Earlier today I had to send a text and re-schedule a meet-up with a fellow mama friend for the third time.
This time due to my daughter having a broken ankle and me having to run out of work early to pick her up. The last time we couldn't make a night out at a local tapas restaurant, it was over her toddler having come down with chicken pox. The time before that again I was stuck with some very overhanging deadlines and had to chain myself to the desk in my spare room for the evening (when we were meant to grab a hot yoga class and a cup of coffee after).
And a little glance back over a few WhatsApp conversations with other friends and my long-suffering book club makes for similar reading. We are all very busy bees these days, and often, when life gets hectic in between careers and family and life in general, what falls by the wayside is socializing and meeting up with friends.
If this sounds a little too familiar to you too, time-stretched mamas, we bet you are going to love this new solution we came across recently. In fact, we are kind of shocked we never thought of this before, to be honest.
In her book, The Happiness Project, author Gretchen Rubin just provided the most genius answer to our socializing issue. Are you ready?
Invite your girlfriend on an "errands date."
Meaning, basically, that instead of trying to find time to go out to dinner, or get a happy hour drink with your friend, invite them to run errands with you.
How clever is this?! Just make plans to do your weekly shop at the same time (and same place) as your gal pals, and voila; you have yourself a full-blown Tesco (or M&S) date. Hell, you can even grab a take-out latte on your way, just to make it all seem more coffee catch-up and less toilet paper shopping.
Look, we know it might not be the most glamorous of ideas, but you can't deny that it does make sense. And Rubin does suggest making your errands a little more fun than usual. Plan a day around it. Get both of your errands done and then reward yourself with a drink or a snack.
I mean, not only is this a more fun way of getting the shopping done, but it is also an important investment in your happiness and mental health, mamas. Because people tend to feel better when they do things with other people, and according to Rubin, this is true for everyone. She says errand dates "capture the fun of company, and the fact that you have to do errands".
The best part is, errand dates allow us to be both productive and feel like we're having more quality time with the people we love.
It's a win-win really.
