How to Take Control of Your Life

When you have children, every day is a new adventure and a new set of challenges. It can be easy to feel like you don’t have any control of your life. This can lead to chronic stress that makes it more difficult to parent and balance your other responsibilities. Thankfully, there are many ways that you can take back control in your life, no matter what stage of life you are in:

Set Boundaries

When it comes to taking control of your life, you need to first set boundaries. People will respect boundaries, whether this is your client or your children, if you enforce them. This means emphasizing your open hours and setting up an automated email for after-work emails. This should let whoever messaged you know that you have received their message and will be getting back to them tomorrow morning. For at home, this means making your office or bedroom a no-go zone for kids. Sometimes all you need is some privacy and some space, and setting these boundaries will help you achieve the serenity required to take back control.

Have a Routine

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Routines are useful for many reasons. One of those reasons is that it helps you take on daily tasks with less effort. Having a routine for things like your work schedule and even for what you and your family do can help you save energy for when you need it. For example, at work, you can work in 90-minute intervals on a set of tasks throughout the day. At home, this could mean helping your children with their homework while you cook every night, or watching a movie after dinner every Wednesday night for family bonding.

Routine is great for children as well, meaning that while you can save mental energy on the familiar tasks, your children can thrive. It is the best way to spend time with them and take back control of your own life. You don’t want all of your life to be routine, but the day-to-day tasks can go by much faster and more productively when you train your brain to expect them.

Know Your Options

When it comes to being in control, you need to have all of your options on the table. Making the best of a bad situation is fine, but digging deeper and finding solutions to common concerns is better. If you worry about your increasing health concerns and how you will take care of yourself after your kids move out, there are options other than letting your healthcare provider make the choices for you or putting additional stress on your children. As this FreedomCare guide explains, the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program (CDPAP) enables those who need at-home care to choose their caretaker. That way, if you have a child living nearby, they can train to be your nurse and can take care of you while also being compensated for their time.

The only way to know your options is to research them. You will be amazed at how great your life can be by simply choosing the right path for you. Knowledge is a powerful tool, so take some extra time to find the best choices for you.  

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