First things first, sit down. Take your jacket off and pour yourself a glass of wine. If your life is anything like mine, then the only time you can truly relax is after your kid goes to sleep!
I wanted to set the mood by sharing some of my favorite “working mommy” productivity hacks. These are also applicable to anyone who is juggling multiple jobs, school, a stressful job. Not just for mamas!
I work full-time at a tech company and I don’t get to work from home very often because I need to be in the office! I figured out a few “life hacks” that have helped me find more time in my hectic life. I know that we take on a lot, but there are ways that you can still find time to devote to something creative or a hobby that you love.
Let’s get started!
1. Do all the hard/annoying stuff early in the day
Now we all have those tasks that make us go “ugghhhhhhhhhhh, do I HAVE to do that!?”. My tasks happen to be answering complicated emails, folding laundry, designing graphics, grocery shopping – the list goes on!
I have found that if I nip those suckers in the bud early on in my work day, then I am WAY more productive during the rest of the day. It feels like a HUGE burden is lifted and then I can go back to researching Cynthia’s wigs from RHOA in peace. Don’t judge me!
I always tackle my large/daunting “dark cloud” tasks that I am dreading in the morning because that is typically when I have the most focus and mental capacity. By the end of my work day or weekend day, I just want to curl up with my journal and stick to small tasks like pinning my dream living room.
2. Make a weekly to do list and write down errrrthing
There are two kinds of people in this world – people that like lists and people that hate them. I loveeeee my lists. Every week, I write down TWO to-do lists – one for my personal/after-work life and one for my job. This helps me keep organized and really divide my time between work and personal/blog goals. I typically do a bullet journal style weekly to-do list for work and a traditional monthly/weekly planner for at home.
This system works best for me, but sticky notes and phone apps can work well!
If you are overwhelmed with to-dos, this is a great way to start tracking where you are spending your time. If you want to get crazy, you can even log the time that you spend completing each task. Just try it for a week, you might actually like it!
3. Set a schedule for cleaning/cooking and STICK to it
Warning: this one is kinda hardcore.
One of my biggest productivity blockers is thinking about laundry, cooking, cleaning, etc. If I know that I need to get something done around the house, it stresses me out. So I came up with a solution to up my creative efforts. I set a cleaning schedule – yayyyyyyy!
Basically each Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday I cook and fold laundry. It sounds like a lot, but it allows me to spend Monday and Wednesday blogging/doing creative things and Friday/Saturday decompressing and spending time with my family. I do allow myself some wiggle room when life happens and I can’t muster the energy to cook (hello frozen meals!), but I stick to this schedule most of the time. You can also meal prep on a day that works for you and eat the meals throughout the week!
4. Set a time for email/social media
We are all guilty of getting sucked into an endless pit of emails or the social media wormhole of your best friend’s mom’s cute new puppy photos. One of my pro tips is to schedule time for weeding through email and scrolling through your social networks. This way it is a treat and not a habit to be constantly checking your phone.
I try to check/respond to my work email at 3 different scheduled times per day. That keeps me focused on important tasks without getting distracted by a frequent flood of new emails.
5. List which activities that you can do with distractions and get them done
This one goes out specifically to all the mamas! I understand that time is LIMITED when you have a little one running around the house begging for your attention. Save all the things that need more concentration for nap time and bed time. I like to list out the activities that I can do while they are awake and active and try to tackle as many as I can at the beginning of the day. For me, this is working out, packing my lunch and doing some light cleaning. That is about as far as it goes for life with my lively 21 month old! Check out my gorgeous bbgrl below!
If you have older kids, get them involved! Give them some chores and get errrr done.
6. STOP Multi-tasking – Put phone on airplane mode/put the phone DOWN
Yoooo, this one is so hard for so many of us! We try to tackle so much and do 30 things at once. I have found that giving 80-100% of my attention to one thing at a time ensures that I complete the task and have more energy. When I start to juggle too many things, that is when I let things slip through the cracks. There are some unicorns in the world that can truly do 30 things at one time, but I believe that completing one thing at a time is the best approach for success.
7. Work while you watch
So I know that I just said to stop that multi-tasking business, but there are a few things that I actually do while watching reality TV or listening to music/podcasts.
If you are trying to find more time in the day, take a hard look at what you are spending your time doing. If a big time suck is watching TV – then make it work for you! I LOVE my reality TV, but do I really need to be glued to every 3.567 hour episode of the Bachelor? Heck nah! I like to add in tasks like organizing my inbox, deleting photos from my phone and designing blog graphics. I can usually do these tasks without getting distracted and using the TV as background noise. I just pause when the drama heats up!
8. Batch it uppppp (do things in batches to make it faster)
If you are blessed with a few hours to yourself- it is time to plan out some batch work! “Batching” is one of the top productivity tips by highly time-efficient people. Batching is doing one particular task (like writing a blog post) and trying to produce as much as possible during that time period. Let’s say that you want to write 3 blog posts this week. Instead of writing blog posts on 3 days, you would just write the 3 blog posts at the same time. Now, it takes me a bit longer to write because I am so long winded, but this is a great approach to take advantage of all your creative juices. I use this approach when I am trying to design my own graphics. I am still learning, so it helps me get into a rhythm of motion.
9. Outsource it!! (If you can afford it – grocery shopping, house cleaning)
If all else fails, outsource the tasks that suck the most time out of your day. We are NOT all Kardashians, so we can’t pay someone to do all of our domestic duties. BUT, there are services like housekeeping services, grocery delivery and laundry pick-ups that can make your life a lot easier. My goal is to try InstantCart at least once this year because it takes up so much of my time! We have a housecleaning service and I LOVE it. We splurge here because neither of us like to deep clean the nooks and crannies of our home.
10. Daily Reflection/Alone time Make time EVERYDAY for reflection/alone time (how else will you know what went well and what is next)
My last tip is to schedule a special time every day for reflection or alone time. We all feel like we have an endless amount of tasks that need to get done, but the reality is that some of them can wait. You need to take care of YOU first! Take a few minutes, have a cup of tea and reflect on your day. I like to write in my journal, review my to-dos for the upcoming week and write in my gratitude log. I am SO passionate about this time because it really helps you recharge and keep focused on your goals. 15-30 minutes is all it takes.
THANK YOU for stopping by and remember to stay golden, mamas!