12 time saving hacks for tired moms
When you are a working mom, it is very difficult to “do it all” exactly when you need it done. Time saving hacks will be your best friend.
You may be driving home from work and your partner calls you to tell you that there are only 5 more diapers for your toddler. Or, that the trash bags ran out. Things like this happen, however, there are now so many easy ways to deal with these issues when they come up. You need time saving hacks.
And let’s be real, as much planning as you do, something always comes up. Unless you have the time to jump off your couch and race to the store to pick up that item you need, take a look at this list of time saving hacks.
I will admit, I was hesitant to use some of these at first. I wanted to be that super mom that could get everything done without any help. But I quickly realized that with working a fulltime job and having to clean the house and spend time with the kids any free time I got – I needed help.
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Top 12 time saving hacks:
#1. Grocery delivery services
When you are a working mom who leaves out the door early in the morning and gets home late at night, just in time to put the kids to bed and make/heat up dinner, you realize that there just isn’t enough time in the day to do EVERYTHING you would like. And, when the weekend comes, you can get tied up with a family birthday party, being present with just your kids, Sunday at home reset etc. So what could be helpful?
- Literally just ordering your food online and having someone pick it up and bring it to you.
- Ordering groceries and taking a trip to the store for curbside pickup (this helps with putting the kids down for a nap without having to take them out of the care).
- Or, if you want to move a bit but don’t have too much time, you can put in the grocery order and go inside to pick it up.
#2. Meal Services
You may be in a place where your work hours make it difficult for you to have anytime to make anything and your weekends are your time to relax. Or maybe you work throughout the whole week, so time is truly limited. One great solution is a meal service company. You could have meals delivered to you all packaged. All you have to do it heat it up! This is one of my favorite time saving hacks.
Two meal packaged services:
#3. Meal Prepping
Now, if you enjoy cooking or can’t afford to be buying meal services, setting out time to meal prep will be your best friend. I personally love to meal prep but in order to do so effectively, I break it down into at least 2 days.
I do a Sunday reset that involves prepping food for the following 3 days. Then, on Wednesday, I meal prep for the following 2 days. Saturday is wings night (so we cook as a family) and Sunday is leftovers day. The importance here is that you have a PLAN. Otherwise, you will get home, see no food and either a. order out or b. eat not nutritious foods on a regular basis (aka a bowl of cereal or soup).
Check out my blog post on meal prepping and how to organize yourself and get started. And if you want to get a whole week of meals planned out (all dinner meals with direct meals), go and download this FREE meal plan.
#4. Planning your daily & weekly schedule
Planning out everything that needs to get done for the week and day will save you in the long run. I started off trying to remember everything and kept a mental note of what needed to get done. However, with more responsibilities and tiredness, this mom began forgetting some very important things.
That is why I recommend you sit down monthly (first) to sketch out your goals, chores / household tasks breakdown, any appointments and general needs in the house. Then you can break it down into the weeks based on priority. The truth is that you may not be able to get everything down, how you would like, but by planning you can realistically see what you will need to do.
Grab my FREE downloadable planner here. It includes daily weekly and routine planning pages.
#5. Put the clock at home 10 minutes ahead.
My kitchen leads directly to the outdoors so, I continuously look at the clock on the stove to make sure I am not out the door late. Otherwise, I know I will be late for work. Now, what I do to make sure I then have an extra 10 minutes is that I set the time up 10 minutes ahead. I still tell myself that I need to get out of the house, for example by 7:00am. This way I can get to work on time.
However, when I do get to work, I realize I am actually early. With those extra 10 minutes, I walk outside and get some fresh air, or I make that phone call for the appointment I’ve been pushing off.
#6. Spread out the cleaning into a weekly schedule.
You will have a smaller daily cleaning schedule (picking up living room, cleaning the babies bottle etc.). But then, you will spread out cleaning the different rooms of the house by day. This way this is not a big pile of mess when the weekend comes around. Check out this weekly and daily cleaning schedule and checklist blog post for more examples and cleaning supplies recommendations.
Example:
Monday – master bedroom clean up
Tuesday – kid’s room clean up
Wednesday – Dining room & downstairs bathroom
#7. Get comfortable with saying no.
The honest truth is that you will have to learn to say no to people and events. Your time is super limited when you only have a day or 2 to clean and prepare for the following week. Not to mention the fact that during your “off” time, you will want to prioritize activities with your kids. If you are someone who often says yes and may truly enjoy helping out others or participating in different events, you will need to cut back those yeses. Figure out what your priorities are and start there.
#8. Wake up before the kids do OR stay up a little later after the kids go to bed
I know this one can be hard for people but TRUST me, it will make such a huge difference in your day. Those extra 15-30 minutes help you get yourself together, something you’ve been putting off or get breakfast going. Besides saving you time in the long run, it will help you feel more relaxed, energized and prepared for the day ahead.
#9. Place bins around the house
This is truly game-changing in my household. I have a toddler and a baby who stay home with dad, so the house is a mess. Even if they did not stay with dad during the day there, it would still be a mess from the morning chaos of my son.
Bins help you when you have something in the wrong place. For example, if you need to bring baby diapers downstairs, it’s helpful to have a bin by the stairs with the diapers so you remember to bring them down. Or you go shopping and need to put a toy in the kid’s room but instead you place it on the kitchen table. That is the perfect time to take the toy and put it in the bin, so you remember to move it when you have some time.
#10. Delegate… don’t try to do EVERYTHING alone.
This is one I personally have been working hard at doing. I like things a certain way so it’s hard for me to delegate tasks to my partner. However, I can’t do it all in the timeframe I want without the help. So, we have come to the agreement that my partner will handle all the outdoor needs and laundry during the week. I also teach my toddler how to help mommy clean during clean up time for his playroom and living room. This will definitely save you loads of time.
#11. Use a notes widget to write down thoughts or tasks that come up during the day.
This is my most recent favorite tool yet. I am always on the go and when I get to work or while doing the dishes, there is a ton of other things that pop in my head that I know I need to do. Or I could be cleaning and think of this blog post idea. That is where this tool comes in handy since it is a widget that you can place in the front screen of your phone. All I do is open up the notes, press on the + sign and make a list. I then revisit that list later in the day or during my brain dump monthly session.
#12. Create a morning checklist of no more than 5 items.
Okay, so when you are planning do NOT try to make this super long and extensive list of daily chores that you will complete. Let’s be realistic and let’s start off small. I would actually reduce this to 3 main items if you are really starting off and are learning how to best manage your time. Get the routine going and once its established into a habit, then you can adjust and add to it. Otherwise, you will have this long list, not be able to complete it, become overwhelmed and simply not do it. Now that is a waste of your time.
Grab your free mom planner here.
DON’T FORGET TO CHECK OUT SOME OF MY OTHER POSTS:
- https://workingmombalanced.com/how-to-make-the-most-out-of-your-weekend-as-a-working-mom-with-kids/
- https://workingmombalanced.com/building-the-career-you-love/
- https://workingmombalanced.com/how-to-define-balance-as-a-working-mom/
- https://workingmombalanced.com/5-essential-time-management-tools-for-happy-working-moms/
I hope this list of time saving hacks is helpful!
Try a few of things out and give yourself time to adapt. Especially in the beginning when you are back at work and trying to figure out how to juggle everything with another human being in the picture. Remember to also revisit these monthly or quarterly so that you can make any changes needed. As a busy working mom, rule #1 is to be flexible and open to changes. Check out the other blog posts here.
WHICH HACK ARE YOU GOING TO START TRYING? Share it below!
con amor, Nelly
