Time-saving Life Hacks for Working Moms

If you didn’t get what you wanted for Mother’s Day, then you probably were dreaming about what every mother wants for Mother’s Day…more time. Although we cannot provide you with more hours in the day, we can offer a few working mom life hacks to free some of your precious time so that you can accomplish more or just plain enjoy your life more. Let’s face it; whether you work inside or outside the home, the most difficult things to find are often “me” time and sanity. Create more time for more important endeavors by reducing the time that you’re spinning your wheels.

Get Organized! If you looked around your kitchen or your desk and chuckled, “What’s that?” then these tips are certainly for you. Organization saves time. Chart your course so that you have a firm grasp on what will happen and when. Having a place for everything and plans in place simplify even the busiest life.

Google Calendar: Create one calendar for each member of the household. Track the school calendar on your child’s calendar. Create a dinner plan calendar and a chores calendar. You can even create a plan for your scout troop or soccer team. Print an agenda view for the merged calendars to hand on the fridge or the bulletin board. Voila! You now know who is going where, doing what, and when it will all happen. Make sure to schedule time for yourself and/or your spouse or significant other.

Mail Station: Create one spot, a basket, bowl or cubby into which all worthwhile mail will go. Directly below or near to your mail hub should be a wastebasket into which you immediately dump all junk mail, envelopes and catalogs. A two-foot-tall stack of mail isn’t enticing to anyone, but a small stack of bills to pay or letters that require response are easily managed.

Email Essentials: In the same way you organized your mail pile, you need to organize your email inbox. Create folders that prioritize your inbox. As emails come in, address them immediately by placing them in the category to which they belong. Those requiring more than a response—the emails that need an action—go into the action folder. Newsletters that you may or may not read in the future move into a separate folder. A temporary folder will house every other email until you can respond or eliminate it. Your inbox is no longer overwhelming and you can deal address new emails more quickly and easily. Finally, take the ultimate next step. Search “unsubscribe” and locate all those emails that you never wanted in the first place. Unsubscribe from these lists and say goodbye to email clutter once and for all.

Morning Madness: Wake up an hour before your children wake up. Waking earlier gives you plenty of time to shower, enjoy a peaceful cup of coffee and get your game face on before the kids wake up.

Working moms need to prepare EVERYTHING the night before. Lay out clothing and underwear, and then tuck socks into shoes. Pack lunches with your children the night before to eliminate arguments and improve the odds they’ll eat what was packed. Place toothbrushes next to toothpaste. Load backpacks and have a designated location for backpacks and bookbags.  Set the table breakfast and have cereals etc. ready to go. You can get out the door in less than 45 minutes with this philosophy.

Share the Work, Lighten the Load: Enlist the entire family’s help to make chores more manageable. Toddlers can learn to sort like-items by sorting laundry by color or sorting pants from shirts. Older children can learn to do laundry, dishes, and clean. Tasks should be age appropriate, but everyone should pitch in. Children can and should help to prepare meals as well. Young ones can set the table; older children can learn to cook simple meals or prep items for mom or dad to cook like shucking corn or washing vegetables.

Mealtime Mayhem: Again, the best rule of thumb is to plan. Purchasing produce and meat from a co-op or local ranches helps you avoid paying too much for organic foods at the grocery store. When you process it all yourself, you can make snacks ahead of time and package it according to your family’s individual needs. You will have all the ingredients on hand for fast and easy dinners on busy nights.

Many busy moms prepare several meals on the weekend and freeze them to reheat later in the week.  Crockpots also reduce mealtime stress. Fill the crockpot in the morning and return home to the smells of comfort food and a homecooked meal that’s ready and waiting.

Stock Up: What’s worse than realizing you are out of baby wipes as you load the diaper bag on the way to daycare? Finding out your ran out of baby wipes at 2:30a.m., might be worse. Stock up on the things you use most. If you’re at the baby stage, diapers, baby wipes, and formula are all essentials that you can stockpile without feeling guilty. Store a jacket and change of clothing for each child in your car packed into a sealed, plastic bag for those “emergencies” that crop up. Having back up supplies of paper towels, shampoo, snacks, tissues, juice boxes and coffee might not necessarily save you time, but they may provide just a little peace of mind.

Accept Help from the “Village”: Sharp women can do it all by themselves, but they know it’s wise to accept help rather than go a little crazy. When a friend, your mother, or an aunt offers to assist you with picking up a child or preparing a meal, smile and say, “Yes, please.”