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May 3, 2021

How to Accomplish More: Organization Tools and Hacks for Work from Home Moms

There is no one trick pony to being a mom, because let’s be honest with ourselves—motherhood is no perfect equation. Over the history of time and the long evolving course of motherhood however, some ancestral knowledge has been passed down from generation to generation. These “wives tales”, in combination with modern technology capabilities, can be used by modern moms to take on the day, and slay any dragons that might come their way. Here are some of the top insider tips we have allocated that can serve as mother’s little helpers.

 

Top All Around Tips and Tricks

All help is good help, and these tricks are passed down to help cut down time wasted so that you are efficient throughout the day, or god willing—maybe even able to have a moment to yourself.

Meal prep: Defrost meat in the fridge, cut up veggies, shred cheese, and do all the preparation needed for your family meal the night before or in the morning. That way when you get up in the morning you can easily assemble everything into a pan to throw back into the fridge or a crock pot— and then dinner is served whenever you are ready.

Make a to-do list: Create a to-do list the night before so you know what you need to tackle the next day and can hit the ground running when you wake up. Having a written record can help to remind you when you get distracted, something that happens easily with children around. With the ability to keep on task your day will be more efficient, and what is more—a study by professors Baumeister and Masicampo from Wake Forest University showed that, while tasks we haven’t done distract us, just making a plan to get them done can free us from this anxiety. Less anxiety is always a good thing as a mother.

Set healthy boundaries: Say yes to the things you can do, but remember to allow yourself to say no or not now to the things you really can’t take on. Don’t spread yourself too thinly to the point where you don’t have time for yourself or your family. Because “mom” is often synonymous with the word “superhero”, a mother has a tendency to try and take it all on. Remember that the best version of yourself is the best for your family, so take the time you need to when necessary.

Create a family organization hub: This can be shared notes on your phone for frequently needed items, or if your kids are younger, this can be a white board or note pad. The lists can include functional things such as shopping lists, or even be a space to share creative thoughts. Centralizing this in a place that is a common traffic area, such as the kitchen or the mud room, makes it available to everyone to have access to it. You can also couple this with a digital calendar that allows you to invite family members to the clan’s various extracurricular events. This allows for every member of the family to post their events and highlight the ones that are special to them. It also helps to put appointments on the calendar, with reminders, so no one forgets important dates. 

 

Modern Day Motherly Applications

If  as a mother you find yourself asking: “Is there an app for that?”—then the answer is yes. Here are some of the more useful apps we have found for moms that need a little technological assistance. 

Delegating duties: TaskRabbit is an online marketplace that will connect you to helpers that can do everyday tasks. Their helpers can assist you with moving tasks, handyman help around the house, gardening, or any other errands or responsibilities you might need assistance with.

Planning proficiency: Cozi is an organizer designed for families, and a game changer when it comes to being a mom with a plan. It can help coordinate schedules, grocery lists, activities, to do lists, and facilitate communication for the entire family. Cozi is one of the best calendar apps for moms because they have truly thought of everything that goes into a mother’s day.

Mom matchmaker:  Peanut is the ultimate app for moms to meet moms. It connects mothers in your geographic area with similar interests. Referred to as “Tinder for Moms”, Peanut can help you meet other moms similar to you or maybe even needing help with some similar challenges you are facing.

Splendid savings: Ibotta is a cashback app that helps you save money on groceries, beer, wine, pharmacy, clothing, beauty & wellness products, restaurants, home & electronics items, and travel. You simply scan your receipts and earn cash back. What a beautiful world we live in when we can get cash back on wine. 

No one ever said that motherhood was easy, but it has always been a worthwhile endeavor. Balancing the many roles, tasks, and extraneous superhero responsibilities is no small feat either, so as they say “work smarter, not harder”. Whether you’re a new mother, a seasoned one, a single one, or an expecting one—we hope these tips will help you in your honorable maternal journey. 

 

 

 

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April 7, 2021

5 Ways Moms Can Delegate to Get More Done

Guest post by: Michelle Laurey

Work-at-home moms often face the unique challenge of balancing work needs with household management. Childcare, meal preparation, and household chores can eat into your work time if you are not careful.

