Wonder how to get ANYTHING done with little ones? Find the answer and get massive amounts of stuff done with 10 productivity tips for moms for being productive with little ones. Become ultra-productive, more content, and love mom life again.
You wonder why moms get nothing done at times?
You sit down at your computer to send out an email. But it’s hard to find the right words and correct spelling when a little human being is hanging at your arm.
You want to go through some stuff to declutter. The little one is going through your stuff in the drawer and pulls everything out.
While you are stashing the errands into the pantry you wonder where the eggs are. Meanwhile, the toddler is making scrambled eggs. On the living room carpet.
Each day you start off with your best intentions. You have plans. You have goals.
You have a little one.
You ask yourself how to get ANYTHING done as a mom with little children in your home. I have been there, too.
But we have heard of moms that are so accomplished. Moms with two under two. Moms who homeschool six children. Moms who run a home business, grow their own produce and create pin-worthy cakes in an immaculate kitchen. And all that while looking fabulous!
Well, first of all. They don’t look fabulous all the time. Maybe they look fabulous because they chose to only share those fabulous-looking photos on Instagram.
The ugly truth is that their life is probably not as easy as it looks on Pinterest. And that we all have those same 168 hours in a week.
This leads to two important things you need to know: Don’t compare. Ever. And use your 168 wisely.
When you care for a little being your schedule can get unpredictable. Small children can change their routines, they can get sick anytime, and need you to be around more. As you are the mom your little ones will always be a priority.
Focus on what matters
When there are other things that you need to do or want to accomplish think long and hard which of those are priorities, which are necessary, and which can take a seat on the backburner for now. When you have a lot on your plate you really need to focus on the things that matter.
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If you work on an important business project break it down into tasks and actions steps. Again, prioritize them. Decide which are the ones you need to do with your full attention and which are ones you can easily start and interrupt.
There will be moments in your mom life when you have some uninterrupted quiet time for yourself, for example, nap time or evenings.
Find your “golden hours” to skyrocket productivity
Those quiet moments are golden. These are the hours you can work focused. So you better spend them intentionally. If you are not sure how you spend your 24 hours in a day use the time tracking method to assess your use of time and find margin to work on your dream projects.
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Be prepared & become an ultra-productive mom
Once this golden moment has come you need to hit the ground running. Get prepared ahead of time, have all your tools ready to go, and make the most of those precious moments. Create simple action plans and recipes to run to when you find yourself with a few minutes of time.
If you are working late in the evening schedule in some time to unwind. Jumping from your desktop into the pillows might result in hours of tossing and turning which is counterproductive to accomplishing your goals!
More on better sleep: 10 sleeping lessons I learned from my toddler to fall asleep in minutes
After a day of mommying, your brain can be scrambled eggs in the evening. You could try to go to sleep early and then rise extra early when everybody else is sleeping to get anything done as a mom.
Keep your little one busy for a productive day as a mom
You could have them “help” you. Housework or running errands will take longer (and is more annoying) but it will get done. Create a child-proof environment in your home so you don’t need to watch them all the time.
When the children are older they could have a movie morning on Sunday or get to watch an episode of their favorite show when you need to focus on a task. Make sure you burst into mindful activity once they sit down to watch! Be prepared, remember? Have everything ready to go before you press “play”.
Have a list of productive go-to-tasks
Create a tiny list of tasks you can start doing as soon as you have a moment. List items you really need to accomplish that day but keep the list short. In addition, you could put together a list of evergreen tasks for your home or business.
If there is a project you want to accomplish, break it down and work on it in 10-minute bursts of action. If you are anything like me you may find yourself spinning your wheels and not getting anywhere. With my mommy brain, I couldn’t come up with great ideas about how to intentionally use those 10-minute pockets of time that pop up.
