10 Brilliant Time Management Tips Moms Can Actually Use.
Are you a mom who has zero free time in the day for yourself? I’d love to share my time management tips that help me run a home while homeschooling and working from home! Interested? Read on…
For most of moms, whether we have young kids or bigger, even when we are healthy and fully capable of doing things, productivity and staying organized is an issue. We need all the time management hacks we can use!
So, today, let me share with you some of my most favorite time management tips.
Time Management Tips That Help You Get Things Done
One of the best tips I learnt about saving time is to never do everything at the same time. Never head EAST, as they say. There is another saying that I love:
When everything seems important, the truth is that nothing is important.
The real reason people struggle with time management is because they don’t know what to do and when to do all of it. So meaning to say, when we try to juggle everything, it is not really productive.
- Get in the habit of making lists. It is actually called the brain dump technique. Making lists helps us get out of our mind all the things that are worrying us. It is one of the simplest way to remove stress. All that w s in your head, will be in front of you. So you really know what you need to focus on first. That really helps in getting things done!
- Pick one thing at a time. My #1 time management hack is to remember that multi-tasking is not a way to be productive. We moms think that if we juggle stuff, we will get a lot more done. No, that is not how it works. Choose one thing and get it done, before moving to the next.
- Block out time. Once you know WHAT you’re working on, fix a time so you know WHEN you are doing it. My most productivity hack of blocking time is that I have fixed timings on when I will cook, clean, do laundry and work on my business. I actually have “office hours” because I work from home (more on that later).
- Work fast not slow. A fact I learnt about myself that changed my life was that I take too long to do simple things. I always thought that I was short on time, until I started using a Pomodoro Technique to get things done. Ooh! the realization! I found that if I raced against time or kept a timer, I got things done faster.
- Spread out your to-do list over days, week or months. A mistake many mothers make is that they think they should get all of their list, checked off by bedtime that night. Ummm…no. Think like a CEO Mom. Have a plan and spread out your to-do list by time blocking and giving yourself appointments.
- Involve people in your plan. I understand that sometimes we cannot ask people for help for whatever reasons but the simple act of letting your family know what you are doing at that time, can actually boost your productivity. It actually works in three ways. Firstly, people know that you are busy at that time (even kids) so they leave you alone or you can make an excuse. Secondly, you and your family are both holding you accountable! Last, but not the least important advantage of letting people into your plan, is that you can easily ask them for help. They know what you are doing, so that sparks a natural tendency for people to help you!
- Have office hours. Every mom wants some me-time whether she is stay-at-home, work-at-home or work-outside. We need some time to ourselves either to study, work or just rest. Why not schedule that in to your routine? Even if it is just an hour or 20 minutes, call it Office Hours or Mom hours or Self Love Time and safeguard it at all costs! You can use it to check your email, study, surf the internet or whatever.
- Have a morning and evening routine. Habits can be a mom’s best friend when used right. Creating a morning routine which has all your must do items, and an evening routine with your end of day speed cleaning, can actually save you a lot of stress about getting things done.
- Invest in time saving tools. From kitchen appliances to robot vacuums, always be on the look out for tools you can invest in. Time saving tools are actually an investment into your time and mental peace. And while you’re on the job, don’t forget that books can be your best tools for learning more time management tips!
- Working in short breaks creates habits. Something many mothers don’t realize is that there is a limit to our focus. If you decide to declutter your home in 30 days, you will take 30 days to do it, but if you give yourself 30 minutes to do it, you will clean in 30 minutes. But here’s the catch: when you clean your whole house in 30 minutes today, you will not want to do it again tomorrow. You will wait till it is massively dirty again because you know it takes you 30 minutes to clean it. But if you decide to clean your home in 30 days, you will be setting aside a few minutes every day to clean it and in 30 days, you will have made a habit of decluttering regularly. Think about which is better – a habit that helps you clean regularly or a one time task that keeps you stressed everyday?
That’s my 10 brilliant tips for moms to manage their time. Would you like me to help you apply these tips to your life right now? Sign up below and let’s get started!