Organizing one’s time is becoming increasingly difficult every year. This applies to everyone be it the students on campus, already employed youngsters and, especially, mothers.
While students may turn with the assignment of any complicacy to the write my essay service, yuppies can work from home when needed; there is no remote position for a mom. In this article, we will focus on the tips on time management for mothers.
Here you will find answers to questions on how to combine housework, activities with children, avoid stress, and probably even have the time for work!
These ten tips will help you organize the time better and enjoy every day.
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Keep Track of Time
To understand what takes your extra time, you need to conduct a kind of audit. As is the case with finance, if you want to have a clear idea of how much you spend and earn, there is a need for profound checking.
The same strategy applies to proper time management. Pay attention to every hour spent for one week. You will be shocked! It will immediately become clear to you what takes too much time in your activities.
Prioritize
To focus better, you need to determine what is really important to you! Perhaps excessive use of social networks is a problem? That half an hour you keep spending on Facebook can be implemented more successfully. Knowing what you want to spend the energy on, you can focus on this, discarding unnecessary tasks.
Be Organized
The organization is a crucial point in achieving heights in time management for moms. Self-organization reduces stress, improves memory, and can give you the time for other things that mothers need to deal with.
Our advice can be applied to many areas. Start with the basics:
- Organize your schedule – look for a planner that you really like and has the features you will use. A popular brand is Happy Planner, which has a plastic cover, pages that you can swap out, and you can customize it however you like. Plus, fun stickers make it more of a fun experience!
- Consider other planning tools, like a menu planner.
- Create a discipline strategy (home and childcare, for example, use chore charts or reward charts)
- Although this seems like a small list, it actually includes a lot!
Increase Your Efficiency
How to achieve this aim? In those daily tasks that you have (excluding the part where you need to pick up a child from school, etc.), you can become more successful if there is a certain limit set. Procrastination affects not only office workers and students, but also mothers!
If you reduce the time limit on a task that usually takes you three hours to one hour, you won’t believe the results. You will do better, do it faster, and feel less tired. Believe it or not, if you tidy up the house without being distracted by Netflix or Instagram, you can do it in less time!
Create a Personal Schedule
Let’s proceed from micromanagement to the macro level. What is your week made up of? Are your affairs in the most efficient order, or should it be changed? People who have no schedule can gradually become ineffective and lazy. This is not their fault; this is how humans work.
Structure all your tasks and activities, such as parenting, as well as personal matters. For example, you can make Sunday a special day for your personal ideas, or for tasks you do not have enough time on other days. Consider things like checklists, so you can have a goal and stay on track.
Routine, Routine, Routine..
Let this word not scare you. People perceive the routine as something negative, yet with the right approach, it can be used to our advantage. This does not mean that you have to wake up on schedule as if in a military camp.
However, being consistent with the daily menu, homework, and other stuff will only benefit you. This is in no way a “call for automatism.” The point is that you do not need to load your head in a chaotic manner every week and reinvent the wheel.
One Thing at a Time
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Multitasking may be a sign of poor management. Keep in mind that your brain is an amazing computer, but it tends to be wrong. As a mother, mistakes can lead to unpleasant consequences. Don’t fill your head with different tasks at a time. Try to do your duties in a row, not simultaneously.
Share Responsibilities with Loved Ones
We all know this state of affairs: when our children need something, we are ready to do everything for them. However, if you need help with housework, then the subsequent reaction from the kids is not so positive.
Instead of wasting energy on scandals, try to arrange everything in a way where helping around the house is rewarded. This is better than punishment for disobedience. It is beneficial to remind or make clear to the children (in some cases, the partner) that home life is a common thing, and doing everything alone is a heavy burden.
Divide your home chores into a few simple activities and use reward charts for all participants!
Know When to Say No
This time management tip for moms can be called the most important and at the same time difficult one.
It is difficult for many mothers to understand that when we say “yes” too often, the price of our attention falls in the eyes of loved ones. Learn to clearly understand the importance of your own priorities and understand when you should definitely say “yes” and when it is the time to refuse.
Do Not Forget About Yourself!
Despite the fact that you need to deal with your children, partner, home, and work, self-employment often falls into the background. This state of affairs should not be allowed, as taking care of yourself is good for psychological and physical health.
If you often get tired and cannot consume enough healthy food, you will lose focus and a sense of organization. This will lead to the loss of valuable time and mood. Make sure you do not deny yourself:
- Quality sleep (optimize your sleep with exercise or supplements like Mary Ruth’s Nighttime Multi)
- Proper nutrition
- Exercise
- Reading or other relaxation
- Rest
Wrapping Up
Being a mother is both rewarding and difficult, but this challenge can also turn you into a true master of time management! The main thing to remember is the organization and structure.
This approach helps thousands of mothers around the world. Instead of experiencing a constant feeling of unfinished business, you will begin to notice that there is more and more free time.
Agree with all of this and would add in “Get help” if you need it and can afford it. I don’t just mean sharing responsibilities with loved ones (although that is important too). I recall being offered a major promotion at work, but it meant going from part-time to full-time and a lot of responsibility. We had 3 young children at the time. My husband’s career had also taken off and he was spending a lot of time out of the country. We had no family close by. I desperately wanted to take the promotion so I advertised for a “child-friendly housekeeper”. I wanted someone who could help with the children, take them to school etc and also someone to help in the house, preferably the same person. I got the most wonderful person. She made sure the kids left the house in matching shoes in the morning and was always there for them. She made sure that the laundry was done and the bathrooms clean etc. What a godsend. The kids loved her and she became a surrogate gran. My daughters still keep in touch with her and often meet up when they are home. She stayed with me for 15 years – until the last one went to uni! Her help freed me up to spend time with the kids and manage my work.
Your article on time management for moms is a lifesaver! The practical tips, like keeping track of time and creating a personal schedule, are so helpful. I feel more empowered to manage my responsibilities and still find time for myself. Thank you for this valuable advice!
I used to have goo routine but was disrupted, it’s not easy to get back to it. BAck then, I was also organized and so my mind is clear, because it’s true, the clutter in the house represent the clutter in the mind. 🙁 I hope to get back to being better at things. Thanks for the tips.
I’ve been trying to implement these tips again for time management for over a year now. It seems like I can get things on track and before long my routine has been disrupted and once that happens it’s all over. It’s almost time for the kids to head back to school, that is when I will try it once again and let’s hope it works out.
These are great tips and I agree with you that using a planner can definitely help staying organized. I actually have 2 planners — one for work and the other one for personal use. I also agree that it is important to know when to say NO. If our schedule doesn’t permit or we are too busy — we can always decline.
I’m so bad at this haha so this was really helpful! Love it!
This post sheds light on an increasingly common challenge faced by many – time management. It’s especially pertinent for mothers who juggle a myriad of responsibilities. The tips outlined in this article are bound to be invaluable, offering practical solutions for balancing household tasks, parenting, and potentially even work. A well-timed resource for those in need of effective time management strategies!
What great suggestions. Keeping organized and prioritizing is so important for everyone. I don’t have kids but I still do this and making a schedule.
oh I am still learning how to properly time manage my day, I am everywhere which is not healthy nor productive!!!! Thank you so much for all these amazing tips and insights.
Keeping organized is already difficult I couldn’t imagine for moms. I think making up a list and crossing things out as you go is the most effect because it’s so easy to get overwhelmed by it all. Thanks for sharing your insight and tips!
Love all your tips! So important to manage our time and balance things!