13 Life-Changing Tips to Increase Productivity That Every Mom Should Know!

To increase productivity is a challenge for anyone, but once you become a mom and throw kids in the mix and things get infinitely more complicated.

As a mom, we wear many hats and have to take care of our kids, our home, our spouse, our pets, our work and finally ourselves!  Once you have kids you are no longer in complete control of your day and how it is spent and things end up taking a lot longer than they used to.  It may seem impossible to find a way to accomplish everything you need to but with these effective strategies that insurmountable goal can be attainable!

I have had overwhelming days that are particularly difficult where i will get through the bare minimum to survive the day but implementing these strategies helps me to be more intentional with my time and to work smarter, not harder.

 

Tips to Increase Productivity

#1 Wake up early

A must to increase productivity is to wake up before your kids and the rest of your family.  This helps you set the tone for the day and helps you to control your day better (being more PROactive and less REactive)

I have always had trouble waking up early since I was a kid and have always been a night owl, but I will say that waking up before the rest of the house feels so peaceful and you really do feel more accomplished and increase productivity for the rest of the day.  It is great to take a moment for yourself to relax rather than waking up frantic and looking for everything you need and the kids need and running out the door late.

Here are some of the tips I have used to help me wake up early:

1. Gradually push up your wake up time

   1. Start by pushing your bedtime and therefore wake up time back by just 15m at a time.  This makes it easier for your body to re-adjust and not feel as tired when the alarm goes off.
   2. The goal is to have an hour (or at least 30m) to yourself before everyone else wakes up so try to shift that bedtime and wake up time back by 15m every week and in 1 month you will have that extra hour you need for you!

2. Reward yourself for more incentive

   • Give yourself a reward for waking up early.  I have a coffee pot that I can set the night before to brew at a certain time.  So when I get up there is coffee waiting for me downstairs.  The one I have was only about $20 on amazon.
   • Another reward I like to give myself is to have a TV show on in the background that I love to watch and can’t watch with my husband or kids because they either don’t like it or it isn’t appropriate.

3. Don’t press snooze!

   • Put your phone across the room so you need to physically get out of bed to turn off your alarm
   • Don’t let yourself go back to sleep or talk yourself into staying in bed.  When you hear that alarm you need to do a 5 second countdown and then just get up.  Don’t even think about it.

4. Find other kinds of alarms if sound doesn’t work

   • If you have a spouse or share your room with anyone who is a light sleeper and don’t want to wake them with your alarm, there are a lot of great alarms and wristbands out there that vibrate in order to wake you up without disturbing anyone else.  I actually use a wristband that not only vibrates but zaps me awake.  If you are a particularly heavy sleeper like me that can’t always hear their alarm it is a good option.

#2 Have regular routines to Increase Productivity

Having routines helps to make you more efficient and therefore will increase productivity.  When you don’t need to think about those tasks anymore they just become a natural part of your day.  That frees up your time and mind to focus on other things which allows you to be more efficient

Try to make your routine / schedule as consistent as possible,

• regardless of whether your kids have school or you have work.  Try to wake up, go to bed and eat meals around the same time on a regular basis.  It helps the rhythm of your days fall into a more predictable pattern as well.  That way you can have dedicated times of the day where generally everyone is relaxing and you can have some free time.  Having a morning, after school, dinner and bedtime routine helps your family to know what is coming next and helps to have them automate some of those tasks so that there is less effort on your part to keep repeating yourself every day to direct them.

Once your days start to have some sort of predictable rhythm to them you can begin to time block.

• For example: If after dinner your children relax and watch a little TV, that’s a perfect time to start your nightly cleanup as you clear the table.  Or if once your kids do homework once they get home from school that’s a great time to focus on some work you need to get done or put on a load of laundry.
• Look for the patterns within your days and when those lulls tend to happen and start to create blocks of time that you devote to cleaning, work, self care, etc.  Work around your kid’s natural rhythms – when are they most active? When are they most independent or calm? Do they still take naps? The more consistent you are with the things that you CAN control during the day, the more predictable the parts you CAN’T control can be.  So, if you are consistent with the morning and nighttime routine and meal times for instance, the times that your children are most active or calm will also start to follow a pattern that is more predictable since it will be dictated by their sleep and mealtimes.

Make sure to still be flexible with your routine and schedule.  Especially with children, there is less control over your day working out exactly as planned.  There are unexpected interruptions and delays so it is important to be realistic with what you plan and you should plan for things to take more time than you think they will with buffer time.

 

#3 Plan for the week

1. Brain dump

   • At the beginning of the week do a “brain dump” and just get everything out of your head that you need or want to do.  Just get it out of your head so you can free up mental space and you can start to group together similar tasks and assign those tasks to certain days.  You may not be able to get through all of it that week but the following week you will put the tasks that you didn’t get to that week (if they are still relevant) and then continue to brain dump for that following week etc.
   • Any larger tasks you can break down into smaller ones and accomplish maybe 1 mini task within that larger one a week, etc.

