How to manage it all…. is it possible?
September 1, 2026
One of the many questions I am asked as a Postpartum Doula, weeks into the postpartum period, is “How do I manage it all?” Adding a new baby to your life can sometimes seem like an insurmountable Jenga game of what comes first? How do I get to work at 8am, drop off baby by 7:15, feed baby before, get myself ready, lunches, dinners, pick-up, exercise, pump, prepare milk, clean the house, keep up laundry, manage relationships… you see where I am going? It is a lot! And instills panic in the freshly postpartum parents. How do you wrangle everything in life to run smoothly and not feel like you are always catching your tail?
One thing I do as a doula is to sit down with them and we make a bulleted list of the tasks that need to be done during each time of the day and when they need to be done. Then we reverse engineer it. What time do you need to be at work? How long does the commute take? When does daycare drop off need to happen? When does your baby eat after they wake? What do you need to do to get yourself ready for work? Then we pick a wake up time to manage all of that. We also discuss what can be done the night before, specifically within the first hour of arriving home that can prep for your day tomorrow. Front loading those tasks can quickly get them out of the way in order to squeeze out some downtime in the evening before you collapse into bed. Using technology is also really helpful. Google calendar, synced up as a family calendar, ToDo lists, Grocery shopping lists can all be useful to keep a family organized. If you want to dip a toe into AI support, check out Anna, this AI personal assistant scans your emails, calendars and sets up notices, lists, reminders to keep you organized.
A device I find particularly interesting, especially if you have older kids and extracurricular activities and appointments to keep up with is the Skylight Calendar. Its a visual digital calendar that the whole family can manage and see in one glance what the day brings for everyone involved. As kids get older they can learn time management, and responsibility. For neruodivergent families, this can be incredibly helpful with the colorcoding, reminders which can be an outside source keeping everyone prompted to move in the right direction. (This is not a sponsored post by the way)
Even “old school” charts and calendars can be helpful. Something centrally located on the refrigerator can create good habits of staying informed and keeping others informed of the daily schedule, Chores, Meal Plan and shopping lists.
With so many ways to stay organinzed, it’s best to choose 1 method and stick with it for a few weeks. See what resonates, how you can best integrate it into you daily life. Your organization methods must work FOR you. Not the other way around.
All the best Lovlies!