If you postpone chores to finally get some work done, then the house is in disarray.

It doesn’t have to be like this!

Next time you’re struggling to balance your work and home life, try these five tips to delegate your workload.

 

1. Split Up the Chores

Your spouse and older children can each take on their own responsibilities around the house.

Delegating the household workload helps you focus more time and energy on your business.

Use the following tips to successfully delegate chores:

  • Assign one task to one person. Whether it’s loading the dishwasher, putting away laundry, or writing out a shopping list, designate a single person to be in charge. Sharing tasks can cause confusion about who is doing what and when.
  • Set goals and deadlines. Assign different tasks to different days of the week so everyone knows when they need to finish their chores. Plan errands and shopping around your schedule, and choose times when fewer people are out.
    Soon your family will adjust to your routine and won’t have to keep asking when you’re picking up groceries or mailing that package.
  • Go through the task list with each person. Sometimes a spouse or child doesn’t know how you want a chore accomplished. Maybe they are unfamiliar with the right settings for the washing machine or where pots and pans are stored.
    Walk them through the task so they can learn to do it without you around.
  • Put it in writing. Whether you use a smartphone app or a piece of paper on the refrigerator, keep a list of what needs to get done and whose job it is. Having a visual plan helps everyone stay on track.

Delegating chores will also reduce the stress that often affects your productivity.

 

2. Arrange for Childcare

First-time work-from-home parents often assume they can care for their young children while working. Unfortunately, they quickly found out that is not the case!

Childcare is a full-time job all on its own.

If you can’t afford a babysitter or daycare, consider asking a retired family member if they can watch your children a few days a week.

If no family members are available, reach out to other work-from-home moms in your neighborhood. You may be able to take turns watching each other’s children on days you’re not working.

Alternatively, you can hire a young adult in your neighborhood to watch your children while you work from home.

You can typically pay a cheaper rate, and you’re available in case of emergencies while still being able to shut the door to your home office while you work.

 

3. Consider Extended Family and Friends

Your immediate family members aren’t the only ones who can help you out.

When someone offers to lend a hand, take them up on their offer!

Some easy tasks you can delegate to others outside your house include:

  • Driving children to and from school. Coordinate with other moms in the neighborhood to take turns dropping off and picking up children from school. This provides extra time in the mornings and afternoons for you to work.
  • Helping with housework. If you have a close friend nearby, ask if they want to arrange dates to help each other with cleaning. One weekend you help clean their house and the next they help with yours.
    This is a great way single parents can stay on top of the household workload without being overwhelmed.
  • Assisting with meal prep. Consider arranging weekly meetups with friends or other moms in your neighborhood to prep meals for the upcoming week. You can buy in bulk to save money and split the costs among the group.

In return, you can step in to help when they are feeling overwhelmed.

 

4. Simplify Scheduling and Organization

The best way to ensure everyone completes their tasks is to organize and schedule everything.

There are numerous apps that can help you make lists and remind family members of their chores.

By taking advantage of these, your family can add items to the shopping list, create reminders on the family calendar for upcoming appointments, and check off tasks they’ve completed.

This helps everyone stay on track without you needing to lift a finger.

There’s a number of apps available to help create family lists and chore charts to digitally divide up the workload and set important reminders.

 

5. Don’t Be Afraid to Hire a Professional

If the workload is too much and you don’t have enough people to help out, consider hiring a professional.

Many services offer cheap task-based help, such as mowing the lawn, cleaning the house, and doing other odd jobs.

Several grocery stores offer pickup and delivery options to save time without spending a lot of money.

You can also purchase box meal kits with pre-measured ingredients ready to throw together quickly for a healthy dinner.

Meal delivery is another way you can get a quick lunch or dinner on the table without leaving the house.

 

Final Thoughts

Whether you need help with meal planning or could use an extra hand on the laundry, work-at-home moms have plenty of options.

You can outsource your chores to professionals or delegate responsibilities to other family members.

Mobile apps make it easy to create everything from chore charts to grocery lists so each person can do their part around the house.

Once your household is running smoothly, your business will too.  If you need to delegate some of your work, consider posting your job on HireMyMom where virtual professionals in a variety of fields are ready to take on new jobs and projects! Or if you need more work, we can help with that too!

