5 Conscious Time Management Tips for Busy Mamas

Whether you are a stay at home mama, a work from home mama, a full-time or part-time working parent, life with kids can get pretty busy. 

Some days, it can feel like time has run away and all those things that you meant to do just didn’t get done.  Some days you start out with a to-do list so long that you give up before the day starts. 

Even with the best planning in the world, you’re dealing with little people and things.just.happen.

And sometimes, especially for working mamas or previously working mamas, we find ourselves in the surprising position of having prided ourselves for being incredibly organised pre-motherhood and then question how we can be so disorganised now - even when it’s still required!

Whether you have one child or a few of them, if they are a baby or at school, learning to prioritise and manage your time is a critical part of reducing daily overwhelm and feeling successful.

Time management and prioritisation skills are life skills that generally need to be learned.  Some people will naturally gravitate towards being more organised than others, but being organised alone does not mean you are efficient with your time or making sure your needs are met. 

You need to be intentional about your time and potentially makes some mindset shifts for this to really impact your daily life and wellbeing.

So here are 5 Conscious Time Management Tips for Busy Mamas:

1. Reframe Your Perspective

Life after kids can be unpredictable and hectic.  Family life can be “busy”.  And too often we feel that if we just had more time, life would be easier. 

When we come from a place of “not enough,” it can be challenging to be happy with what we do have.  We do not have enough time, not enough money, to enough energy, etc.  It can make us feel inadequate, negative and guilty. 

If you are working mama, this can be especially true.  We get pulled in all sorts of directions and have the biggest juggling act.  Add in the mama guilt, physical and mental exhaustion, feeling like we’re failing at everything and succeeding at nothing - it is SO easy to feel like “if only I had more time…”. 

You may not necessarily be feeling this way, but if you’ve read this far then I’m guessing you feel you can be more productive with your time and so at some point you have probably had a belief of “not enough time”.

It really isn’t about more time - it’s about using the time you have in the most efficient way.  We can shift our mindset and reframe our perspective to tell ourselves - this is my reality. I have x hours in the day where I can get stuff done.  It is enough (for now).  I am enough.  How can I be most efficient with my time and my prioritisation so that it really is enough?

When you come from a place of “enough,” it can have a massive impact on your mindset, priorities and daily life.

2. Start Your Day with Gratitude

It is far too easy to get caught up in the busy-ness of family life.  And when we do and our life feels overcrowded and hectic, it’s difficult to notice all the positive things and feel appreciative for the abundance. 

One way to stay grounded and not get caught up in the treadmill of the to-do lists is to start your day with cultivating a mindset of appreciation. It can take seconds (or longer if you wish), but it really just is about reminding yourself of the things you are grateful for in your life right now.

I recommend starting your day with thinking of 3 things you are grateful for in your life.  They could be big things or little things.  You could think them or write them down (I personally find writing them down to be far more powerful and concrete). 

For example, I might be grateful that my baby slept through the night, that none of my kids are ill and that I get to taxi them around to their activities.  I might be grateful that my family are all in good health, that we are comfortable and that we can afford to go on a family holiday. 

It can be whatever you want - the point is just to practice gratitude. To start to really “see” all the good that is already in your life and to feel it is “enough”.  Yes, you may have aspirations, dreams, goals, etc., but if you cannot be content where you are right now, know that you will not feel any different when you get “there” or achieve “those things”. 

Practicing appreciation also is contagious and your children will pick up on it.  They will notice a change and will likely also want to practice gratitude.  And that’s an important piece in avoiding raising entitled, spoiled and ungrateful children.

3. Ruthlessly Prioritise

You may have your to-do lists, should-do lists, really-must-do-lists, want-to-do-lists, and any other lists. 

(If you don’t have any lists, well, there are plenty of articles, podcasts and books out there talking about the benefits of lists!  Start your lists!  It helps get ALL.THE.STUFF out of your head so you can see it, prioritise it and get it done!)

It’s great if you already have your lists.  But if you are like most busy mamas, your lists carry on from one day to the next and it can feel overwhelming and disheartening at how much is still left to do!

Or, you may be checklist happy and, like many mamas, do all the “little” things that are quick and easy to do and check off.  It feels good to check off a list or cross out an action item.  It’s almost therapeutic. 

But too often when we use this approach, we are doing and checking off the stuff that in the grand scheme of things don’t matter very much or isn’t moving us forward.  We tell ourselves we are being “productive,” when in fact we’re pushing aside all the tough jobs, the ones we resist, often the ones which are the most important or will have the biggest impact.

You know the ones.  They are the to-do items that are really hard.  Or that you just.don’t.want.to.do.  Like tax returns.  Re-writing your resume.  Writing your will.  Or attacking that “miscellaneous” cupboard that has become a breeding ground of unwanted stuff. 