Browse the web for ideas for “how to [thing you want to do] in minutes at a time” or “minutes a day” and you find posts like these:
- How to grow your business in 15 minutes a day
- How to clean and organize your home in 5 minutes at a time
- 10 Cleaning Tasks you can tackle in 5 minutes
See? Find some tasks that will help you accomplish your goals. Again, don’t go crazy and work on one thousand projects at a time. Choose a few (or only one) focus goals! Then dedicate your little pockets of time to them.
Barter babysitting services
Hiring a babysitter is not always in your budget, especially when you try to get a home-based business off the ground. Try to find other moms who are interested in bartering babysitting services. One day she keeps the children busy for a few hours, the next day it’s your turn. You could ask her to come to your house with her toddler so while she plays with the children you can get something done. Or you sign up for a bartering platform and do jobs you can do anyway with the little one, like running errands. Once you have done some jobs you can cash them in for some babysitting.
Clever mom multitasking
Find some ways to sneak in work while you do your mommy thing. For example, when you walk to the park with the little one tune into a podcast until you get there. Or find a way to exercise at home together with your toddler who adds some extra resistance to your work-out. When the little one is in the tub do some quick tasks with your phone while sitting beside her. I always clean the bathroom when my daughter takes her bath. When my little one was a baby she was riding on my back in a baby carrier while I was cooking.
Check if your phone has a voice-to-text feature or install a dictate app. Then you can record a draft for a blog post or brainstorm ideas on the go. Zapier has a post on text dictation software. They feature free and paid options for most devices, like iPhone, Android, or desktop. Yay!
Update: Google Keep, guys! Works like a charm with transforming your voice to text! Last week, I recorded an idea for a post while walking to pick up the little girl! Check it out. It’s free and can do more than recording your voice to text.
Recommended read: How To Get Your Writing Done Faster And Better With Free Writing Tools For Bloggers
Be on the lookout for other cool tools that will help you get closer to your goals.
If you are a pen-and-paper, planner loving girl, check out Pinterest for free planning sheets. Grab a free monthly calendar, to-do-list, weekly planner, and more! For example, check my board “Free Printables for Moms” and be sure to follow while you are there. 🙂
A great digital organizing tool I love and use a lot is Evernote. Check my post on how I use Evernote’s free plan to organize mom life better. Recently, I have come to really appreciate Trello for my blogging tasks. I use Trello on a daily basis now. If you are signed up for Gmail you can simply use Google calendar. Read about 7 ways Google Calendar simplifies the life of pro blogger Crystal Paine (MoneySavingMom.com).
Create routines to save time and brainpower
Having go-to-workflows can save you a lot of time and brainpower. Create routines for everything you need to get done, from house cleaning to pitching clients.
For cleaning the home, I like the cleaning schedule of Clean Mama. While I don’t get it all done all the time, I try to at least do the weekly and daily tasks for the day. You can find more about Clean Mama’s Easy Cleaning Schedule and the free printable here. If you prefer a digital checklist this daily cleaning checklist by Real Simple is for you. You can do one task here, one task there in your day.
Ask for help
Don’t be shy. DO IT! Ask everyone around you to help you with the kids. There is no shame in that. If you struggle with asking for help, then start small, and practice! You can only win here.
Accept your season of life with all its merits
It’s NOT a piece of cake to raise little ones. You are doing an important and demanding job here. Does your child have (half-way) clean clothes to put on and non-toxic food to eat? Great!
Please, give yourself grace and accept that at this stage in your life things will not be perfect. At least not all the things all the time. Accept a house that’s messy at times. Accept that there will be take-out food more often than before you had kids. Accept that some things that took you minutes now take hours.
You have choices. You chose your child over an immaculate house. Maybe one day your child will do the same for you. And how grateful will you be then?
Remember, your little one will not be little forever. I already miss the baby my daughter once was and she is only four five!
Read the poem “Babies don’t keep” by Ruth Hulburt Hamilton, for example here.
See? Don’t lose sight of the important things that you can’t get back. Stop and smell the roses. This is something that your little one is great at. So learn from her and enjoy your time together.
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