 

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Michelle Laurey is a telecommuting wordsmith who especially enjoys writing on a cloudy day at Assignyourwriter UK. Always interested in ways that can help individuals reach their full potential in life, she enjoys producing stories on entrepreneurship, productivity, lifestyle, and health. Outside her keyboard, she enjoys visiting cozy coffee shops and taking long urban strolls with her partner. Reach out to her on Twitter.

 

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March 31, 2021

How to Outsource Like a Boss for Home and Work

Have you ever looked at your to-do list and realized you need about 30 hours to accomplish everything you outlined as critical for the day? If so, you aren’t alone. Caring for a family and working are both hugely satisfying undertakings. But, let’s face it, it’s also a tremendous amount of work. 

Here’s some good news–you don’t need to tackle it alone. By strategically outsourcing some tasks, you can find more time and energy to put toward the people and projects that mean the most to you. Here’s a round up of the tasks–work and personal–that are great candidates for outsourcing.

Business Tasks

When you run a small business, it’s tempting to want to do it all. You became an entrepreneur because you’re motivated and hardworking.This combination makes it tough to let go of the reins, even for a task you don’t enjoy or could easily outsource. It helps to have a framework for considering what tasks/jobs make sense for outsourcing. When considering outsourcing, think about:

  • What are you great at doing?
  • What do you like to do?
  • Where would you like to grow professionally?

If a task doesn’t fall into one of those categories, it’s a good candidate for outsourcing. 

 

Quickly Find Virtual Help 

When you are looking for outsourcing help for a business task, consider a virtual team member. With remote employees, you don’t need to provide office space and you aren’t limited by geography. You can find and hire a team member who’s located anywhere with good internet access. 

Using a platform like HireMyMom is a great way to source qualified candidates who are specifically looking for remote work. You can save time and money by turning to a site dedicated to connecting driven mom professionals with small businesses. 

If the prospect of a nationwide search daunts you, consider our concierge service to help reduce the amount of leg work you need to do. HireMyMom’s Concierge service was created for busy entrepreneurs and small business owners, like you, who need to hire help but don’t have the time or desire to go through the time-consuming process. With our full service Concierge service, our HR Specialists will do it all for you start to finish and present you with the top candidate(s). 

 

Build a Remote Team 

Here’s a list of jobs that are often outsourced:

  • Bookkeeping
  • Social Media management
  • Graphic Design
  • Writing/Editing
  • Marketing/Email Marketing
  • Project Management
  • Customer Service
  • Facebook Ad Manager
  • Online Business Manager
  • Virtual Assistant (VA)

 

Consider a Virtual Assistant

In some cases, a virtual assistant (VA) may be the right fit for you. A VA can take care of many tasks, including email response, appointment setting, travel planning, and calendar management. You can find a general VA, who does a wide variety of tasks or one with a speciality in your industry or need. 

 

Personal Tasks

Personal tasks can easily add up and cause stress, making it more difficult to manage the day-to-day workings of life. What’s more, many of them are urgent and important and time sensitive. (For example, dinner must be served every night.) Tasks that can wait tend to grow in time commitment and urgency if you put them off. (I’m looking at you, piles of dirty laundry.) Here are some ideas to help relieve some of the steam:

 

Put Meal Prep and Grocery Shopping on Auto Pilot

Planning, serving and cleaning up multiple meals a day takes a huge time investment. (Especially if your whole family is home all the time.) But outsourcing some meal-prep tasks can make every day easier.

  •  A weekly menu hanging on the fridge takes the guesswork out of each meal. If you don’t enjoy menu planning or just need a break from it, consider using an online meal planning service. Several are available and they allow you to quickly select a week’s worth of meals based on your health goals, family preferences, and budget. Once you select your meals, you can automatically create a shopping list for the meals selected.
  •  We all need groceries every week (sometimes more). But driving to the store to collect them is a major time commitment. You can regain that time by signing up for grocery delivery. Several companies such as Amazon Fresh, Peapod, Shipt, and Instacart, are ready to make it easier for you to fill your pantry. 

