Every mom is a busy mom and can benefit from some time saving tips. Time well-spent with the family, especially the children, is something every mother wants. However, not all mothers have the luxury of spending enough time with their children due to hectic and busy work schedules. People say that time is the most precious gift you can give to your children, and indeed this is true. Having motherly attention, guidance and nurturing during the growing up and developmental years of children can have a profound effect on them as they grow into adulthood. This is why moms do their best to manage their time to at least be with their children for a certain period of time. There are more ways than one to save time from other activities outside your home and convert that time saved into quality time with your children.
Time Saving Tips
Set your Priorities
Working moms are very much keen on what needs to be done at home. Sometimes, they can’t clearly set and narrow down their list of things to do because they all seem important. Yes, the items in their to-do list may seem important, but some of them can actually wait.
For example, you may think that you need to do a general cleaning around the house once every month. If you are a working mom, you may set aside one of your rest days for this endeavor. And, you may need to do the cleaning alone and or let the kids help you with the cleaning. It will leave you and your kids exhausted. You can instead hire a part time maid to do the cleaning for you while you enjoy the rest of the day with your kids. Don’t worry about the cost, it is actually affordable to hire a house paid on a part time basis.
Another case would be choosing between cooking dinner and buying take-out meals. Choose the busiest part of the day for buying take-out meals instead of jeopardizing your meal schedule and other activities set to be done. You can save yourself time spent for cooking and cleaning the dishes and have more time with your family.
Have a Time Efficiency Mindset
Declutter your mental to-do list by establishing your mindset to do things that you can accomplish within the day and not do all the things at once. Doing the latter can cause you to fail in achieving your goals with a do-it-all mindset by leaving you confused and exhausted. Instead, set your mind to have time dedicated for family bonding and being with the children and have the rest of the time of the rest of the day reserved for things that are absolutely important and can be achievable.
Get Help
Another thing to remember if you are a busy working mom is to never do all things alone and never think so too. Most of you may think getting help always involves money. It actually doesn’t. You can invite relatives like the aunts and uncles of the kids every once in a while. Most of the times they would be willing to help you in looking after the kids or do some of the housework to free up your time.
If money isn’t a constraint for you, it would be very helpful to employ the services of household service professionals, such as cleaners and landscapers. Choose wisely and look into the profiles of the service professionals in order to get quality service worth the money you spend. More importantly, it should free up a significant amount of your time for the children.
Outside of the relative and hired help option, you can occasionally ask for help from other parents and neighbors. For example, you can ask a fellow parent at school look after your children for a while if you are going to be late in fetching them. Or if you are feeling sick and can’t drive them to school, you can ask your neighbor to drive them for you until you are rested and able to fetch them when the class ends. Also, in return, don’t forget to return the favor.
Prepare Things in Advance to Save Time
Prepare for the busy workday ahead by planning several things in advance. One of the effective ways of saving time is having your work bag and the kids’ outfits ready during weekends. Prepare lunches and backpacks the night before classes. Better yet, have your kids join and help you in preparing their stuff. They can help pack their own lunch and they can also keep their own clothes in their closets. Planning the day ahead is a breeze especially with the kids involved. It would also be helpful to put notes of to-do things on the fridge to help remind you and the kids.
There are actually a lot of time saving tips busy moms can free up some time from their hectic schedules. It actually needs motivation and the will to start setting aside some time for their children and themselves. Time is a valuable commodity that needs to be spent wisely. It may be good that moms are being busy working and earning for their families, but not all of their times should be spent solely for work and away from their children. Work-life balance can be achieved by effective time management. So spend time wisely and save as much as you can for your family and yourself.