Being a mom is not easy especially whether you're working mom or stay at home mom, I love to say every mom is working mom because stay at home also working. With roles as a mother and we are still a human, it is very difficult to manage work,household, kids'school, kids's care and their extracurricular activities.
You cannot afford to miss critical things or make any mistake that can affect your little one. The best thing that you can do is to build habits to be productive moms to ensure all the things are taken care of.I emphasize starting with productive habits because habits take you a long way, habits are automatic behavioural responses and once you build a good habit it becomes your second nature and serves you in the long run.
Once you set up systems to make you productive you need not put the effort into making sure things are done but taking care of all the chores effectively will be effortless for you.
In this post, I share with you how to be productive Mom. All these based on my experience and of course, I did my own research and read about it.
Here are 10 easy ways to be productive mom:
1. Wake up before kids
I swear by this, waking up early in the morning especially before your kids wake up is a habit is the key of being productive mom. Getting up before the kids gives you time and allows you to start your day calmy and without distractions.
You can get things done without disturbance from your little one and get more done in less time. It just helps you set the right tone for the day and build momentum to be productive.
If you get up before the kids by the time kids are up, you will have already dealt with some tasks for the day and you are not in a hustle mood. This even lets give better attention to your kids.
2. Plan in advance
It is very important to plan in advance if you want to be productive mom. As a busy mom, you already have a lot of things to deal with apart from taking care of kids. Planning in advance eases the load of work and allow you to make the best of your time.
There are various ways in which you can plan in advance. Before I became a mom, I'm someone that loved to plan. I love to plan because I can imagine how my life will be look like. Sometimes its not goes as plan but its okay.
You can do monthly planning, weekly planning or even the night before for the next day. I prefer to use the weekend for planning and preparing myself for the next week.
While planning you should consider the schedule of all the family members to ensure everyone's needs are addressed. You should not just plan your work and chores but also vacation, fun time and dates so that you can plan your work and apply for leave work in advance.
Planning things in advance gives you a fair idea about things you will be doing in the coming days and removes the unpredictability and overwhelm. I find planning on the weekend to be most effective.
I'm currently working on working mom planner and hopefully I got to release it by before December 2024! Stay tuned.
3. Write down everything
Everyone has many things to do but moms have much more things to do. From remembering to purchase groceries to any appointments and from work assignment due to paying bills, there are so many things on my mind.
Hence one of the habits of productive moms is to note down all the things and rely less on remembering things. Productive moms have lists and notes for everything, you should keep a running To-Do list, grocery list and any other list you can think of.
Having things written down relieves the stress as you do not have to spend the energy to remember things. By writing down you reduce the chance of forgetting work and you can plan work better. When you have an unfinished task you tend to recall it more and feel anxious, writing things down removes the overwhelming and chaotic feeling. It give you assurance that the task is planned and will happen as per the schedule.
4. Make effective routines
Routines add structure and predictability to your day.
Having routines makes you more efficient and builds momentum. By having routines you do not waste time thinking about what next to do. Having a routine suitable to your need make you spend less time planning and chores and task become part of your life.
Productive moms understand the benefits of routine and build routines as per their needs and these routines include tasks that are best suited for the routine. Productive mom have morning routines, evening routines and weekend routines so that the most important and frequent tasks are done best with fewer efforts.
5. Prioritize tasks
To be a productive mom you must prioritize work. With many tasks at hand, it is very difficult to complete altogether. And if you are a working mom you got to be more strategic with the way you spend your time and the things you choose to get done.
Even the most productive person cannot get everything done. You can only do one thing at a time. Prioritizing work allows you to make a conscious and informed decision to give preference to one task over the other and plan your work better.
6. Make a Schedule for chores
House chores can take a lot of your time but if you make a schedule for them and break them into small tasks, chores can be effectively managed. With schedules for common chores nothing is missed and you are not overwhelmed with many things to do at a time. Identify all the things that they need to do, split them out with the available time, and create schedules.
7. Plan and prep the meals
A key part of being a mom is the responsibility to feed healthy food to the family and for a productive mom spending time every day thinking about what to cook is a waste of time. Hence plan their meal in advance and make sure the grocery required for the same is made available. Planning in advance allows you to incorporate healthy eating options in your meals that are not just healthy but also enjoyed by your family.
You can also do some basic meal prepping on the weekend such as chopping fruits and vegetables, boiling pulses and legumes, or preparing sauces so that you spend less time cooking during the busy weekdays.
8. Teach kids independence
Productive moms don’t just get all things done but they also try to teach their kids to do some basic tasks based on their age. You can start by doing small tasks yourself in the presence of your kids and gradually move on to ask if they would like to do it themselves.
For younger kids, of course, your presence will be required to monitor but eventually, they will learn to do things themselves. This helps in the development of the child and makes them independent. By teaching your kids independence they will be able to do the basic things themselves and this will reduce your work burden and also make them more responsible.
9. Keep backup for a rough day
As a productive mom always have a plan B. We all know with kids and work, plans and schedules don’t execute the way we want them to. Unexpected things always make their way through our perfect schedule and make things imperfect.
Hence always keep a backup plan. Your backup plan can be as simple as buffer time during the day to deal with unexpected work, a frozen meal to fall back upon when required, or a helping hand from a babysitter when you need to get work done.
Depending on your situation in life and the things that get unmanageable for you, keep a vision for the unexpected things that can probably disrupt your plans, and make sure to create a backup plan.
10. Automate tasks
Productivity is not about doing all the work but being the most efficient. Hence make the best use of technology and try to automate things where possible. You should try to automate tasks wherever possible, automation ensures things are happening at the right time without you remembering to do them and putting repetitive effort into the same task every time.
Automation can be done for many things such as auto payment set up for bill payments, making a yearly calendar with reminders for important events, and making a subscription for frequent grocery purchases.
Try to find what task you can automate and be done with your intervention, you can also try to delegate tasks to others and seek help where possible if automation seems not feasible for you.
So, these are 10 ways that can help you be a productive mom, following even a few of them will allow you to get the most done as a busy mom and still keep a calm mind.
And be a happy mom and spend quality time with your family.
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