While it takes some time to initially get set up with these services, it’s well worth the initial time investment. Chances are you make many of the same purchases each week, so many items will stay on your list for each order. You can even use a menu planner that automatically creates a grocery list and sends it to your preferred delivery service. 

  • If you don’t have grocery delivery available locally, consider the pick up service offered by many large grocery store chains. You submit your order online, pull up at the appointed time, and drive off with a car full of groceries. Both pick up and delivery help you save money by limiting impulse purchases.

Cut Down on Cooking

There are several ways to lighten the cooking load through outsourcing. Consider:

  • Sharing the load by finding four like-minded families and forming a cooking co-op. Each family makes four, family-sized servings of one dish. Meet to swap meals and go home knowing that you have five homemade dinners ready to roll–even though you only had to make one. Keep your circle of chefs small until the COVID-19 situation is resolved.
  • Ordering a meal delivery kit to take away the prepping, planning and chopping.
  • Finding a local chef who offers pre-prepped meals for pick up or delivery. 

 

Find Help with Child Care

You choose to work at home to spend more time with your kids and avoid the expense and hassle of day care. But, that doesn’t mean you wouldn’t benefit from some help with the kids. Finding a good babysitter, even if it’s only for a few hours a week, can really change the flow of your day. Having a few hours set aside without interruption makes it easier to power through your work. Also, depending on the age of your kids, the sitter can help with other tasks, such as:

  • Driving a carpool route for you.
  • Running errands with your kids–think the post office or picking up dry cleaning. This gives you a few hours of peace and quiet, keeps the kids busy, and eliminates tasks from your to-do list.
  • Working with the kids to go through their toys or books to find things they have outgrown.
  • Picking up the stray items you forgot to add to your online grocery order.
  • Walking the dog or other pet care needs.
  • Putting laundry away.
  • Supervising homework/online school instruction.

 

Clean with Ease

Everyone loves a clean house, but the work to get it sparkling can take all day. The easiest way to keep the house spic and span is to hire a cleaning service. If that’s not practical based on your budget or circumstances, these ideas can help lighten the load:

  • Buy a Roomba or other automatic vacuum or mop so you wake up to fresh floors every morning.
  • Drop your dirty laundry off at the laundromat for wash and fold service each week. This frees up an enormous amount of time and cuts down on the anxiety created by looking at baskets full of clothes–some clean, some dirty, and inevitably, one that’s mixed between clean and dirty clothes. 
  • Hire a service for big jobs that can really nag at you. For example, window washing or other seasonal jobs.

 

Reduce Yard Work

Many people find yard work relaxing, but elements of it can be outsourced to free you up to focus on the things you like most. For example, mowing and weeding are good candidates to outsource. With that out of the way, you are free to focus on tending to flowers or other things that truly bring you joy.

 

Don’t Wait to Reclaim Your Time

Outsourcing tasks is a great way to focus your time and energy on the things that matter most to you. Don’t delay–identify the things that someone else could do for you and start enjoying the increased time and energy it provides. 

Tell us what you’ve outsourced and how it changed the game for you.

 

 

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September 28, 2020

This is How You Work from Home With Kids

When you work at home, carving out quiet time to do professional work is always challenging, especially when your kids are off school for a break or too young to attend school. This issue is now more acute than ever as many school-age children learn from home or attend school on partial schedules due to COVID-19.

Here are some ideas for keeping the kids busy so you can get work done each day.

Consider Child Care

I realize this is easier said than done. There’s often an expense associated with child care. What’s more, bringing new people into your bubble can open up health concerns. But, child care doesn’t have to be a full-time daycare or nanny situation. Several creative options are available for child care, which can be right for you and your kids.

 

Non-Traditional Sources of Child Care

Here are some out-of-the-box ways to find help:

  • Form a pod with another family and take turns on kid duty a few hours each day or every other day, giving each set of adults a chance to work kid-free.
  • Look for a local student who is home from college and could provide a few hours of support each week. Perhaps you can even find an education major who can tutor older children for college credit.
  • Ask a neighbor to consider swapping tasks with you–trading a few hours of child care for a service you’d be happy to provide like shopping, cooking, or organizing.

