10 Productivity Tips For The Busy Mom

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10 Productivity Tips For Busy Moms.

Whether you work from home, stay home, or work outside of your home!

If you take a look at your life, you would likely say you are a busy mom. I think it is a safe to say most moms are.

I’m a work from home mother with three children, who also spends her days taking care of my nieces and nephews. On top of it all, I home school my children. To say I don’t put extreme expectations on myself would be a bold-faced lie.

My expectations (and I don’t know, probably the rest of the world’s): I would wake up at 4:30 am and work out, do devotions and have ME TIME while also working.

Then I cook a healthy wonderful breakfast spread, knocking school out in 2-3 hours with the munchkins. Then a healthy, fun for kids lunch.

Afterward, my kids and the other kids play quietly and nicely, while letting me work for an hour or so.

Then we play and laugh, everyone gets along, no squabbles.

I prep dinner, and kids are in bed by 7:30-8:00 pm, leaving me plenty of time to spend with the hubs, catch up on work, or chill by myself.

I go to bed early and do it all over again.

Did I mention, I do all this with a cheerful smile, while birds float and sing around my head?

Let’s be real, we aren’t Disney Princesses. Although, it would be amazing to have animals do my dishes and make me a beautiful ball gown.

The Reality for Normal

(non -Princess moms)

We stumbled out of bed (sometimes waking up at 4:30, sometimes 8, who keeps track?)

Forget the workout, there’s not enough time.

Forget the work, we’ll do it later. (squeeze in devotions sheepishly, telling yourself you will wake up earlier tomorrow.)

Your children scream and fight with each other as they gather in the kitchen, only pausing to squeal in your direction what they want to drink and eat.

You nod your head, while pouring your coffee, then throw cereal at them, because seriously, who has time to make a four-course breakfast? Not this momma.

Your children talk your ear off, while you try to not lose your mind, ahem, I mean check your work emails and drink your coffee.

Then there’s school for us.

If you are a home school mom or a stay at home mom with young children, you get it.

There is no break from these hungry, talkative creatures you created. You stumble through school, lots of bickering, lots of sidetracking (at least for me, maybe you really are a Disney Princess, and this doesn’t happen to you.)

Add a couple more kids in the mix, and then there’s a ton of crying, fighting, and messes to be had during the day.

You throw something on the stove for dinner. After all, you don’t have a cook, clean up because you don’t have a maid, and bath your children because unfortunately, you don’t have a nanny to do this for you.

Then you dance as you tuck your children in, and crash on the couch to binge-watch Netflix for 4 hours, promising yourself you will try harder tomorrow.

That my friend is the reality for us non-Disney Princess mommas. You are a busy mom, after all.

And that is okay, I love my life. I love my children. I wouldn’t trade any of it for the world.

But being a mom with so many expectations placed on us, either from ourselves or others, makes it harder to be as productive as we want or need to be.

Being a productive mom gives us a sense of accomplishment and can make us feel like we are so much more than just a mom who can hardly make it through the day.

Here are 10 simple tips to help you be more the productive momma you want to be.

Tip 1: Increase the time you wake up, slowly.

I am NOT a morning person.

I try my very best to wake up early on the weekdays for several reasons.

But it has taken me a very long time to train my body to not hit the snooze button.

Waking up early and refreshed can and will increase your productivity level. Because of these very simple facts: more time and you are well-rested.

When you decide to start increasing your wake up time to earlier, start slow.

Place your phone or alarm clock on the other side of the room. This forces yourself to physically get out of bed.

I use Alarmy. A simple alarm clock app that allows you to choose from many options to unlock your alarm.

Instead of hitting snooze, you can take a picture, play a game, or do a math problem, waking your brain up a little bit to get you moving.

However, waking up early isn’t for everyone.

If you want to wake up early but you have a difficult time waking up in the morning, save your important tasks for evenings.

Tip 2: Knock the biggest, baddest task out for the day first thing.

I sometimes tend to procrastinate. Are you with me? When we procrastinate, the likelihood of us tackling the tasks we most need to do dwindles.

Write down the tasks you must do, the ones that will bring you the best return of investment.

Then, when you wake up, knock out the biggest, baddest task on your to-do list. You will feel accomplished and motivated to knock something off your list.

Getting those to-do tasks done will give you the motivation to get started on the other items on your list! Who doesn’t need a little motivation in their life?

