Melissa Ambrosini is a mama, bestselling author, entrepreneur, and host of popular podcast The Melissa Ambrosini Show. Being such a busy lady, Melissa knows how important time is and here she helps us make the most of it.
By Melissa Ambrosini
The biggest thing for me since becoming a mum, has been having to re-adjust the way I work and let go of the expectations I place on myself. I am a working mama doing the dance between the two.
I love doing both AND it’s been a learning curve learning this new dance. But I am doing my best each day and having as much fun as I possibly can along the way.
“LIFE IS SO PRECIOUS AND SCARY. WE ONLY GET ONE LIFE AND HAVE NO IDEA HOW LONG WE ARE HERE ON EARTH FOR. THIS HAS BEEN REINFORCED TO ME [BIG TIME] SINCE BECOMING A MAMA.”
Mum life
My weekdays are a mix of work and mama life. When I am working I’m working and when I am in mama mode and present with her.
We spend our time together in nature, at the beach mostly, or at the park, having play dates at the beach with friends, exploring natural treasures. And we cook together – every morning we make organic green juice after breakfast, which she loves doing. We also have afternoon dance parties and read books together.
I try to bring her along with everything I do so when I am folding the clothes, washing the dishes, cleaning etc I include her and talk to her about everything I am doing. She loves it.
Some of the ways we are losing time without even realising it
Social media and emails. But the good news is there are changes we can make to ‘get that time back’.
One of my favorite ways to reclaim my time is by email batching. What that means is instead of constantly checking emails all day every day and constantly being pulled out of the moment with pings whenever a new one lands in my inbox, I batch my emails and do two 30-minute emails slots per day.
Sometimes it takes me less than 30 minutes [which is awesome]. And that way I am not constantly flushing my time down the loo checking emails all day long.
Why mums feel time-poor and stressed out
Being a mama is a big deal. Huge actually. And we put so much pressure on ourselves to work like we don’t have children and raise children like we don’t have jobs.
Maybe some women don’t have jobs and are solely mamas. Yet we all still put so much pressure on ourselves to be the best mama we can be. To have a clean house. To be a masterchef and come up with new and exciting recipes our children will eat. Still workout. Take care of ourselves. Take care of our relationship. See our friends. And respond to the 4567 texts, emails, Whatapps and DMs. It’s a lot!
How my own perspective of time changed since becoming a mum
It took us 18 months to conceive our beautiful little angel. It was a long, heart breaking and hard journey. But when it happened we were over the moon excited. I loved being pregnant and had a beautiful home birth. Being her mother is one of the greatest gifts of this lifetime.
Life is so precious and scary. We only get one life and have no idea how long we are here on earth for. This has been reinforced to me [big time] since becoming a mama.
Now more than ever I am super efficient. I don’t have time to procrastinate or endlessly scroll. So when I am working, I am working and I get stuff done and when I am in mama mode, I am in mama mode.
Top 4 health hacks mums can try at home
In my latest book Time Magic: Reclaim Your Time, Reclaim Your Life that I co-wrote with my husband Nick Broadhurst, we talk about not only how to get your precious time back, but how to make the most of your time. How to extend your life and make those later years bursting with good health.
We want to help people extend their life AND thrive all the way to the end.
1. Eat more plants: The science is out and the more real wholefoods you eat, the better. Make sure at every meal your plate is overflowing with as many different coloured plant foods as possible. The more the better. Plants are loaded with antioxidants which help fight free radicals in the body.
2. Get cold: Chronic inflammation is a key driver in the ageing process and the cause of many debilitating conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease, asthma, cancer, heart disease, rheumatoid arthritis and type 2 diabetes. Cold exposure has been practiced for hundreds, if not thousands of years. It is basically the practice of exposing your body to very cold temperatures with modalities like cold water immersion, local cryotherapy, and whole-body cryotherapy.
Some of the many benefits include an increase in new mitochondria. Weight loss and improved metabolic health. Improved immune function. And a decrease in depression. You can dip your toes in the cold therapy world by simply turning the shower to cold.
Start by having a normal shower, then at the end, turn it to cold and stay under for at least 30 seconds. Build up your tolerance by extending the time under cold water until you can comfortably do it for several minutes. Alternating from hot for one minute to cold for one minute, back and forth, is a great way to increase circulation in your body. Just try it once and try not to feel totally alive by the end. It will get all your cells dancing!
3. Prioritise sleep: As much as you can when you’re a mum [IYKYK].
4. Move your body: Find something you love doing [walking, yoga, even dancing in the living room with your kids]. Just move that goddess bod of yours and get the blood pumping.
Time Magic, Reclaim Your Time, Reclaim Your Life by Melissa Ambrosini and Nick Broadhurst is available in all good bookstores.
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