 

Nanny Sharing 

Consider sharing a nanny if you’d like a more traditional route but don’t need full-time care. Nannies can be very expensive, but sharing one with another family makes it more affordable. Partner with another family (or two) to share one nanny with each of you taking different days/hours. Or, have the nanny take all the kids to alternating houses throughout the week. This type of set up makes it easier to find a professional, full-time nanny without having to shoulder the expense on your own.

If you embark upon this path, here are some tips for success:

  • Agree on a general framework for hours and days at the outset. This type of arrangement works better when everyone is on the same page in terms of schedules. 
  • Be prepared to be flexible. Even the best-laid plans are bound to go awry occasionally, so enter into the arrangement knowing that you may need to make sacrifices based on the other family’s schedule and feel comfortable that they will do the same for you when the need arises.
  • Establish protocols for kid behavior and expectations. For example, will kids do school work with the nanny? What about watching television? Do you expect the nanny to supervise while the kids play or actively engage them in activities? Discussing these topics in advance can ensure a smoother partnership.
  • Make plans to address what you’ll all do if one of you is sick or exposed to COVID-19 and needs to quarantine. It’s best to partner with a family and a nanny who shares your perspective on the associated risk and right mitigation actions until the threat passes.

 

Encourage Your Kids to Play Independently

If child care isn’t in the cards for you, encourage your kids to play independently or with siblings. Many children can play quietly with a bit of guidance. Don’t feel bad about asking your kids to play alone. It’s a chance for them to develop essential skills and learn to be independent. But, be realistic about how long you expect them to play on their own. Here are some ideas:

  • Older babies can play happily in a pack-and-play or a stand-up activity center. 
  • If your kids are young, set up an area where they can quickly reach a few essential toys and play independently while you supervise from a distance.
  • If your kids are older, encourage them to use quiet toys, like puzzles or coloring books, while you work. Ask them to select ones that interest them and set a timer to help them manage the time on their own.
  • Books are a great pastime for kids, those who know how to read, and those just learning to read. Encourage 30 minutes of reading while you power through some emails or return calls.
  • Let older kids play outside in your yard — they will have a ball and come in tired.
  • Consider showing a kid-friendly matinee movie each afternoon, so you have a concrete block of time each day.

Need more ideas for independent playtime, check out this blog that contains 105 activities to keep kids entertained while you work. 

 

Consider Online Resources

Several online resources are available to help keep kids engaged and learning. A quick Google search for online learning will reveal a universe of online options to help your kids learn and grow. For example: 

  • Khan Academy is free and aimed at assisting K-12 students in learning specific subject matter. 
  • ABC Mouse is designed for younger kids and helps build fundamentals.
  • Outschool includes specialty classes that capture kids’ interests with a fun focus. Recent offerings include sharks, Godzilla, and Writers Workshops.

Although many moms feel a twinge of guilt by relying on screens, sometimes it’s the best option for finding the balance in work-at-home life. You can always enlist time monitoring apps like Kidslox and Bark to ensure that a little screen time doesn’t turn into a full-day affair. 

 

Know You Aren’t Alone

The combination of working from home and caring for children can feel like a lonely uphill slog. You aren’t alone, though. Millions of other moms are in the same boat and experiencing the same frustrations and challenges you are. Remember, it is challenging to work at home and keep kids occupied. Struggling is a normal part of the process. But, with some creativity and planning, it’s possible to survive and even thrive through this stage. 

It always helps to hear the stories of others. Join our Community of moms working from home and share your struggles, ideas or best tips for keeping kids busy while you take care of business.

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June 29, 2020

The Toughest Work From Home Challenges – and How to Solve Them

Working from home has many benefits, from more freedom and flexibility to a quick 10-step commute to your home office.  Although it’s mainly a positive experience for most, there can be challenges involved, especially to those new to working remotely . . .  or maybe when we’re in the middle of a pandemic!

Here are our tips on working through those challenges successfully.

 

Expectations

Working from home with kids or family around is not the same as the bliss of a quiet home or corporate office. Not surprisingly, your day is going to look different, and you’ll have to be proactive about planning your schedule and tasks. It may be helpful to start with a list of what needs to get done (the night before preferably so you can plan accordingly) and hit the ground running in the morning. Circle or star the tasks that require focus and uninterrupted thinking. For me, that’s writing, creating content and talking with clients so I like to do those first thing in the morning while everyone is either sleeping or busy with their own tasks. Other work tasks like email, social media or research do not require as much deep focus so I can plan those for the parts of my day when I know I’m more likely to be interrupted.