Tip 3: Use a planner or bullet journal

Do you love to organize your thoughts creatively? A bullet journal may be perfect for you.

If you’d rather have something simple, using a planner can help.

I am a type B, left-brained person.

Organizing is NOT something that comes easy to me. But I have realized the more I implement my daily planner, as well as lists, the easier being productive comes to me.

Download my Peaceful Nest Planner, to help you get started organizing your home.

Tip 4: Set short and long term deadlines

If you work for yourself or stay at home chances are you do not have set deadlines. Unless you set them for yourself.

Get your planner out and set for yourself short term and long term deadlines.

What do you want to accomplish for your business or home over the next week? month? year? Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

Write your goals and deadlines down. Then crush them!

Tip 5: Make a household schedule and stick with it

Take a look at your day to day and write down what you must do every single day, week, month, etc.

What chores do you want to accomplish every day? When do you do laundry, dishes, mop?

Make yourself a household schedule and then stick with it 90% of the time.

The truth is, no one is ever going to stick with their schedule 100% of the time. Things come up.

But if you stick with your schedule 90% of the time, when something DOES come up (and it will) there is less chance of being completely thrown off track.

Tip 6: Teach your kids to help around the house

Have you ever started letting your child help you around the house then given up because they were just so darn slow?

Children tend to be slow at everything. It’s easy to throw the towel in and say “Just let me do it.”

But when you take the time to teach your children to help you around the house, you will receive two separate bonuses.

One: Your children will learn work ethic, what it means to take care of their possessions, and help other people.

I always tell my children, we all live in this home, which means we all contribute to taking care of it. (Trust me, it still takes them 45 minutes to clean a room, but they do it.)

Two: The burden of doing EVERYTHING is taken off your shoulders a little bit, and you can breathe.

It is important to remember because they are children, the chores your children are doing will not be done perfectly.

I have to fight the urge to remake my child’s bed every morning. But I stop myself.

Start with something simple, and then work your way up. I started with teaching my children the basic routine I wanted them to do every morning.

Make their bed.

Get themselves dressed.

Brush teeth and clean their bathroom.

The bathroom is done for the day and I don’t have to go upstairs to clean their bathroom or help them get dressed.

They pick out their clothes.

It’s a win-win :).

Tip 7: Prep on the weekend

The weekend is for relaxing, yes. I also like to use part of the weekend to prep for my coming week.

Take a look at your work schedule, and make a plan for your deadlines. Plan out your meals and chores.

Do whatever you can to assure the coming Monday doesn’t feel like an avalanche is falling down on you.

Tip 8: Meal plan for the week

Take a few minutes to jot down your meal plan for the coming week.

Brainstorm or take ideas from your family.

Trust me, the few minutes you take to plan the week’s meals will be well worth it come Thursday night when you are not scrambling in the cabinets trying to figure out what to feed your crew.

Tip 9: Set realistic goals based on their importance

What is most important to you? Think about what you want to accomplish over the next couple of months or years.

Do you want to grow your business? Or do you want to create a more peaceful home?

Whatever you decide as your goals, write them down.

Make your goals clear and concise. The more specific your goal is the more focus you can become.

Setting these goals and writing them where you can visualize them will motivate you to become more productive.

When you have clear set goals, you will be more likely to work at achieving them.

Tip 10: Do as much as you can in a set time limit

When you set out to tackle a task, set a timer.

Whether you are cleaning out a closet or working on a proposal, setting a timer can push you to be more productive.

When you have a deadline of 30 minutes or an hour, you will be more focused.

Do what you can in those 30 minutes and then take a break.

Overworking yourself can be just as bad for your productivity as under working yourself can be. Overworking can lead to burnout.

So, a couple of times a day set that timer and tackle your task! You have what it takes to take your to-do list on!

The Last Thing You Need to Know About Being Productive.

If you feel your tasks are a daunting mountain staring you down, take it one day at a time.

One task at a time.

You do not have to do it all! But you can do this, even if you are a busy mom. 🙂

If you are new to the Peaceful Nest Blog, welcome!

Be sure to read my top posts on parenting:

• Why Consistent Parenting Matters
• 12 Habits of Immensely Peaceful Moms
• 63 Mom Hacks That are Pure Genius

Are you looking for ways to become a peaceful mom but you aren’t sure how?

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