Time Management Tips For Working Moms

Learning to manage your time wisely is the key to getting things done on time and keeping your sanity as a working homeschool mom. Check out these time management tips to increase your productivity now! 

Time management for busy moms is a big concern for working moms these days. Between juggling your career, homeschooling your children, driving to social activities for kids, and running a home, you can feel like you are drowning in the list of things you are trying to accomplish in one day.

I’ve been working and homeschooling for over 14 years. I’ve spent weeks in a frenzy, working like crazy on all the things and accomplishing absolutely zip. Or that’s the way it felt at the time.

The list of “stuff to do” kept growing, and with it, my stress level and coffee intake.

I discovered that no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t add one extra hour to my day.

The following time management tips helped me stop feeling overwhelmed and start checking things off my to-do list. I can’t wait to share them with you!

How To Manage Your Time As A Working Mom

The KEY to managing your time well is to use your time wisely!

The best way to do that is to use time management tips to help you focus on the task at hand, cut distractions, and get things done.

Learning to manage my time is a cycle. I do great for a while, then life shifts, and I feel like I am drowning and need to learn all over again.

That’s okay! You can always come back to this list of time management tips for working moms and see what information can help you get back on track!

12 Time Management Tips For Working Moms

Below you will find a great checklist of practical time management tips.
As you work through the list, take note of any that you still need to try.

Plan to put them into action right away.

Because the most challenging part of “time management” is changing bad habits. That takes determination to want to change. It’s not easy, but it IS worth it.

1. Use A Planner

A great planner can help you organize what needs to be done and take note of when you need to do it. 

The right planner will help you keep track of your work tasks, homeschool schedule, and life. 

Using a planner can also structure your day and remove stress because you won’t worry about forgetting something – it is in your planner. 

I use the Homeschool Planner For Working Moms. If you love using a printable planner, you’ll love this planner. 

Disclosure: I may receive commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

If you prefer a digital planner, Homeschool Planet can handle your needs. 

Having a planner, be it paper or digital, allows you to have a great overview of your life.

If you set it up weekly and monthly, one glance will let you know what is coming up, allowing you to adjust accordingly.

2. A Planning System

Truth bomb: We have 24 hours in a day. We all have the same amount of time. It is how you use this time that matters.

The truth is, we sometimes think we have more or less time than that.

For example, if you choose to stay up past midnight working, you’ve moved to the next day. You’ve used all your hours in one day, and now you are stealing from the next day.

You may end up sleeping in by staying up late and feeling rushed or “behind” all day!

Or you may be too tired to be productive the next day. 

Time is like money. It needs to be budgeted and spent wisely.

A planning system is not a planner. A planner is a tool, but a planning system helps you determine your priorities and obligations and create a schedule that works for your family. 

3. Set Dedicated Work Hours

Setting dedicated work hours is a vital time management tip, especially if you work at home.

During those times, focus on the task at hand. Set a start time and an end time. Make sure your family is aware that those time periods are blocked off, and you are not available to answer every little thing.

If you have an office door, close it. 

Learn how to use a timer with kids to help them understand when you are working. It’s easy to do, worth the effort, and pays off.

Before taking a new role or job, ensure you can handle the hours and keep your sanity.

Because life is always changing, check in with your boss from time to time to make sure the expectations haven’t changed.

When those “after work hours” emails and calls come in, you’ll know how to handle them.

4. Delegate

As a self-proclaimed control freak who wants to do it all, delegating has been a battle.  

Why? Because I had to admit I couldn’t do it all. 

One of the best ways to delegate is to get your family to help. 

Teaching your children to cook basic meals, such as breakfast and lunch, is worth the effort. Assign chores and get them to help keep the house clean. 

As a mom, it can be hard to learn to let go of a task. And it can be hard to learn to let your kids do it their way. But you can do it! 

You need to learn to delegate if you want to get more done in your limited time.

Delegating is also one of the important time management strategies for overwhelmed moms.

5. Practice Self-care 

Most of us feel that self-care takes up too much time. When life gets busy, it is the first thing we take off of our to-do list. 

I know because I do it too.

But, when you let go of self-care, you end up with no energy, higher stress levels, and in survival mode. 

Instead of removing self-care, block out 5-15 minutes daily and pick ONE thing you can do.

When juggling working and homeschooling roles, you need to keep self-care routines simple. 

Self-care can involve hanging out with friends or unwinding with pillows and a gratitude journal.

6. Get More Sleep

Do you have a nighttime routine?

I’ll admit, I do not. But it is on my list because learning to cope with less sleep has taught me just how vital sleep is.

“Enough” sleep varies from person to person, but most “adults from ages 26-64 need 7-9 but 6-10 might be appropriate” – source Help Guide-Sleep

I gave myself a bedtime and also set a reminder on my phone to help me stick to a new routine. 