I’ve also found batching my work helps my productivity and allows me to get more accomplished. When you get zoned in on a certain tasks and aren’t stopping and starting by checking email, taking phone calls and things like that, you can knock out a week or month’s worth of blog posts, social media or other similar tasks.

Distractions

Whether working from home or a traditional office, distractions are part of every job.  When working from home those distractions include family members, postal deliveries, social media alerts, and things like podcasts that can be a little too tempting. If you struggle at all with independent work, it can be even more challenging.

Instead of eliminating these things entirely, give yourself breaks to do what you’re tempted to do during work time, such as listen to your favorite podcast, play a quick game with your kids, put in a load of laundry or start dinner.

Your distractions can become a healthy part of your life, as long as you work to manage them while still getting things done.  Create a schedule that allows time for the extras or “distracting” parts of your day while still completing your work.

Kids and Family

While kids and family can be a huge bonus to the remote work life, they can also cause distraction and maybe even a bit of frustration when you’ve been together 24/7 for months during a pandemic.  Sometimes you’ll need to have focused work time, meetings or conference calls that demand your attention and that’s where having a plan is imperative.

When possible, set clear boundaries such as if the door is shut, it means no coming in. You may want to put a post-it note there if you are on an important call or recording a video interview as I’ve had to do. In my home, my family knows if my office door is shut and they need something, they can text me and I’ll respond as soon as my call or interview is finished. It also helps that I do most of my calls on speaker phone so they can hear me talking and know not to come in. If you have small children, it may mean swapping focused time with your spouse or hiring a neighbor to help out so you can have some uninterrupted work time.

To help manage your home, create a list of what needs to be done. Consider age-appropriate chores and tasks for each family member. Have a family team meeting and discuss the tasks, chores and expectations. Knowing your family, you can decide if assigning tasks to each person is better or if allowing them to choose what works better for particular needs. Take advantage of meal prepping services if you need a break from meal planning and shopping.

For the never-ending snack needs for younger kids, consider “meal-prepping” some ready to go snacks each night — or weekly if they are non-perishable. Create a shelf in your pantry or in your fridge where they can grab a snack if you are busy.

For your kids play time needs, ask the moms of your kid’s friends if they’d like to swap play times so the kids can play at their houses one afternoon and at yours another day.  Or you may find a high school or college kid that is home that can take the kids to the park or pool or even play games with them. When they are with you, you may need some fresh ideas and extra activities to keep them busy.

When the weather is beautiful, consider taking your work outside! Take the kids and go to a park while you work on those tasks that don’t require intense focus.

Isolation

Whether you have family around you or are at home alone, we all need social interaction from others. Be proactive in engaging and interacting with others you work with and those you don’t. Instead of simply waiting for schedule meetings, sometimes it is helpful to have that “virtual” face-to-face coffee break or an informal face-time chat with a friend or colleague.  They may also be feeling isolated and will appreciate you making the effort to visually connect with them.

Another way to fight the isolation blues is to work on your goals. Setting goals and actively working on yourself, your marriage, your parenting and your business will bring positivity to you as well as those who will appreciate your determination and accomplishments.

And don’t forget about the importance of getting outside for some Vitamin D. There are real benefits to taking breaks, getting some sunshine and going for walks. Fresh air and sunshine can be helpful to clear the mind and help reset your mood. If you can’t get outside, then any kind of physical activity can help you feel healthier and invigorated during your day.

 

So there you have it, knowing what to expect and being proactive to overcome these challenges makes all the difference. Each day is likely to be different and when you have a bad one, simply learn what you could have done differently and vow to do better tomorrow.

Are you looking for your dream work from home job or a rock star candidate to help grow your business? Whether you are seeking freelance work or to hire a great remote team member, HireMyMom aims to be your #1 choice! Let us know how we can be of help!

 

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May 8, 2019

Top 10 Productivity Hacks Every Mompreneur Needs For Her At Home Business

Figuring out how to get “all the things” done might just be the biggest achilles’ heel as a mompreneur.

