10 Life-changing time management tips for working moms

Introduction:

“I am not able to give quality time to my kids”, not able to spend time with them, and the guilt trips for working mom starts. Life is tough where one has to equally balance work, home, family and most importantly parenting. There is a dire need for practical tips for working moms.

Life is unpredictable, especially with kids. You may not be able to avoid chaos, but with WOWParenting’s tips for working moms, you can learn how to optimize the time both at work and home and live life to the fullest.

Tips to stay organized and maintaining sanity:

1. Delegate your tasks as much as you can:

Whether it is about hiring someone for domestic help or for any other kind of work, figure out which tasks don’t require your personal attention. It’s worth the investment once you take those tasks off your to-do list.

Another option is to make use of online services as much as you can, and get things delivered, for example, shopping for household items can be done online to make life easy.

2. Simplify your meal plans:

Meal planning, grocery shopping, and then preparing meals is tough when kids are around, and if you start a week without a plan, everything fails.

Instead, have a calendar with a listed menu to make your weekdays easier. Allow 30 minutes, which will give you enough time to choose meals as well as plan your shopping list.

3. Schedule your household chores:

Instead of doing small-small things every day, pick one day and get the work done all at once. For example, pick one day of a week to iron the clothes, or do laundry or if you are physically shopping the grocery. Finish those chores on a specific day rather doing it daily.

4. Organize your schedule right:

As a working mom, using a task sheet is one of the easiest and least expensive ways to organize your work. You can use customized task sheets which makes it easier to remember your to do’s so that you can stay focused on the deliverables. A lot of research and study has highlighted the importance of writing things down.

5. Set attainable daily goals:

A to-do list is useless if it’s too ambitious. What’s the point of writing down unachievable tasks? We’re not superheroes and shouldn’t try to be. Make your daily goals realistic enough to complete. Remember, you can always do more if you have the time.

6. Give your kids some chores to do:

Have the kids handle a chore and pay them for it. Even if they don’t do it perfectly, they are learning how to do it and participating in day to day household chores.

Few household chores they can do include keeping their rooms neat, helping in the kitchen, setting up the dining table, cleaning dishes, etc.

7. Try to spend less time on screen:

Surfing the web is a huge time waster for parents and children. An innocent little break can turn into hours of wastage of time that you can’t get back.

Establish limits on how much screen time you and your kids get, and then unplug once you’ve reached that limit.

8. Establish fixed working hours:

Before you commit yourself to new responsibilities, ask if you are really prepared to take it. Validate the alignment of expectations of your work hours with your employer.

Life commitments and job projects will be always there, so make sure that expectations have not changed.

9. Set achievable daily goals:

Your to-do list is useless if it is too ambitious. What’s the point of writing down if you are not able to achieve your tasks? We’re not superheroes and shouldn’t try to be.

Make your daily goals realistic enough to complete. Remember, you can always do more if you have the time.

10. Don’t forget to have some fun:

Stressed-out people aren’t productive. You need to relax to avoid the burnout at home and at work. Take out time for vacations, long weekends, and family picnics to keep yourself grounded and joyful.

Tips for working moms to handle guilt:

1.Realize that you can’t do everything alone:

No one person can do everything for multiple people and do it all to perfection. You cannot work full time, do the dishes, cook food and keep the house clean all the time.

That’s practically impossible. At any given moment your house will be messy. You will have end number of chores to do, unfinished office work and so on. Over time you have learned that it is okay with things getting done in their own time.

One of the best gifts that you can give it to yourself is the few minutes to breathe and have some space to just not get things done. If possible, hire help.

2. Don’t try to do it all yourself:

It is an adjustment trying to balance a career and motherhood for sure, but the key is to prioritize. You have to remember, though, to make time for yourself. — Kim Kardashian

Being perfectionist is okay but, working moms are no aliens. They can be super moms but they are humans after all. It is a work in progress thing. Over time you have to realize that trying to do it everything will do no one any favors.

It deprives your kids of the ability to learn a sense of responsibility and independence. And it leaves working moms with the fatigue and resentfulness. That’s no fun for anyone in the family.

It can be tough to let go of the reigns and let everyone learn to manage their tasks in their own way.

By learning how to let go we working moms have to give our children and partners an opportunity to grow and develop the ability to get stuff done that we’ve already gotten the hang of.

Meanwhile, we get to use some of that newfound free time to practice some much-needed self-care.

3. Don’t compare yourself with other moms:

As wonderfully supportive and helpful as other working mothers can be towards another working mom, they can also be critical and judgmental.

So what if she is a pro at handling her work and family life, so what if she is good at packing fancy lunch for his son?

Just ignore attitude like that. And remember the words of Madeleine Albright, “There’s a place in hell reserved for women who don’t help other women.”

Every working mom is different and his own pace. Try not to compare your situation with other working moms.

4. Be flexible:

The most important piece of advice for working moms is to be prepared for anything. No matter how much you plan, something will come up that you weren’t expecting for e.g. the practice will be canceled, or your son decides to throw tantrum at the last minute and so on.

Hence, be prepared to ditch your plan and most importantly is to go with the flow.

Like so many working mothers all over the world, I feel the constant struggle to be the best mother. I travel for work when it’s necessary, and I miss them all the time when I am away. — Victoria Beckham

Closing thoughts:

All you need to do is implement a few smart tips in your daily routine. And when you do find that you’ve created some leftover room for something new, be sure to do something wonderful and kind for yourself. You deserve it.