Simplified Organization is a Christian podcast for busy moms who are looking for practical help in managing their homes, families, and lives for God’s glory. We keep it real without complaining and we help women overcome the overwhelm and perfectionism that comes from the comparison game.
Join us as we chat about realistic home and life management in. We want to avoid perfectionism, reject overwhelm, and handle housework and schedules in a way that builds relationships because our home is a tool, not a showpiece.
Our first two episodes are with Sarah Mackenzie. Sarah is best known as the author of Teaching from Rest and The Read-Aloud Family, and the host of the Read-Aloud Revival podcast. However, her most important work is right at home, where she and her husband of 20 years homeschool their 6 children.
Struggling with Perfectionism as a Mom
Sarah Mackenzie has a lot going on in her home, even just with six kids and homeschooling. But on top of that she runs a successful podcast, community, and business while speaking several times a year across the country.
It’s easy to look at someone like Sarah, compare ourselves, and think we either don’t measure up or might be missing some secret. However, the comparison game among women is always defeating and never helpful. As we try to get things together, get a handle on life, and get organized, we struggle. Then we imagine that the people we admire don’t struggle, but instead have it all figured out – just like we wish we did.
But in addition to comparing ourselves with other women – thinking the fragment of their lives we see online means the whole is just as put together and lovely – we also compare our actual results against super high personal expectations for ourselves. We imagine what we want to accomplish, and when we don’t measure up to our hopes and aspirations, we despair.
Listen to Sarah chat about perfectionism, optimism, and unrealistic expectations:
Sarah reminds us with a personal example of just how effective small habits and baby steps can be:
So even if I’m not great at wiping down my own bathroom, this is a goal I have right now for myself: wipe down our master bathroom while I’m brushing my teeth at night. Our bathroom can get embarrassing very quickly. I’m realizing it only takes 60 seconds to wipe it down and throw some things away. And it looks a lot better!
Sarah Mackenzie, Simplified Organization podcast episode
Even if I only do that half the time, I’m not failing.
Finding Time for Projects & Progress as a Mom
Small wins also work as a time management technique.
It’s not uncommon to feel scattered and overwhelmed as a mom, feeling like there’s too much to do and not enough time to do it. Sometimes, that’s not even only a feeling. Sometimes we really do have too much on our list – and what needs to change is the list and our expectations surrounding it, because we can’t change time.
Taking advantage of little pockets of time to take baby steps in areas that matter will add up. We don’t have to chunk out half-hour dedicated blocks to read, clean, etc. We can use 5 minutes here and 2 minutes there strategically and see real progress.
Sarah develops this idea more in our conversation:
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When you feel overwhelmed
Overwhelm is normal and natural, but we don’t have to give in and panic when it hits.
If you’re struggling with overwhelm, know that you are not alone and also that you don’t have to live in overwhelm. I have a free workshop all about handling overwhelm I’d love to share with you.