It’s easy to look at our never ending list of to-dos and feel anxious and overwhelmed at the thought of how we will ever get it all done. Along the way, as a mompreneur, I have learned a few tricks and hacks to getting more done so I can be more productive and move my business forward.

Let me share with you a little secret about doing “all the things” right up front before we even dive into these productivity hacks.

You will never get it all done.

I know, I know. Not what you wanted to hear.

The truth is, your list will never be completely wiped clean and you will never feel all the way done for the day. It’s just the reality of being a mompreneur and business owner.

But what I will tell you is that even though you won’t ever really get it all done, you can implement these 10 productivity strategies that will help you not only get more accomplished during your work day but also focus on the most important tasks that will help to make your business profitable and successful.

 

1. BRAIN DUMP

Most of the time, overwhelm simply means that your brain is a jumbled mess of thoughts, ideas and tasks. The best strategy that I have learned to calm the chaos is to dump it all out on paper (or Evernote or OneNote if you are more of an electronic app kind of person).

There’s no right or wrong way to do this. Just dump every task, to-do, strategy and creative thought that is bouncing around in your head.

I always end my work day with a brain dump of what I want to get done the next day (or even for the upcoming week on a Sunday night). I immediately feel better once my cluttered thoughts are down on paper. I can see things more clearly and can make an informed decision about what gets my attention and what has to wait for a later time.

 

2. EAT THAT FROG

Now that you have dumped everything that feels like a chaotic, unorganized thought onto paper, it’s time to decide what to tackle and in what order.

This “eat that frog” process is based on Brian Tracy’s wildly popular book Eat That Frog. This strategy will help you take all those things off your brain dump and put them into an ordered list that makes sense for your business.

The key to “eat that frog” is to focus on tackling the hardest, most important tasks first. These are the tasks that are the easiest to procrastinate about because they are usually the ones that push us outside our comfort zone. But they are almost always the tasks that will move us forward in our business and are the most important.

From your brain dump, place an A, B, C, D, or E next to each item on your list.

  • An “A” item is something that is very important, something you must do to move your business ahead
  • A “B” item is a task that you should do, but it only has mild consequences either way. Reviewing email would probably be considered a B task, depending on your business.
  • A “C” item is something that would be nice to do but there are no consequences to your business success if they they get done or not. Calling or meeting a friend for coffee would fall under the C category.
  • A “D” task is something you can delegate to someone else. The rule here is to delegate everything that someone else can do so that you can free up more time for the A tasks that only you can do.
  • An “E” task is defined as something you can eliminate all together and it won’t make any real difference. These may be tasks that you should have gotten rid of a long time ago but because of habit haven’t done so yet.

Now that you have labeled every task on your brain dump, it’s time to get to work immediately.

The key to making this method work is for you to discipline yourself to start immediately on your A tasks and then stay on each task until it is complete, not moving on to another task before hand. And…most definitely, not moving on to a B task until all of your A tasks are complete.

In essence, you have “eaten that frog”. You have done the hardest, yet most important tasks first. Look at how productive you are!

 

3. BATCH YOUR WORK

Batching your work simply means that you are clumping together all of the similar tasks and tackling them at the same time. Here are a few examples of business related items that can be batched together.

  • Blog writing
  • Writing email newsletters and sales funnels
  • Social media posts
  • Sending out invoices
  • Checking email
  • Creating products that you sell

Look at your list of tasks and decide what items can be batched together.

For example, instead of checking email each time a notification pops up, set aside a chunk of time in your day twice a day, like morning and late afternoon for example, to focus on reading, responding and organizing your emails. This is key! Otherwise, so much time can be wasted switching your brain back and forth between tasks!

 

4. PLAN YOUR WORK DAY AROUND YOUR ENERGY LEVELS

Knowing when you are the most creative and have the most energy is crucial to hacking into your productivity as a mompreneur. Plan your day around your highest energy levels. When are you the most creative? When are you the most focused and less distracted? When does your energy start to lag?

Knock out your “A” tasks during your highest energy times and leave your “B” level tasks (checking email and returning phone calls) for those times when your energy starts to lag.