2. Edit & prioritize

   • Go through the list and prioritize and be realistic about what is feasible that week.
   • Make sure you don’t remove these tasks from the list and you simply move them to a list for next week
   • Writing everything down that is swirling around in your head helps to reduce stress since you are not constantly anxious trying to remember something and you also don’t have to worry about forgetting and can free up your mind for other tasks

3. Group & batch similar tasks & move some tasks for next week

   • Group any tasks that require certain equipment or tools (like a car, a computer, a vacuum cleaner) together and also group together different focuses as well (such as work tasks, kids, errands).  This helps to reduce the time it takes for each individual task because when you have to constantly switch from one task to a completely different task it takes a little time to adjust mentally and also physically to either put away what you were doing or set up to perform the next one.
   • Basically while you are in the cleaning zone, do all your cleaning, when you are in the errand zone, do your errands.  Every time we stop from one task to a completely different one and back again we leave “residue” of our focus behind and this adds up to wasted time throughout the day.
   • Also, if you are vacuuming for instance, you don’t want to get it out and use it just to put it away and then have to take it out later.  The time it takes to transition from one task to another can add up so once you are in the groove and have the materials you need you should batch those tasks which will save you time in the long run since the time it takes per task will be less than if you did each one separately.

4. Assign tasks to days

   • Now go through the tasks that you have decided are left on the list for that week and assign them each to a different day of the week based on how much time you have on those days, and any restrictions (hours that places are open or people are available, etc.)
   • Some great things to have as weekly routines would be cleaning tasks.  You may have daily tasks such as laundry, dishes, counter tops and clearing the floor of toys etc.  But then you have other tasks that you may just need to do weekly in which case you can group them to be on different days.  Like cleaning bathrooms on Mondays, Bedrooms on Tuesdays, Wednesdays kitchen, etc.  Then the cleaning materials you need are already out and you are already int he groove of making beds or cleaning toilet bowls or sinks for instance.
   • Other tasks that should be daily routines or “anchors” to your days should be a good morning routine and a good nighttime routine.  Not only for you but for your kids as well.  Some of those cleaning tasks that you need to do daily in order to stay on top of them could be incorporated into these routines such as loading or unloading the dishwasher, wiping the countertops, bringing the dirty laundry down or bringing the clean laundry up, packing or unpacking your kids backpacks.

5. Meal plan and prep for the week

   • Look at your fridge and pantry and see what you have that’s about to go bad and you need to use.  What you are running low on and need to restock?  What shelf-stable things you have to use? (like dried beans, pasta, pasta sauce, etc.)  Now plan your meals around that (bonus if you can use some ingredients in multiple dishes! (The ingredients won’t get wasted and you have fewer ingredients to buy).
   • Prep whatever you can ahead of time (washing, chopping, portioning, marinating, etc.  Plan out which days you are making which meals.  Slow-cooker are best for busy days where you are going to come home later.  Other meals that require longer active cooking would be best on days where you will have more time to make dinner.  Also, while you are making meals, you can also do some prep for the next meal.  If you are going to be using carrots in tonight’s dinner but also in tomorrow’s then maybe you can peel & chop all the carrots now and save the extra in the fridge for the next day.

See links below for some great meal options for you and your family:

5 Quick & Easy Breakfasts for Busy Moms to stay in shape

3 Quick & Easy Lunches for Busy Moms to stay in shape

5 Quick & Easy Dinners for Busy Moms to stay in shape that the whole family will love

How I made 2 family dinners for under $10

 

#4 Daily to-do list will Increase Productivity

The best time to create a To-do list is either first thing in the morning or just before bed.  Break up any larger tasks into smaller tasks so you can slowly chip away at those larger to-do items.

Once you have the list of thing that you plan to do that day, you need to do the following:

• Break any large tasks into smaller more manageable tasks
• Give an estimated amount of time for each task.  Plan for tasks to take about 5-10m longer than you think it will to pad the time
• Identify the TOP 3 tasks that you will prioritize to complete that day
• Start the day with some small wins.  getting easy tasks under your belt right away give you some good momentum and a sense of accomplishment

#5 Workout to Increase Productivity

Often when we are short on time this is one of the first things to drop from the to do list; but it is actually one of the most crucial ones to keep!  Working out helps to give you energy and a sense of accomplishment.  It is a practice of self care that makes you better able to care for your family.  You don’t have to go to the gym or a yoga studio to get a good workout.  That not only takes more time, but more money!  (I haven’t left my house or even had to put tennis shoes on to workout in years!)

