Never enough hours in the day as a working mama? Then check out my suggestions below.
Drop the multitasking
Science has proved that we can’t do two things that both need our attention at once. This means multitasking is a fallacy, and in fact, what is happening is that we are just switching between tasks very quickly which creates a heavy cognitive load, and splits our focus.
What that means is that as busy as we feel, multitasking between more than one job at once will slow us down in the long run. The good news is that there are effective alternatives that help you ensure you get everything done, even as a busy mom.
One such alternative is to use time blocking. This is where you block off a specific amount of time for a specific task, and don’t allow yourself to be distracted when other things come up. Of course, as a mom, this can be very challenging if you have kids vying for your attention, so you may need to explain to the other adults in the house and be firm with your boundaries.
Batch cook
Take a moment now to add up all the time you spend cooking in a week. What if I were to tell you that you can reduce it to 1-2 hours if you batch cook? Batch cooking is all about making large amounts of food and then freezing it. All you need to do is make 5 different meals on the weekend and freeze, and you can eliminate all the cooking and prepping time you do in the week.
Maximize efficiency
If you want to save time as a working mama, you will need to make sure that everything you do is optimized for efficiency. One great example of this is to approach cleaning your home through zones. This means focusing on one area a day, so the entire house is cleaned thoroughly over the week.
Another great way to be efficient as a working mom is to batch tasks you have to do for work. This means saving all your (for example) invoices for one day a week, so you can do them in the long run, without having to switch from task to task.
It can even be helpful to make sure you know how to use any software for work most efficiently. Of course, this can be challenging as there are so many types of software out there like Asana, Zendesk and Zoho, with so many different and complicated functions. Fortunately, you can get the most out of software by using things like Zoho consulting services by ZBrains to help you customize it to your specific business needs. Indeed, by using such consulting services you can save a great deal of time and money in the long run.
Outsource
Last of all, it’s important to remember that sometimes we just can’t ‘do it all’, and that’s OK. Just being a mom is stressful enough without adding your job to the mix. So remember you don’t have to be a superhero every day. Instead, it’s OK to delegate tasks to others in the home and outsource certain jobs when needed.
For example, let’s imagine you have a looming deadline for your job, and your child is on vacation from school. Outsourcing childcare to a childminder may be just what you need to focus, on and keep your little one amused at the same time.
Let Productive Mama Help!
Check out my products page for tools and courses to help you with each of the categories above!