The truth is if you are tired, you will have less physical and mental energy, making it harder to be productive.

7. Trade Your Time Wisely

To “get more time,” you need to give up on something else.

I recently “cut out time” to play with my kids. Which really means I had to give up something to do that.

I used to batch my laundry and get it all done in one day. However, I traded that block of time to get time to play with my kids. Laundry is now included in my daily cleaning schedule. 

Another way I find the time to connect with my kids is by using “set work hours” and STOP working when the time is up.

I’m okay with that. It’s the price of the trade I am willing to make. 

No one can tell you what to give up. Only you know what is vital on your list and what is less vital.

8. Identify Your Time Wasters

If you are a bookworm, I know you can relate.

Have you ever sat down to read, and before you know it, the time has flown by? That “one more page” ended up being one more chapter?

Or how about Facebook or Pinterest?

Although both are powerful tools, they can also be massive time wasters if we are not careful.

I recently created a simple and powerful resource to help you identify time suckers in your life and learn exactly where your time is going and how you use it. I created this workbook because I worked all day and never checked anything off my to-do list. 

It will walk you through identifying where your time is going so you can be more intentional.

As a mom working full time and homeschooling full time, I know that the only way to make this lifestyle work is by making wise decisions with my time.

To do that, you need to understand how you are currently using your time, where you are wasting time, and how to kick time suckers to the curb! 

9. Eliminate Your Distractions

Now that you’ve identified your time wasters, you need to eliminate these distractions.

For example, if social media notifications go off every few minutes, drawing your attention away from the task, you can turn notifications off or mute your phone.

I love this suggestion from Kay, “Make a category for it that says “STOP! Is this a good time?” It will at least make you think before hopping on to Facebook for a “few minutes”. “–Source Productivity For Homeschool Moms

Technology may not always be “the distraction.” Different people are bothered by other things.

Other distractions might be: 

• Lighting in your workspace
• Sound or music
• Children playing
• Pets running around
• The chair you use etc.

Too much or too little of the above may distract you from your work.

Take a few minutes, figure out what distracts you from your work, and brainstorm ways to eliminate the problem. 

10. Set Your Priorities

One problem with leading such a busy life is that we can use our limited time as an excuse to procrastinate and avoid getting things done.

A simple reframing can help us decide what is a priority right now and what can wait.

This popular reframing technique is to change “I don’t have time for” to “It’s not a priority right now” and see how that feels.

Setting priorities is one of my favorite time management tips because it helps me stay focused and tackle a task that needs to be done that I would normally push off to another day. 

11. Outsource By Using Online Tools

Outsourcing is a great way to get things done and save you time.

I’ve noticed more and more ways to save time through online tools, even in my small area.

A few things you can get done online are:

• Paying bills online
• Reserving books from the library
• Grocery Shopping for pick up
• Grocery Delivery such as Amazon Fresh 
• Shopping for clothing
• Buying Books (Amazon Prime Reading, Barnes & Noble,  BetterWorldBooks.com. etc.)

Think of the “errands” you run and find out if they have an online option.

Create a time block in your weekly schedule and get it done in one go.

Of course, you can also outsource the traditional way, such as carpooling, hiring a cleaner, or trading tasks with another working mom.

12. Learn To Say No

Learning to say no might be one of the more no-brainer time management tips for working moms, but it is also one many will not use. 

Why? Because so many of us struggle to say no. As moms, we want to do all the things, and we want to do all the things well. 

When you say “yes,” you are saying “no” to something else. 

If you want to make the most of your time, you need to say NO to things you don’t have the time or energy for.

Ask yourself these questions and be honest with your answers:

• Do I have the time?
• Do I have the energy?
• What am I giving up in order to do this?

Guard your time by anticipating when you might be asked to help out.

If you can, by all means, say yes. But if you can’t, say no.

Using Time Management Tips For Working Moms

Life is hectic, but you can get a lot done by using your time wisely.

As you work through these tips, take note of which ones you need to put into practice. If you are anything like me, some of these you are knocking out of the ballpark. Others, not so much.

When you start feeling stressed out and pulled in a million directions at once, check yourself against this list.

But don’t stop there!

The truth is, I will bet most of the tips above you’ve heard before. Am I right?

The key is the determination to make and implement those changes.

You can read time management tips all day long, but if you don’t do anything about your current time management system (or lack thereof), nothing will change.

If one of the tips above resonates with you as a change you need to make, be determined to try it out.

Future you will thank you!

More Time Management Resources:

• Are you looking for ways to find the time to homeschool? You need homeschool time management help!
• Learn time management tips other working moms love.
• Use Homeschool Planet to keep track of your work and homeschool

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