Moms are probably the busiest people on earth – from household chores, taking care of the kids, to our work, and juggling our other roles as wives, daughters and more. It’s no wonder many of us find that 24 hours a day is barely enough time.
But if we are to seriously think about it, is it really true that we don’t have enough time? Or are there, perhaps, changes we can make that will help us save time, create calmness in our lives and to even squeeze in some me-time every day?
One of the areas I’m working on this year is putting in place systems for my home and my work so that I can be more efficient and effective. Here are some things I am doing that I find are helping me to better manage my time and be more productive.
1. Plan in advance
Planning is probably one of the most basic rules of time management, but to be honest, I’ve never been disciplined enough. So this year, I’m making this a priority. This means to plan my days, weeks and even months in advance. Planning gives me clarity and helps me stay focused.
For me, this takes the form of a weekly meal planner, having time-blocks for certain activities throughout the day, and designating certain days of the week for specific tasks. For example, Wednesday is my ‘admin day’ when I handle all the paperwork – such as going through the mail and filing documents.
I’ve also just started to plan ahead and look at monthly goals, breaking them down into weekly tasks and then scheduling them in my diary.
2. A productive day starts the night before
Morning can be a mad rush in many families and this can be avoided if we spend some time the night before to plan for the next day. For example, in our family, we decide on what to wear to work, iron the clothes, and pack my son’s bag at night. Before I go to bed, I also spend some time to come up with a “to-do” list and this also ensures that I go to sleep without worrying that I may forget some important tasks I need to do the next day.
3. Cut down on unnecessary connectivity time
I’m a work-at-home mom. When I am doing serious work on my laptop, I choose not to be connected to the internet. This helps me to stay focused on the task at hand, otherwise,I’ll end up surfing the net.
I also try to leave my smartphone in the bedroom and not somewhere near my normal activity areas so that I won’t be tempted to keep checking my emails and social media accounts. I unsubscribed myself from many websites and only keep those that are really useful. On the same note, I also stopped email notifications from some of my social media accounts.
At first it was tough as I kept wondering if I might be missing out on something important. After a while, I realized that it was just an irrational fear. Life goes on as normal, if not better, because I can be more present and able to focus my time and energy on what really matters.
4. Be organised and eliminate clutter
Being disorganised and clutter are my big issues. I don’t know how much time I’ve wasted just by trying to look for an item. So what I do these days is to find a place for everything in the house and make it a habit to put them back to their ‘homes’ after each use.
One tip I learned is to organise things by storing them at the place where you normally use them. So for example, I keep my mascara, brow pencil, eyeliner and perfume on the shelf in the bathroom because these are items I use almost every single day, and usually immediately after my cleansing and skincare routine. After use, I immediately put them back on the shelf. The rest of the makeup products are kept in a drawer in the bedroom because I don’t use them as often.
Also, make “tidying up” a family task. Train your kids from a young age to put away their toys after playing. This is a good way to instill discipline too.
5. Wake up earlier
I like this the best, but to be honest, I don’t get to do it every day. But when I do, I feel good. I would wake up about 30 minutes to an hour earlier than normal. I spend the time praying, reading my Bible and whatever book I’m currently reading. It puts me in the right frame of mind and I enjoy starting the day off on a calm note. I also spend some time chatting with my husband before he goes to work. If there’s extra time, I’ll work on some of the tasks on the “to-do” lists.
These are my strategies to be more productive each day. I don’t get it right all the time, after all, new habits take time to form. I guess the important thing is to recognize when I’m going off track and remind myself to get back on.
Do you also struggle with a lack of time? If you have any time management tips, please do share them!
This is an original post by Ruth Wong from Singapore. She’s a work-at-home-mom who also blogs at Mommy Cafe. She has recently co-authored and published a book titled Successful Work-Life Balance.
Photo credit to Stuart Miles at freedigitalphotos.net.
These are great ideas, Ruth!
Thank you, Karyn!
Ruth,
I really needed to read this. My life needs more planning and organization! lol Thank you for sharing these great tips!
Jen 🙂
Jen, glad you found the tips useful! 🙂
As the kids get older I see the need of getting more and more organized and to plan ahead.
It helps that my husband likes to plan and have things scheduled all the time, but he is a very cluttered guy so we waist a lot of time looking for his stuff sometimes.
I remember my mother always getting ready to work the night before. We would help her with picking the outfits, and that was our routine. I loved it.
Haha, my husband complains the same about me – coz I have the tendency to misplace things!
I love the routine your mother had, I believe it must have been fun! I do ask my 3-year-old too but I don’t agree with his choices all the time. I think he enjoys the process 🙂
Great list! I am in the process of spring cleaning, getting rid of tons of unused items and cleaning out old paperwork in order to have more space and less clutter. I just can breathe easier and focus when cabinets are not overflowing.
Oh yes, when we have fewer things around the house, we feel lighter and have better focus. Some people also believe that when you declutter, you open up new space for good things to flow in.
Ruth, this is my kind of list! I needed to get it today and here you have posted it out for me. Have to get my life organised! And of course my bedroom and wardrobe too 🙂
Glad it’s a timely post for you, Purnima 🙂 Congrats again on winning BlogHer!
Hi Ruth, thanks for these useful tips. I’m often a victim of checking my smartphone too often that even my daughter has to remind me to put it away (Definitely, not proud of that)! We all have 24 hours in a day and I hope that I put mine to more productive ways.
Yes, that’s a common struggle for so many of us. I’m sure we can be more productive when we put our mind to it!
Ruth, even if I feel like I’m on track with the suggestions you make, this is a good reminder to enact them more completely, rather than half-heartedly. Especially the waking up earlier. I work from home too and one thing I was doing wrong until recently involved using precious, kid-free time to go to the gym a few times a week. At first this seemed like a great “me-maintenance” act but it became apparent that I was using high-productivity time to do something I should be doing early in the morning, before others were awake instead. Now I go to the gym at 5:30. It’s hard training myself to get to bed earlier and up so early but I feel really on when I get home at 7, ready to get everyone else out the door when they need to be and ready for me to sit down to get work done once they’re gone.
Congrats on the new streamlined schedule and organization! Thanks for the great tips (and reminders)!
You’re right, Kyla! It’s so important to know our energy cycles and plan our day around it so we can be more effective. I admire you for waking up so early to go to the gym. It takes great discipline and I admire people with that quality ((because I’m trying to be disciplined too)!
Great tips Ruth – thanks!