TOP 18 TIME MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION TIPS FOR BUSY MOMS

With a full-time job, maintaining a blog and being a toddler mom, I have realized that time is my biggest hurdle. Find 18 practical and effective time management and organization tips for busy moms!

By the time I get back from work, settle down, cook dinner and give Mishika a bath, I feel like my day has already come to an end. I find myself exhausted and just ready to crash on the bed. From the past two years of parenthood, one of my biggest learning has been that the way I feel in the morning sets the tone for the rest of my day. If I start my day feeling exhausted, overwhelmed with everything around me in a chaotic state then my rest of the day looks the same. But if I wake up in a clean home, feeling organized, I feel extremely motivated to carry on my day with a positive attitude and high energy. I am sure many of you out there can relate to this feeling?

But being organized does not come easy. It needs a little bit of planning, consistent practice of some good habits in your regular lifestyle and a good awareness of your time usage. In the past, I have shared a few topics on how I manage my time as a working mom that helps me keep organized all the time. Like the tips on work-life balance and my easy morning routine, that always helps me start my day with a winning streak. Of course, there are crazy days when my routine is all over the place (life happens!) but mostly I do try to incorporate my morning routine to the best of my capability.

Besides these over the period, I have also developed a few other little habits in my daily lifestyle. These small habits have gone a long way in helping me organize my life, my months more a year and have taught me valuable lessons on how to be more productive and get more done! So get ready to find out the top 18 effective and practical time management and organization tips for busy moms!

18 Time Management and Organization Tips for Busy Moms

Clean your kitchen every night before sleeping

Have you had the feeling of absolute calmness and peace when waking up to a clean home? Well, cleaning the entire home is a huge project and it can take a lot of time if done daily. But I have noticed that wiping down the kitchen slabs, loading the dirty dishes and cleaning the stove has always left me feeling organized when I wake up in the morning.

Make your bed first thing in the morning

As soon as you wake up, develop this little habit of straightening your bed. Every night after I am back from work and walk into my room, it looks absolutely spic and spans which is an amazing feeling.

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Meal planning

Trying to figure out what to eat in the morning or what to pack for lunch is a huge task. I have felt more in control of this situation if I plan my meal ahead of time on the previous weekend. I like to write down all my meals for the entire week on this whiteboard and stick it to my fridge. Every morning while packing my lunches for Mayank, Mishika and myself, I look at the board on the fridge and exactly know what to pack.

Create your next day to-do list before sleeping

Jotting down everything a night before in my planner (I use this one) that needs to be taken care of the next day, helps me sleep better. I go to bed relaxed, knowing that I have an action plan for the next day and my mind is more composed with no mingled thoughts.

Sync your's and your spouse calendar

Once you have kids life does get hectic. Before you even know it there will be practice games, matches, birthday parties to go to. This little habit of syncing mine and Mayank's calendar together, helps us keep track of each other's engagement You can also color-code your's and your husband's tasks in different colors and hence can keep a good track of who is supposed to take care of what.

Follow the ‘one-in and one-out' rule

Toys are the biggest mess-creator at our home. Mishika loves to play with Legos and they can be found everywhere at our place. Besides them littering the place they also pose a dangerous hazard of someone tripping or slipping on it. For the past few months, I have been practicing the ‘one in and one out’ rule with Mishika. Every time she pulls out a toy from her bin, I remind her to put the last one back in its place and usually praise her with a hug or clap. She loves it!

Plan outfits the night before

I am sure many of you might find yourself in a similar boat like this when you are getting late for work and the child is getting cranky and you are not able to find anything good to wear. During my initial back to work months after my maternity leave, I would feel the same way. Now I have a small space in my laundry room where I keep our clothes ironed and neatly folded to wear to work and for my daughter to school the next day. Also, additional things like swimsuits or diapers for Mishika if the school has asked for it. I do this the night before going to bed and it just takes me 5 minutes to put it all together and this has been such a life savior.

With a full-time job, maintaining a full-time blog and being a toddler mom, I have realized that time is my biggest hurdle.

Follow a set-routine

One of my most important time management tips for busy moms. Routines are the base of any household. Every member of the family should have a routine from morning to evening. This will always help all the family members keep organized and you will always know what comes next. Forming routines with kids is little time taking but goes a long way. Kids can adapt and wire their internal clocks easily to the set routine.

Avoid multitasking all the time

I like to practice this rule for a few tasks at home. For example, if I am folding laundry, I usually complete it before heading out to another task. This way I don’t have to worry about the previous task, and I know for sure that the task on hand is completed.

Keep your inbox zero

I am an inbox zero kind of girl. If you look at my inbox you will see that I have zero unopened emails (crazy rite!). But that’s how I am. I like to be super organized with a few things in my life to use my time more productively.

Make use of sticky notes

I love using them. They are my little helpers. I keep them in many colors handy and stick important notes on my fridge, mirror, tv (things that I usually look at daily) to remind me of something important. Sometimes I even leave sticky notes messages for Mayank as I leave home before him for work. They are such a great tool for conveying important information.

Maintain only one planner where you jot down everything

Yes! And I can’t agree with this more. Having multiple planners is good for big projects like maybe you like to maintain a recipe journal where you write down the recipes that you want to try or the finance journal which you like to look at once a month and fill in all your littlest details. But for daily use, I only keep one journal in my bag. This is my lifeline, where I practically jot down everything that is going to happen in my life, blog, health, appointments, reminders, future projects, etc. Not having too many diaries to look at daily, helps me keep calm and stress – free.

Develop an organized mail system

After toys mails are our second bigger mess creator at home. Now we have successfully established a mail system at our home. I use two plastic bins, one in which I store my bills and others in which I store the mails that need immediate action. I keep them for three months and then scrap the ones that I don’t need. Also, I use these paper pins to club similar mails together.

From the past two years of parenthood, my one bigger major learning has been that the way I feel in the morning sets the tone for the rest of my day.

Organize all the paperwork at home

We get a lot of artwork from Mishika’s school. Also, I like to do art and painting with her at home. These can be everywhere and clutter your home completely. I use two ways to organize these. The first one is I separate the ones that I want to hang and the ones that I need to keep stored, the rest goes in the trash. Then I hang the ones that I need in Mishika's room using a string and paper clips and the ones that I want to store I keep them in a plastic file.

Keep your phones and keys in the same spot

Have you found yourselves in a situation where you are getting late to work but have no idea as to where your keys, phone or wallet is? Having an organized place to store these can help you never lose them. I keep my wallet and keys in this crystal bowl at the entrance and my phone is usually on the side table next to my bed.

Clean your wallet or purse daily

Often, one gets into a habit of throwing all the bills, pamphlets in the purse and wallet. I used to be someone like that and then trying to locate items in my purse used to drive me crazy. Now every night when I am putting my outfits together for the next day, I make sure to clean my purse. And this way my purse is always clean.

Check your bank balance daily

Such a huge relief! Knowing what’s in my account helps me make wise choices daily and hence not only keep me aware of my expenditure but also my life organized and on track.

Prep the launchpad

And my final and really effective time management tips for busy moms is to always prep the launchpad. This I usually my mudroom, where I keep my shoes, winter gear, bags for office and everything that leaves the house with me, Mayank and Mishika the next morning. This habit saves me a ton of time and helps me manage my time more productively.

I hope you found these time management tips for busy moms helpful. Start with a few habits from this list and then go ahead from there. Practicing these small habits daily is what has helped me manage my home, work, and my blog productively!

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