Inside: Learn 7 of my best productivity tips for busy moms to get more of the right things done so that they can spend more intentional time with their families.
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As busy moms we really do have a lot to manage on any given day. Don’t you agree??
Before I became a parent I thought I had a lot to keep track of, but then I became a mom and realized, oh wow, this is a lot!
I have learned a few things over the years to help me stay more organized and get more of the right things accomplished each day. The ultimate goal is to not just get more done for the sake of getting more done. The whole point for me to be more productive is so that I can spend more quality time with my family and not worry about all the little to dos and chores around the home.
Today, I want to share these productivity tips with you and I hope that they are as helpful to you as they are to me.
Productivity Tips for Moms
1. Know your priorities and let the rest go.
If you find yourself saying that you are too busy or don’t have enough hours in the day, I would encourage you to see what you are saying yes to. I would bet that many tasks and to do’s on your plate are not aligned with your priorities. This is something I struggled with for a long time! I used to just say yes to everything because I felt bad for saying no. But that is a recipe for burn out and overwhelm.
Knowing what is important to you will give you the barometer with which to decide what to say yes to and what to say no to. This could look different in different seasons of your life and that is ok! Learn to be flexible and change what you include/don’t include as your life and family change.
For me right now, with two young children in school, I have chosen to say no to most after-work obligations. I know that I want to have the flexibility to be with my kids for after school sports and activities, so extra work obligations are not a priority for me right now.
Once you know your priorities, learn to say no to everything else! I love Courtney Carver’s tips of keeping it short and to the point. Don’t say “I’ll think about it” when you really just want to say “no.”
“If you don’t have time for what matters, stop doing things that don’t.”
Courtney Carver
2. Set realistic goals.
I am a big fan of keeping goals simple and SMART.
The general process I take each year is as follows:
- Review the past year…what worked, what didn’t work?
- Reach for the stars….how do I want the year to feel? What is my word of the year? What are my priority areas for the year?
- Refine my goals….take each priority area and set SMART goals.
From there I break the big year goal into quarterly goals, which I break into monthly projects, which I break into bite-sized action items I can complete during the week.
For more tips on simplifying your goals, read this post.
3. Time Blocking + Task Batching
Technically this is two tips in one, but I think that when you use these two ideas together is where the magic happens.
Time blocking is a system when you break up your days into blocks of time where certain tasks and activities will happen.
Task batching, on the other hand, is when you combine like activities and complete them at the same time. This saves so much time because you are not switching between different types of activities and forcing your brain to focus on something new.
If you’d like to start time blocking out your day and batching your tasks, here are a few steps to get you started:
- Take some time to list out all the different tasks you do during the week. Include work-related, home-related, personal/self-care, parenting, spouse time, cooking, cleaning, list it all.
- Next, take a look at your day as a whole and map out when certain things happen on a regular basis. For example, meals, school drop off/pick up, and work usually happen around the same time each day. Use these times of the day as anchors to break up your day into several blocks of time. For example, my morning block is from when I wake up to when we leave for school. During that time I have certain things that I like to get done every day during the morning.
- Batching comes in to play when you group similar tasks together and get them all done at once, rather than spreading them out all over the week. Types of home activities that I batch are meal planning and grocery shopping, errands, and cleaning.
4. Pre-plan your day
Take a few minutes at the end of the day or the start of the day to decide what one to three things you would love to get done that day. If you get these done then the day would be considered a success! I know we all have way more than that to do, and if you get the top three tasks done, then you can absolutely work on the rest of your list. However, having a list of the most important tasks helps you to prioritize what to get done first and not procrastinate.
5. Use timers!
I love to use different types of timers during the day to help me get things done. One simple way is to use the wait time while warming food in the microwave or making your coffee to be productive. Rather than stand there and scroll Facebook for the 5 minutes you could unload the dishwasher instead.
Another wait time that I love to use productively is the school pick up line. I will use this time to make phone calls or text people back. There is that batching again! I save up all of those types of tasks and then knock them out during the time I’m otherwise just sitting in the car.
Another way to use timers is called the Pomodoro technique. This is a great way to focus on one task at a time and avoid distractions. The premise is that you choose one thing to work on, set a timer for 25 minutes, and then work on that task (and only that task) until the timer goes off. When the timer goes off take a 5-minute break. After completing 4 pomodoros you take a longer break.
6. Develop a morning and evening routine.
If you are brand new to managing your time I often recommend working on bookending your days well. In other words, develop morning and evening routines that set your day up for success.
Your evening routine is a way to wind down for the day as well as complete tasks that your future self will thank you for. In other words, complete tasks in the evenings that will save you time in the mornings. One thing that I do as part of my evening routine is to load and start the dishwasher. That way the clean dishes are ready for me to unload in the morning and then the dishwasher is ready to take on the dirty dishes for the day.
Your morning routine is a great way to start your day intentionally. When I became a mom I realized that I needed to find some time to take for myself. When I wake up before my kids, even for a few minutes to get dressed and wash my face, I am so much more refreshed and ready to start the day. On the other hand, if my kids are always waking me up and making demands first thing, I am usually pretty cranky first thing!
For more tips on setting up your own morning and evening routines check out these posts and resources:
- Free 5 Days to a Better Morning Challenge
- Make Over Your Evenings Course
- Make Over Your Mornings Course
- Blog Post: 3 Benefits of an Evening Routine
- Blog Post: Review of Make Over Your Mornings + Worksheet
7. Take time for self-care.
We all know we need to take care of ourselves, but we don’t always do it. I have found when I get enough sleep, when I eat well and take time for some me time, I am so much better able to get things done. When I am tired or hungry or just eating junk food all the time, my brain is foggy and I can’t think as clearly. Not to mention I am not showing up well for my family in that state!
So today, ask yourself what you need at this moment to feel a little bit better and present in your life. This will probably look different from day to day or even moment to moment. And that is ok! If you are not used to asking yourself what you need then just start with taking 2-5 minutes to sit and breathe. The more you practice checking in, the more you’ll get to know what works for self-care for you.
BONUS TIP. Choose your Time management tools once.
I choose one place to keep all of our events, one place for all of my tasks, and one place for reference material. I learned this “choose once” principle from The Lazy Genius book, which I HIGHLY recommend reading!
My husband and I use the iCal since we both use apple products. We are able to share calendars and see when the other person adds or moves an event. My one caveat to this is that I also started using a printed calendar for my son’s school activities. Now that he can read it is helpful for him to learn about the dates and when he has certain activities.
For tasks, I use Trello and LOVE it! Read about how I use Trello for managing my mom-life here and then download 3 free board templates to give it a try today.
For reference material I mostly save files to my iCloud and notes in Trello.
Before I decided on just one place for each of these things I would have stuff all over the place and would try all the new apps and notebooks. It was a mess! Now I know exactly where to look and that saves me so much time!
Freebie: Download three trello templates
Continue reading for more productivity tips
The Beginner’s Guide to Trello For Moms
YOUR PERFECT WORKSPACE: HOW TO SET UP A HOME OFFICE FOR MAXIMUM PRODUCTIVITY
Question: what is one productivity tip you want to start implementing today?
Let us know your favorite productivity tips in the comments below.
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