Busy moms have a lot on their plate, and are always trying to manage their time. Whether you’re a stay at home mom, or participating in the employment world, you know that your time is valuable. Because of this, it’s important to recognize that you must maximize you time, not manage it.
Whatever your idea of successful parenting, I guarantee you won’t be able to reach it just by simply managing your time and responsibilities. You need to be able to maximize your time so that you have opportunities to really live a life filled with laughter, lifelong learning, and beautiful relationships.
Here are 8 things busy moms do to maximize their time to live a life filled with laughter, love, and learning.
1. Write Everything Down
This is number 1 for a reason! Moms who appear to have it all together and organized have mastered the art of writing everything down. They recognize that there’s always a million things on the go, and as much as they would like to think they have superstar memory, it’s hard to keep track of everything all the time.
When you write everything down, it becomes a visual that is there for you to constantly touch base with. You can always return to it and double check that you have completed all your necessary tasks. But after you have written everything down, don’t forget to return to the list!
Checklists
After three kids, and a lot of trial and error, I realized that checklists are my thing. I have different checklist for different things, and over the years my checklist stash has certainly grown.
I have a checklist for:
- Daily cleaning
- Deep cleaning
- Vacation packing
- Christmas (and other holidays) preparation
- Birthday preparation
… and my list keeps growing. I also have a blank weekly checklist that I complete on Sunday that helps me to organize my upcoming week.
I even have some for my kids! They have laminated checklists for their homework completion, weekly chores, and morning and evening routines.
Honestly, I live by my checklists! I used to write things down on sticky notes before I started, attempting to keep everything fluid and organic, updating and revising as I went. I would leave sticky notes or notepads in places that I frequented often just so I wouldn’t forget to double check and cross things off.
This worked for a short time, but can you imagine what started to happened? Sticky notes started to fall… kids would play with them.. I would overlook them! As much as it seemed like a great idea, it just wasn’t working for me anymore, especially as my to-do lists became longer and longer. It wasn’t helping me to maximize my time.
Soon, I was spending more time crossing out, editing and replacing than I actually spent completing the task! I quickly realized that I preferred a more refined document that allowed me to get started and finished as quickly as possible.
So one evening after my daily cleaning, I gathered all of my sticky notes and sheets and created a cleaning checklist that I not only visually loved, but also allowed me to get down to business right away. I’ve done this with all of my other checklists as well. Of course, overtime they are adjusted as our family needs and schedules change, but in general they accomplish the goal.
2. Utilize a Calendar
Writing everything down, and using checklists helps to organize our daily activities so we can maximize our time to the fullest. After all, we’re all on a quest to have more leisure time to spend with our sweet babies, families, friends, and even ourselves!
Utilizing a calendar is another visual tool that allows you to view your tasks on a larger scale. Applying this step will also help to organize your daily tasks, as you will be able to prioritize what needs to get done first. Ultimately, leading you to maximize your time.
Motivation
Having my checklists and calendar in hand before I take on my day, week, or a particular event is like having a power booster strapped to my back.
Not only does crossing off completed tasks keep me motivated, but it also gives me a sense of accomplishment that keeps my positive mood level on high.
When everything I have to do is simply written down on a scrap paper, sticky notes, or listed in my phone, the list seems never ending. I also never get to look at the bigger picture to see how close I am to the end goal. For me, these two tools keep my overall goal visual, and attainable.
3. Prioritize Your Tasks
Have you ever heard of the term “eat that frog”? Well it basically means to do your toughest task first. Sometimes we put off the hardest task thinking it’s best to complete the smaller quicker tasks first.
But, in order to feel like your day was a true success and maximize your time, figure out what’s most crucial to complete and do that first! This way, regardless if you complete your list or not, you’ve completed a crucial component of it and can enjoy (even if it slight) a feeling of success.
Flying high off of this feeling, you’ll be able to maximize the remainder of you time by working through other minor tasks quickly.
4. Plan Ahead
In order to prioritize we need to plan first … see how all these steps link together?
To fully make use of your time as a busy and valuable person, take 5 – 10 minutes (I wouldn’t recommend exceeding 20) every night or early morning to plan your day. Write everything down on your daily checklist, and prioritize your tasks for success. Get started tonight!
5. No More Multitasking!
Multitasking must be one of the biggest myths known to busy parents. While we may think that we are multitasking, all we are really doing is quickly switching our attention from one task to another.
You may remember your own mother or father saying to you at some point in your childhood: “Do it, do it right, and do it quickly.” The idea of multitasking in itself goes right against this idea.
It’s always best to put your full focus on a task and get it done quickly. Of course we can train our brains to become better at the notion of multitasking, but until you recognize that multitasking is really working against you, you’ll never be able to maximize your time.
6. Active Inactive Time
So we’ve established that as a busy mom, you have a lot on your to-do list. Whether its commuting to work and back, different activities for the kids, or eating at the doctor’s office, we all have some kind of ‘inactive’ time. Time where we’re not really getting anything done, but just moving or being in one space to another.
What do we tend to do during this time? Right! We pick up our phones and start endlessly scrolling. The ultimate time killer.
To maximize your overall time, you have to be able to activate this time in a productive way. Try updating your checklists, sending an email, reviewing your goals, or simply attempt some stress relief breathing.
7. Limit Screen Time
Let’s be honest, even with all its glory, social media is the ultimate time waster. Yes, you may be glad to see that your friend from high school just enjoyed (yet another!) trip of a life time in Europe, but how does it really help us to maximize our time? How does that help you accomplish your goals? Or connect deeper with your family?
Imagine what you could accomplish with that time used to endlessly scroll being a spectator to someone else’s life. Limit your overall screen time by activating the ‘Screen Time’ option on your iPhone or simply uninstall or hide distracting apps. You can still access the sites on your browser or safari, but at least they will be harder to get to.
Limiting your screen time will reduce the ‘impulse’ to constantly check updates and waste your valuable time.
8. Be Accountable
This last strategy ties in to the previous seven. By being accountable of your actions you acknowledge that you have made a commitment to change how you approach your time.
Stop managing and use these strategies to start maximizing your time. Regardless of what comes up, follow through with your set tasks and priorities. Do not become distracted. If you are in the middle of your 15 minute daily calendar and checklist writing and a call comes in, let it go to voicemail. Address it when you are able to activate your inactive time. Maximizing your time means not allowing everyone and everything to take hold of it.
You will soon start to see a change in how much you get done, and how much extra time you will have for the important things.