See below tips on how to make time for fitness:

• Do a few go-to exercises or follow workout videos from a fitness app or YouTube video.
• Keep some basic workout equipment in an easily accessible place for when youhave a moment to fit in some fitness.  I have a drawer in our TV cabinet with a yoga mat, exercise bands, free weights, ankle weights, Pilates ring and Pilates ball.
• Try to workout in the morning before the kids wake up so you are undistrubed
• If you couldn’t get your workout before the kids were up, don’t worry!  I do workouts in the living room while the kids are playing and sometimes they will join me and try to follow along.  It is great for them to see mommy being healthy.
• Make sure not to go longer than 1 day at a time without a workout.
• If you don’t have time for a 30m workout, you can still try to find a few 10m pockets of time to get a few reps in.  You can also use different moments throughout the day to elicit a certain exercise. These little moves throughout the day can add up and they can actually become a game with your kids too!.
  • While you brew your coffee you can do squats.
  • Whenever your kids need to use the bathroom you can do a wall sit until they are done.
  • Every time a commercial break comes on you can do lunges.

Working out helps to clear your head so that you are 100% present as you tackle tasks during the remainder of the day which makes you more efficient. So while you may have less time after spending 30m working out, you will be more efficient with the time you have less and the tasks you have won’t take you as long.  Your anxiety is lowered and you have some momentum now that you have completed a task that day.

Even if you don’t have time for a 30m workout, you can still try to find a few 10m pockets of time to get a few reps in.  You can also use different moments throughout the day to elicit a certain exercise. While you brew your coffee you can do squats.  Whenever your kids need to use the bathroom you can do a wall sit until they are done.  Every time a commercial break comes on you can do lunges.  These little moves throughout the day can add up and they can actually become a game with your kids too!.

#6 Plan time for self care and “me time”

It is so important to have a moment to recharge and refuel.  If you are constantly taking care of everyone else without stopping to take care of yourself it will catch up with you.  Soon you will experience burnout and will have a tough time just surviving the day and definitely will not increase productivity.

You need at least 30m a day to just have some peaceful alone time.  Either a nice long bath, a face mask, meditation or a long walk.  Anything just for you that helps bring you joy and relaxes you.  Your workout could also be considered self-care or “me time”

Take some short breaks throughout the day.  This seems counterproductive but is actually scientifically proven to INCREASE productivity since your mind has a moment to reset and come back fresh and recharged.

Get adequate sleep! You can’t run on 5 hours of sleep for days on end.  You are no good to anyone and can’t possibly function at your peak and handle whatever may be thrown at you if you put yourself at a deficit before the day even begins.

#7 Delegate & ask for help

As women we always want to do everything ourselves; but we need to pick our battles.  In some cases done is better than perfect.  Sometime it’s better to just let go and have more time to focus on other tasks and self care.  I know this is a very tough one for many of us.  It has been especially tough for me since I am a super “Type-A” person.  But having children has shown me that I can’t do everything by myself.  Trying to do it by myself only makes me more miserable and the people around me (including my kids) more miserable as well.  Asking for and accepting help does not make you a less successful mom, it actually make you a better one.

There are only so many hours in a day.  Whenever we say yes to something we are inevitably saying “no” or “night right now” to something else.  So think of it this way, do you want your kid’s memories of you to be you cleaning is the background while they are having fun and playing? Or of you constantly yelling, crying or snapping at them because you are anxious, stressed, tired or at your wit’s end?  I think most people would choose for a child to remember having a fun or loving moment with their mom and if the kitchen was dirty it wasn’t even a blip on the radar of that memory.  To increase productivity, you must make decisions to help make the most of the time you have and focus your efforts on the parts that matter most.

You can also have your family help you increase productivity with these tips below:

• Sorting laundry can feel like a game to your kids
• Setting a timer for a task like picking up toys can be a fun game for your kids as well.  And if they beat the clock they can earn a treat which is added incentive.  Visual timers are great for kids so they can visually see how much time is left
• Delegate some tasks to your partner or spouse.  Maybe they take the trash out, bring down the dirty laundry and empty the dishwasher and you do the laundry, load the dishwasher and put the clean laundry away.  Think of tasks more like a relay race and you are passing the baton off to someone else.

• Make sure that you give positive reinforcement to any family members that are helping out.  Show them you appreciate it and show them how happy it makes you.

#8 Automate and outsource what you can

Anything that you can automate will free up valuable mental space .

Some of the best things to automate are below:

• Amazon Prime Subscribe & Save

  • This is a LIFE-SAVER! Especially for new moms.  Subscribe & Save makes sure that you never run out of household essentials like toilet paper, paper towels or that toothpaste your kids love.  We have a subscription for shelf-stable soy milk so we always have it on hand for coffee and smoothies.