 

5. HAVE SET WORK HOURS

Now that you have identified your highest energy times of the day, make it a point to work during those hours. My most productive work time is from 9-12 each morning so those times are blocked out on my calendar as “focused work time”.

During these high energy hours I am focused on knocking out my “A” level tasks. I also know that after lunch, I am less focused and my energy starts to lessen. That’s when I focus on responding to email and other tasks that don’t require as much focus.

My best hack for sticking with your designated work hours is to put them on your calendar as a non-negotiable. Because you run your own small business, it can be easy to schedule doctor’s appointments or lunch dates during your most effective work times. Consider blocking out Monday-Thursday for work and saving Friday afternoons for errands and appointments.

The key to this strategy is to schedule work time and schedule it during your most energetic and creative times of the day and week.

 

6. HAVE ONE MEETING FREE DAY EACH WEEK

Interruptions and a lack of focus can be the biggest downfalls of controlling our time spent working on our business. What would it mean for your productivity if you have one day a week that you keep free of meetings and appointments?

My designated day of the week is Monday. I try my very best to protect Monday and keep it free of meetings and appointments. It is my day to crank out a ton of work projects and set myself up for success for the rest of the week. I know that if I am able to crush it on Monday and mark a ton of tasks off my list on this first day of the week, I feel more accomplished and energized to tackle the rest of the week.

 

7. CREATE WHITE SPACE ON YOUR CALENDAR

Because you run your own business and are your own boss, it can be easy to let obligations and commitments sneak into your work time. If we aren’t careful, we can say yes to too many things and find ourselves bogged down with commitments and our available focused work time is cut in half (or more).

White space is the available space on your calendar or schedule where you don’t have other obligations. If you feel overwhelmed just by looking at your calendar, take some time to reflect on how you are spending your time, what you have said yes to that is adding overwhelm and stress to your life, and how much focused time you have saved to work on your business.

It might be time to say no to some things so you can say yes to your business more often.

 

8. ELIMINATE DISTRACTIONS

One of the biggest challenges for mompreneurs is distractions. There is a misconception that as moms who run a business, we should be great at multitasking.

Think about the last time you sat down to tackle an important task for your business. Usually, like I talked about earlier, the hardest tasks are often the most important and the ones that we can want to put off until later.

Did you find yourself checking Facebook, email and watching a stream of Instagram stories while you were “working” on that important business task?

In order to be the most productive and tackle the most important tasks in your business, it is important to head off the temptation to procrastinate by eliminating distractions.

Shut down Facebook, turn off email and put your cell phone in “do not disturb” mode. Whatever is distracting you the most and allowing you to procrastinate, shut it off for the duration of the project you are working on.

A popular method to getting disciplined and focused work time is the Pomodoro Technique. This method allows for some break time and helps you stay focused on the task at hand, with a little bit of down (reward) time throughout.

 

9. CREATE AN INVITING WORKSPACE

Where you work is as important to your productivity as all the other hacks I have shared so far. Your workspace should be designed to help you get work done. It should be a place that you are drawn to, a place you find inspiration and enjoy being in.

The environment in which you work is as important as the space itself. Choose colors, furniture, and decor that speak to your soul. I actually painted my home office to match my fun branding colors, and I love it! You may also want to consider adding a house plant or two to bring life to your office. Your productivity will thank you!

 

10. MAKE YOUR HEALTH A PRIORITY

As a Mompreneur, your health is usually the last thing on your to-do list. But the right foods and exercise are key to your productivity. You might think otherwise, that you don’t have time for a run or taking your favorite Zumba class at the gym, but even going for a brisk walk can make a huge difference in your mindset, energy level and overall productivity.

The key to this hack is to actually value the time you spend with your own self care.

What helps you recharge, gives you energy and keeps you healthy?
Exercise, eating your fruits and veggies, reading a good book, etc.?

Whatever it is for you, make it a priority.

 

What are some productivity hacks that you use to up your game and get more done as a mompreneur? Will you implement some of these productivity strategies to help you better tackle your to-do list?

Contact us and let us know. Would love to hear from you!

 

Are you a Mompreneur looking for more freelancing opportunities and client work to build your home based business? Check out more of what HireMyMom.com has to offer!

 

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