What you find hard and resist is almost certain to be different from the mama next door to you, but it doesn’t mean she doesn’t have other items that she finds hard and resists.

So, one way to make sure that you are being truly “productive” is to start each day with 1-2 things that MUST get done.  Things you MUST DO.  No matter what. 

Write these down so you commit to them.

If it’s a big thing that will take some time or may take more than a day to complete, break it down into smaller tasks so that you’re not staring at an overwhelming to-do item that gives you instant paralysis. 

A tax return could be an example of a big thing.  You can break this down into gathering the required documents, filling in the form, checking over the form and documents, submitting it.  Each of these then could become a “must do” action item for the day without being too overwhelming.

When you start your day with the 1-2 items that you “must do,” you may not get the satisfaction of ticking off things off your list, but you will get the satisfaction of knowing that you have done something you probably didn’t want to do.  You will get the relief that this item is finally no longer on your to-do list.  It’s not hanging over you like a gremlin and not weighing you down mentally and emotionally. 

Lifting that burden slowly each day, knowing you are getting the stuff done that needs to be done (and not the stuff done that you find easy to be done or have fun doing) is what moves you forward each day and frees you up for the other stuff that you do find easy or want to do.

4. Time-Block

You may already be familiar with some form of time-blocking, and if you are and already doing this, well then do please continue!!!

If the concept of time-blocking is new to you, your daily life is about to change! 

Time-blocking is where you look at the available hours you have in your day and you allocate blocks of time to different tasks.  It’s like taking an appointment book and scheduling yourself.  Your tasks are “appointments” - written in the dairy so that you have set the time aside for them and are committed to doing them.

I generally recommend using blocks of 10, 20 and 60 minutes when you time block.  You could use 30 and 60 minutes if you find this easier, but I think most busy mamas have a lot of tasks that can be done in 10 or 20 minutes so I do find these more useful.

So, you could look at all your waking hours or just the hours where you are “free” and then, along with your to-do lists, block out time in your day according to your priorities. 

In addition to your “must-do” items that should appear ideally towards the beginning of your day, you want to include some “should do” items as well.  A should-do item is exactly as it sounds - something you should do, that’s not really a must-do, is probably not urgent or time-sensitive although may become so if it doesn’t get done “soon”.

You want to also include some down-time in your schedule, including coffee/tea breaks.

A frequent question I get about time-blocking is where “self-care” or “me” time fits in.  This could be your daily exercise, meditation, quiet time, reading time or meet-up-with-girlfriends time.  Whatever it is you do to refill your bucket and replenish yourself. 

The reality is, I consider this to be a “must-do” item.  You cannot be a the resource and mama your family needs you to be if you are not prioritising yourself and nourishing yourself.

However, I generally add this “me” time as a third must-do item.  That’s not to say that it comes in third place.  I just recognise that I will normally have at least 1-2 other must-do tasks that are not “me” time, and that the me time is equally as important. 

So, I might start my day with an hour of exercise and then move on to tackle my other 1-2 must-do tasks.  And I time-block ALL of this to ensure I have allocated time in my day to achieve what I need to do and to feel that I have enough time to do what needs to be done.

5. Re-evaluate ALL.THE.OTHER.THINGS

What about all the other things?  You know, like the laundry, housework, cleaning, cooking, shopping, tidying…. All those basic, routine, daily tasks that keep the family household running and everyone clothed, fed and clean?

Yes - they need to be done. Create lists.  Outsource as much as you can.  There is no shame in asking for help if you can get it and if it makes sense in your life.

Use internet shopping if it’s available in your area so you don’t have to run around the shops and potentially get distracted. 

If you can afford it, get a regular cleaner if you find you are spending your time cleaning your house rather than doing the stuff that is more important. 

Teach your children how they can help do the laundry - they can start off by loading/unloading or sorting and move onto doing full loads and folding as they get older.  It will help you out and also teach them important life skills. 

Likewise, put your children in charge of tidying their own spaces and create a schedule for tidying joint spaces or do it together so it’s done faster.  Teach them to the basics of meal prep and eventually how to cook a full meal for the family.  They will gain skills, yes, but also confidence and you will know that you are helping develop their self-esteem.

The key is to look at the time consuming tasks that could be done by someone else in order to free you up… Question whether they need to be done in the first place and if so, by whom. Really question your existing beliefs about this - you may surprise yourself if you are open to new conclusions.

When you re-frame your perspective and come from a place of sufficient or even abundance, you will be surprised at how you feel about your day. 

When you ruthlessly prioritise so that your self-care time and must-do (hard-to-do) items take priority, you will position yourself to be more efficient and also release yourself from the weight of your lists. 

When you begin to time-block, you commit to taking action and by doing so, create forward momentum. 

And when you outsource, you acknowledge that you are one person and your own priorities. 

You take back control of your daily life. 

You practice gratitude and begin to feel that you are enough. 

More than enough. 

You’ve got this mama!