscience vision and work hours and I know what I have to get done in those short hours, there are no distractions and I am much more productive! No more feeling overwhelmed and exhausted.

5) Learn to say no. You cannot always pick up the phone when it rings. And you most certainly cannot always cook dinner for your husband’s family every weekend. We are not The Beavers, this is 2012 and we are busy. Take care of YOUR own family before trying to take care of everyone else’s. That sounds sooo selfish, and while it is rewarding to help others out, you can’t say yes every single time. Especially if you’re subject to being taken advantage of. This, I learned the hard way too, but you just can’t always be the one doing for others if you have a family who needs you. And you can’t reply to every single email or every comment. You will kill yourself trying. Let it go. Be present for your family. Peace of mind has a price.

I will be sharing more in-depth about these and others soon.

If you’d like more tips, be sure to join our facebook community and let us know how YOU do it all for your family.