• Robot vacuum

  • We have had one for several years now and recently upgraded to one that mops as well.  It has been worth the investment!  It also forces us to clear the floor of toys and crayons etc. every night so that the vacuum can run

• Delay start washing machine

  • I used to put a load of laundry in at night before bed.  But when I went to put the clothes in the dryer they would have that mildew-y smell.  Finally I found a use for that “delay-start” function on my washer!  Now I have the washing machine all loaded-up and ready to go but set it to start 1 hour before I plan to wake up.  That way, when i wake up i can toss in the dryer but it hasn’t been sitting around soaking wet for hours.

• Auto pay bills

  • A no-brainer and these days I think it is status quo for most people, and for good reason!

• Grocery pickup or delivery

  • On days or weeks that are particularly busy I multi-talk by shopping on my phone!  If I am at my kid’s girl scout meeting or ballet class or returning home from a vacation and the fridge is empty it works great!  I can order the groceries while I am doing other things and then I just need to swing by and pick them up.  Stop & Shop is my grocery store of choice and the service fee for pickup is only like $5!  Totally worth it when I am in a pinch.  Also, if there are items like the milk or eggs that I always buy, they pop up right away and make it really easy for me to add to the cart again.  Bonus — I find that there are less impulse purchases when i order online.

#9 Pomodoro technique

This is a technique that is very helpful in powering through tasks.  It incorporates 25m bursts of focused energy on a single task with short 5m breaks in between.  Think of it kind of like a HIIT workout!  And just like a HIIT workout you can accomplish more in less time.  This is especially helpful when you can’t get longer than 25m of uninterrupted time. After 4 rounds, take a longer break 30m break (like you would between sets in a workout).

See the steps below on how to implement this technique:

• Set a timer for 25m and focus just on that single task.  Ask your kids not to disturb you during that time.  A visual timer for kids is very helpful for them to understand how much time is left.
• Set a 5m timer in between the 25m intervals.  Use this time to stretch, check on your kids, go to the bathroom, make some coffee, etc.
• Complete 4 rounds of these intervals and then take a 30m break.  Use this break to really distract yourself by playing with your kids, getting outside and reset
• Repeat!

#10 Allow kids to be more independent

As mothers, our job is to provide our children the tools to be able to ultimately do things themselves.  Obviously when your children are younger your assistance is required much more.  So have a few healthy snacks, toddler-safe bowls and silverware in an accessible place for them.  This can buy you some time by having fewer interruptions.  Also, having some activities that they can do on their own is helpful.  Set them up with barbies, building blocks, or paper and crayons.  They can have a chance to use their imagination while you can tackle that to-do list.

#11 Use the 3-minute rule or look to piggy-back other tasks

This is a tip that has served me well both in work and if general everyday life.  If you have any task that will take you 3 minutes or less DO IT NOW!  Do you need to hang your coat up?  Put those scissors back in the drawer?  Rinse that cup out and put it in the dishwasher?  DO IT NOW to prevent all those little 3-minute tasks piling up into a 30 minute or even hour-long task!

Also, are you already heading upstairs?  Take something that doesn’t below downstairs with you and put it away.  Are you coming downstairs from the bedroom?  Bring down the basket of dirty clothes.  It will help bring your task of doing the laundry about 5% of the way there.  Walking past the laundry basket it will be a nagging reminder to do that load of laundry.

#12 Minimize distraction to increase productivity

What are the things that you usually get sucked into and then you take a moment to stop and realize that an hour went by and you have nothing to show for it? For most people that would be social media and TV or Netflix.  With the Pomodoro you build in time for those guilty pleasures and distractions but it is more controlled.  You don’t feel the need to keep going since you know another break will be coming soon.

Another thing you could do is to treat those guilty pleasures as rewards.  I give myself an allowance of 5m of social media or TV time for each task I complete. That way there’s more incentive to get through what you need to and you can enjoy your, guilt-free.  But again, having a timer or a set end time is key.

 

#13 Set a timer (and try to beat the timer!)

This is a great way to fill any smaller gaps of time you may have to increase productivity.  If you have 15m to kill until your kids get home or you have to leave.  You set the timer and just go! Run around the house with a trash bag and throw away any trash you see until the timer goes off.  Or set the timer for 20m and try to wash all the dishes in the sink before it goes off.

This method gives a little extra boost to increase productivity.  The sense of urgency results in quick bursts of focused thought or activity.

 

So now you have all the tools you need to Increase Productivity!

So you see, balancing all of the duties you have IS possible, it just takes a lot of proactive yet flexible planning, and the ability to embrace and celebrate progress rather than being discouraged by lack of perfection. To increase productivity for a mom is not about doing it all with absolute perfection.  It is about making the smartest choices to be as efficient as possible with the time you have.

This post was all about ways to increase productivity.

Do you have any other tips? Please leave them in the comments! I would love to hear about them!