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Getting things done every day can be quite a challenge. Motherhood is a job in itself – then add marriage and relationships, business, friendships and extended family and that’s it! After all, there are several areas of life that need attention, and sometimes it seems that they all need your attention at once.
But there is only one of you! So how do you do everything without getting burned completely?
There are some tips for organization and motherhood that have helped me be more effective with the time I have. I hope they help you do more and free up some time. Here are 5 manageable habits that will help you improve your productivity so you can do more every day.
The goal is to be more efficient, to have more time for family, hobbies and ever-elusive self-care.
Here we are!
1. Create a morning routine
Number one on the list is to create a morning routine. If you want to create a more productive day, the first thing is to own your mornings. If you start the day with a rage and no plan to use the early hours, it will be quite difficult to deal effectively with the rest of the day. It’s just a matter of sitting down and figuring out what you want your morning to look like and how it can best set you up to be productive throughout the day.
Although there are many books and blogs covering morning procedures, the best one is the one you will stick to. Since mornings (and days) can still be unpredictable when you’re a mother, it’s a good idea to keep your morning routine simple and with a little flexibility.
Some of the key things to keep in mind when planning your morning routine are:
Get up before the children
The first ascent allows you to focus on your morning activities and have some quiet time to think. It helps you focus on one place at a time ~ You know it won’t be like that for the rest of the day! This is your quiet space before the start of the day. This time of self-care helps you to be a better mother for the rest of the day.
Focus on your health and taking care of yourself
Your morning routine is your time to take care of your health and some of your own needs, taking a little care of yourself. This can include drinking lemon water, prayer or meditation, a diary, doing a natural face, taking a shower, and maybe even a walk or yoga.
Plan your day
The third part of a useful morning routine is just watching the upcoming classes and planning your tasks. This may include meals or grocery shopping, upcoming meetings, work projects or even plans to pick fruit or visit a farmers market. You may already have these things in your planner, but just reviewing your calendar or planner can help you not miss anything.
2. Use a graph block
Speaking of a calendar or planner, another useful tip is to use a block schedule. According to author Anne Dillard, “The schedule protects against chaos and whims.”
What is a block graph? You can read more about this here, but basically organize your tasks into blocks and then plan them throughout the day. In this way you do not interrupt your best time for working with orders, meetings, washing dishes, vacuum cleaner … and you lose all kinds of valuable time in the transition from one type of task to another.
It also ensures that you do things from each category of tasks every week and don’t put off certain things, like laundry or exercise … just as examples!
Some examples of different categories of tasks include things like:
- Morning routine – All the things mentioned earlier, including making the bed, breakfast, watering the plants / garden.
- Household management – Planning and preparation of meals, laundry, tidying up, paying bills.
- Excursions / orders – Grocery shopping, meetings, taking children to / from activities.
- Self-service / Self-development – Napping, sauna, reading a book, creativity, inviting a friend.
Using a block schedule is a long way to organizing your daily activities. The next step is also to organize your home environment.
3. Systematize your home organization
Creating systems is the key to more efficiency in everything. It eliminates decision-making, ensures that you follow your priorities, and usually gives you guidance every day, week, and month. When you create a home organization system, you create a checklist that covers all areas of your household that need attention, whether it’s bathroom cleaning, laundry, meal planning, or even a stay.
You can do it in old school, with a 3-ring binder, or you can create an ecological system on your smartphone. Some good apps for this are Evernote and Notion.
When creating your home organization system, you will want to start by creating a rough plan of what happens every day. Then, around the daily activities, you assign housework and projects that also need to be completed within this week or month.
You can create checklists for:
- Tasks for every day
- Tasks for each week
- Task for each month
- Meal planning / preparation
- Each room in the house (cleaning list)
If you want more guidance in designing your home organization system, I highly recommend the book The rule of the mother’s life which will help you understand your own system.
You can also find my organization’s checklist in this blog post. I include my daily syllabus, daily household chores, weekly routine, monthly routine, meal list, room cleaning sheet, and my daily to-do list.
Next up … meal planning! Meal planning is key!
4. Plan meals ahead
You can save about 3 ½ hours a week just by planning a meal. Seriously. In fact, I tracked the time I spent planning, preparing, and shopping for meals in weeks I didn’t follow, compared to the weeks I did. The difference was shocking: an average of 3.5 hours saved per week … just by meal planning. Bonus: I also saved about $ 45 a week on groceries when I ate a planned meal when I didn’t. Meal planning can help you do more every day and week.
Again, this can be done on paper or on your smartphone. The tool I use is called Real Plans, which can be used on a computer or in their mobile application. Using this tool simplifies grocery shopping and food preparation, allowing you to do other things during this time that you would otherwise spend spending figuring out what to eat for dinner.
Real Plans is easy to use and customize. Once you have completed the process, you can almost finish planning your meal in about 5 minutes a week. It automatically creates a meal plan, which you can then customize as much as you want. You can even use it for batch cooking so you can cook in advance. You can then see the meal plan, recipes and shopping list on your smartphone.
You can also help your children prepare food … which brings me to my last piece of advice.
5. Give your children the opportunity
Mothers often feel as if they have to do everything for everyone in the family. But this is another recipe for burnout. Instead of doing everything yourself, think of ways you can empower your family to do things for themselves. Delegating tasks saves you time every day. It also helps prepare your children for adulthood by making them responsible, disciplined and caring adults who make the world a better place.
Here are some ways you can empower your children:
- Get rid of the tasks that your children are capable of (washing hair, washing, making the bed, tidying the rooms, preparing lunches, usually cleaning up after themselves)
- Make capsule wardrobes so that your children have ready-made outfits and can easily get dressed.
- Make a list of household chores appropriate to each child’s age and abilities. Tasks may include:
- Label Delegation Tasks or Practices – This is a great way to learn early. Examples include:
- Answering the phone and receiving messages
- Write “thank you” notes
- Call to check a friend or family member
- Helping an elderly friend or neighbor
All of these things are great parenting techniques, plus they release some time each day so you can do more without getting burned!
Bonus tip: Take it step by step
There is no way to change your life in one step. Believe me, I tried! Choose one area at a time to work on. It also helps to remember that not all responsibilities lie on mom’s shoulders, but on the whole “team” – the family!
What are your best tips for disappearing without burning? Share with us below!