If you’re a mom and need help with time management, I’ve got you covered. Here are some mindset and actionable tips for time management for moms.
Having shitty time management practices can make a mom feel very, very defeated. You’re constantly in a cycle of not knowing what to do next and when to do it.
You’re working on a task and then another comes up that feels pressing, so you stop doing the original and you find yourself losing motivation for the first and you just end up frustrated and not doing any of them. Or, you try to multitask and do all of them.
Now, when I talk about time management for moms, I don’t just mean time management JUST to get shit done around the house. I mean it to use your time wisely for all the things – time for yourself, time to connect with your kids, friends and partner…and time to get shit done.
Is multitasking a good time management skill?
Multi-tasking is a fallacy. It is not possible to multitask and give your full attention to both of those things. You just can’t. I would love it if we could stop praising people (especially moms) who claim to be good multi taskers.
Sure, maybe if you do it, it can save time, but the quality of what you’re doing is going to diminish because you aren’t able to give all your attention to one task.
The only exception to this rule, I find, is if one of the tasks is cleaning. Cleaning is mindless and I like to listen to a podcast or audio book while I clean.
Time Management Tips for Moms
These tips were written with the stay-at-home mom in mind, but they can be applied to the home life of the working mom as well.
Mindset Bullshit for Time Management
First, we’re going to get the mindset bullshit out of the way – what are some mindset things to get into for time management for moms before taking care of your actionable items:
1. Your memory is shit.
Even if it isn’t – even if you’ve won praise from friends and family about how you can remember the color of your neighbor’s dog’s collar, assume it is. Don’t tell yourself something in your head to “remember for later.” We all know this doesn’t end well.
2. Don’t fall into the “I’ll do it when…” trap.
Similar to assuming your memory is shit, stop saying “I’ll do it later.” Later most of the time actually never comes and that task never gets done – running to the post office, dropping your kids’ lunch off at school because they forgot it, printing out that recipe for dinner.
All you’re doing is taking something off of your list and adding it to the end. It ends up adding time to your tasks but it doesn’t add time to our day. Stop doing it.
3. You are organized!
Start telling yourself that you ARE organized. Once we get through the actionable list, you’ll have the mental capacity to be that organized person you have only been wishing you were. You’re not bad at it, you just haven’t found a system that works for you.
4. Be flexible.
As always, this is a good tip for parenting and life in general. Every single day, something goes off the rails and doesn’t happen as planned. We have to plan for the unplanned.
Now that we’ve got all the mindset bullshit out of the way, lets’ touch on the actionable items for time management.
5. Hand tasks off.
I will talk about this until I am blue in the face. You do not need to do everything to keep your family afloat and you shouldn’t. My self-care workbook that an also be found here is the perfect way to implement this at home.
It walks you through how to divide up tasks to other people (and the trash). It helps you decide what other people can do and what doesn’t actually need to be done (there’s a lot, I promise). Once you hand these tasks off, you will find that managing your time becomes so much easier.
6. Plan
I honestly do not know how people function without planning. If I don’t plan my week on Sundays, I feel like I get nothing done and it feels very upsetting. Planning your week really will help you prioritize and manage your time wisely.
7. Wake up early/go to bed late.
This is another thing I will talk about until the end of time. Waking up early has made a huge impact on my life and my attitude. I use it for daily self-care but you can certainly use it to get shit done. I know a lot of you probably think that you can’t wake up early because you need your sleep to function and that’s okay.
You can find ways to get more extra time during the day. This is when prioritizing comes into play. If it helps you more to get the sleep, then get the sleep. I know waking up early isn’t for everyone. I’m just here to inspire the people who haven’t tried it yet.
How to wake up before your kids and why it will improve your mood!
8. One central location for lists.
One of the biggest time management mistakes I’ve made is having my to-do lists in 19 different places. Don’t do this! In my Etsy shop (mostly organized) I carry a bunch of different monthly/weekly/daily planner lay outs that include to do lists.
Don’t try to reinvent the wheel. You can also grab a simple notebook from Amazon or the grocery store when you’re grocery shopping.
9. Realistic time estimations.
When you’re preparing for your week or day, realistically take into consideration how long these tasks are going to take. For example, if you have to take the kids to the grocery store, add in 30-45 minutes of time for your own sanity because if you don’t, it’s just going to stress you out and put you behind. If you don’t need the extra time, bonus!
10. Prioritize
Again, when you’re preparing and planning your time, make your to-do list based on your priorities. Which tasks are time sensitive? What needs to be done soon or can’t be adjusted?
11. Take care of your needs first.
You should be taking care of yourself and making sure your battery is charged. You do this by scheduling in daily self-care to your routine. Downloading my freebie will help get you started with this.
12. Create systems to cut down on time it takes to get things done
One system I love to use to cut down on time is meal planning. Meal planning really helps cut down on the time and energy it takes to complete a daily task that absolutely needs to be done, as exhausting as it is.
13. Create boundaries with your phone.
Your phone is a time suck. Creating boundaries with your phone is going to help so much with time management. It’s so easy to get lost in the doom scrolling and then feel like trash when you come out of it, triggered and short tempered.
Then the next thing you know, you’re yelling at your kids for being kids and it’s really because you lost 30 minutes and can’t get it back.
5 Great Tips to Reduce Phone Usage As A Parent
Hopefully these tips can help you approach the way you spend your time during the day so you can feel more organized and accomplished. Felling disorganized is such a frustrating feeling – I know, I’ve lived it! That’s why I came up with these time management tips for moms.
In addition to the actionable items Ive mentioned, make sure you’re taking time to encourage yourself (that mindset bullshit) and really listening to your inner dialogue.
I truly hope this was helpful for you and you can find some peace in a less overwhelmed routine.
