How I manage time as a working mom

Being a mom is tough, no matter if you are a stay at home mom or a working mom. No matter our employment title, we all have major responsibilities and little lives depending on us. Its hard. Way harder than I thought it would be. It’s 100% worth it, but still a struggle to stay motivated sometimes.

My work schedule is pretty much perfect. I work Monday, Wednesday, Friday in the office. Tuesdays and Thursdays, I’m able to remote in from home. I really lucked at when I got hired with my employer, they are the nicest people. I love my schedule because it allows me home time, but also some time interacting with grownups. As much as I love my schedule there are days where I wish I didn’t have the work load on top of my home life. It’s hard to get it all done to the degree I feel like it should be done. That is where my mindset had to shift when I became a working mom. The idea of perfection is completely different now.

Batch Work
I’ve learned to work in batches, instead of multitasking. I’m already being pulled in too many directions so when I have a project or to-do item on my list, I must do it all at once, instead of trying to do 3 things at the same time. My day is sectioned off—work time/home time. During work time I am solely focused on my projects due at work. No paying bills, making grocery lists, or cleaning for my personal life. This is super hard to do when I’m working at home, but I have to or else my mind shifts from work mode to home mode and my work starts to lack.

List Making
List making has always been my organization tactic, but now it is a must! If it’s not on my to-do list I won’t get it done anymore. Mom brain is real! I schedule “me time”, which usually is a bubble bath where I actually shave my legs! I would recommend finding your own way of making lists that work for you. I use the Happy Planner where I can organize it with stickers and make it fun. I look forward to opening it up and seeing what my to-do list has on it for the day. 

​Cleaning Schedule
I follow a cleaning schedule now. It’s helps me tackle a few household cleaning chores daily instead of trying to fit it all in on one day. I work from 8-5, go home, start dinner, and do my cleaning schedule while dinner is cooking. After dinner is ate, we clean up, I give Rhett his bath, we play for a while, and then Rhett goes to bed. After his bed time I should get more done, but I usually watch tv and then go to bed (not gonna lie)

​Social Media Schedule
Since starting my online boutique I’ve had to step up the time I spend on social media to market the store. I don’t want to be tied down to my phone or computer any more than needed, so I knew I needed help with it. I searched online and found there are a few social media scheduling apps available but the one I have really liked so far is called buffer.com You can schedule far in advance what days and times you want to post on all your social media apps. This helps me a ton with the business aspect of it because I can look ahead at what item I want to drop that day and schedule a post to advertise it. I usually schedule 2 weeks in advance. I could go further, but 2 weeks is enough to take some stress off my shoulders but not enough that I forget what I had scheduled.
 
These are just a few of the ways I try to manage working and home life. I know these don’t work for everyone, but hopefully there will be some ideas that you can use to help manage some stress and give you as much down time as possible with your littles.
 
XOXO,
Whitney