If you’re a mom, the question isn’t if you’re busy. It’s how busy are you? Normal busy? Super busy? Or pull-your-hair-out busy?
But that doesn’t mean life has to be a big ball of stress until your kids leave the nest. Rather, you have to find a way to get a handle on all of the busyness.
8 Time Management for Tips for Working Moms and Stay-at-Home Moms
If you’re a mom, you’re probably short on time whether you have a job or are a stay-at-home mom. You can manage it all (and keep your sanity), but you’ve got to be smart about how you get things done. Here are 8 tips to keep you on track.
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- Write everything down. These days, most of us just use our phones to keep track of our schedule. But how many hours a day do you want to look at a screen? And isn’t there something refreshing about taking pen to paper? Consider using an oversized monthly calendar that your whole family can see. Or, if you like being able to carry your calendar with you, consider the strategy of bullet journaling. It’s a new take on the old pen-to-paper way of tracking all your events, tasks, and goals all in one place.
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- Set aside a half hour each Sunday for planning. This is the time when you sort through emails and figure out who needs to be where and when. It’s also when you plan your meals and figure out your priorities for the week. By getting this done ahead of time, you’ll save time and avoid the stress of last-minute planning.
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- Pair thinking and non-thinking tasks. Multi-tasking used to be all the rage. Then, we figured out that it often resulted in less-than-awesome work. Instead, pair tasks that require a lot of thinking with tasks that don’t. Examples include taking a walk while talking to a colleague on the phone. Or cleaning up the kitchen while listening to your child’s book report.
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- Build a cushion into your schedule. If you really think about it, doesn’t a little something unexpected happen every day? Your nanny calls off. Your dog gets sick. Your flight is delayed. Don’t pack your schedule so tight that these curveballs take you out of the game.
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- Say no sometimes. Say no to a party you don’t want to attend. Say no when your son asks if he can add yet another activity to his schedule. Say no when you’re asked to chair a committee at your daughter’s school. Saying no to some things is just another way of saying yes to what you really want—to enjoy life without feeling stressed and rushed all the time.
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- Enforce strict bedtimes. This is perhaps the number one secret of happy parents. First of all, your child will get enough sleep (and wake up happy). Secondly, you and your spouse will have much-needed downtime. Be sure to build in enough time for baths, books, and the inevitable request for a cup of water.
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- Focus. Let’s face it, social media can be a huge distraction. If you’re trying to get some work done on your computer, use a productivity tool like FocusMe to custom-block whatever websites tempt you. This tool is especially helpful for working mom time management.
- Get organized. When you’re busy, you can’t afford to spend 10 minutes looking for your daughter’s soccer uniform. The less clutter you have, the easier life will be. Not sure where to start? Check out this guide to three-step decluttering.
Time Management for Busy Moms and StorageMart
If you can’t control the mess in your house, you may have more of a space crunch than you do a clutter problem. Luckily, self storage is a pretty easy—and affordable—fix. At StorageMart, we offer well lit and clean self storage units that can be rented on a month-by-month basis. Check out our storage unit guideto find the size that’s right for you, or contact us to rent a unit online today.