To some, this may seem like a silly question, but I am looking for advice with regard to time management. I am a SAHM with two kiddos-- one 4, one 3. I also work part-time from home. I am the type of person who gets easily overwhelmed, and when that happens, nothing gets done well or right! So, for all of you well-organized busy moms out there, how do you manage your home and time successfully while trying to juggle so many important responsibilties? Thanks in advance for all the helpful tips!
Thanks everyone! I appreciate all of your input. Reading all of your comments helped me to see that I am able to get organized; it's staying organized that I struggle with in a big way! Many of your tips for keeping up with the little things each day helped! I will put those into action.
I am able to be flexible with my working hours at home. So, typically I wait until nap/quiet time and bedtime. But, as many of you know, nap/quiet time sometimes does not go as planned. On those days, I have to wait until bedtime. There are times during the day when I have to take a call or two. That can be a challenge since my kids try to get my attention if I am on the phone. Thanks again! Greatly appreciated!
I have received some really good ideas from the below blog and she is all about her time management because she works at home and has a new baby. Enjoy...
http://www.simpleorganizedliving.com/category/working-fro...
When I was a new mother (and suddenly, it seemed, a mother of five overnight)-I stopped telling myself that I couldn't get a particular chore done, instead-I gave myself 15 minutes-try it-you just might amaze yourself! Also, if you can get some help and get organized, it is easier to stay that way than get that way!
My tool is a paper and pen. I list the 5 most important jobs I need to get done, assign a time for each (from 10-20 minutes), and set the timer for each task. It's so simple. It keeps me moving and on task. Lots gets done, without the opportunity to get off task. For example:
9:00 kitchen
9:20 livingroom
9:35 laundry
10:00 bathroom
Now I realize this seems overly-simple, but it works for me to get the house and laundry organized, and once I'm started, many other tasks fall into place.
Also, it's been said on this site before, but get fully dressed, including shoes, at the start of your day. For whatever reason, it makes for a more business-like approach to organizing your time.
I also think Moms should schedule a break time every day. Kids can nap or play quietly in their rooms, and Mom should put her feet up and listen to music, read a newspaper or anything that is not an obligation. In my house, we would call this "Time for everyone to go to their rooms!"
I have found recently, after almost 10 years of being a mostly SAHM, that the best way to manage my time is to do the things as they occur to me. It's very easy to get sidetracked when you're doing a task - do one thing at a time, decide you're going to do it and just do it, and you'll be amazed how quick it actually was. I'll sit around my living room freaked by how messy the whole downstairs is, and I'll start to make a mental list and say "Oh I have to put those things away and start laundry..." The mental list is the worst thing, everything gets lost there. But if I look around overwhelmed and start to do the mental list, I'll stop myself and just choose a task and do it. Call the Dentist. Start The Laundry. Wow, that was only 4 minutes, now I can put those two puzzles away. It never fails to surprise me how much easier it was than I feared it would be.
With the kids, they get overwhelmed too, so practice it with them and you'll all start doing it. "Kid A, go put away these crayons and coloring books. Kid B, take 5 stuffed animals from the floor and put them in the box." Small, simple tasks make it easy to start and easier to keep being productive.
You have to make a schedule, seriously.
Once you have a routine in place you feel more comfortable.
Always allow a little bit of wiggle room for spontaneous combustion tho ;)
Kids do well with routine.
When they realize that right after breakfast mom needs time to "do her chores" they will learn to adapt to that. Give yourself an hour for doing dishes, straightening up the kitchen, get the beds made, and spruce up the bathroom.
Play with the kiddos for a bit.
Nap time.
Etc....
You can figure it out if you want to. It is so easy to get overwhelmed and not know what to do next; some days are like that. You just have to dust yourself off and get back on schedule.
Organization is key. A place for everything helps so much! Get organized now before your oldest starts Kindergarten. Once full time school hits, that is when the real chaos begins. Notes coming home, parties for this, parties for that, on top of your own home chores and commitments. Make yourself a daily to do list the night before. Be realistic. Two loads of laundry, dust a certain amount of rooms, etc... Take every day a little at a time, but spend a week organizing everything! Closets, cabinets, rooms, files, toys. This way when something ends up on the floor or the couch, you know exactly where it goes and so do the kids! Once you start organizing you start pitching things. Its amazing how much stuff we have and once we can't find a "home" for it, it's amazing how we don't really need it any more! Once your house is completely organized you will see how much extra time you will have.
Block off what you must do and fill in the blanks. Make sure you are reasonable about the time frames.
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When I work from home, it's REALLY hard to be organized. I work and the house falls down around me--LOL.
Are the hours flexible & do your kids nap or do quiet time?
I would try to get the work in before they are up, after they are in bed and/or during the nap/quiet time hours.
Otherwise, when things are CRAZY I go to the Master List method...O. never-ending master list of what needs done, what needs bought, etc. No particular order, crossing things off as I get them done and adding items as they come up.
Also Fly Lady is great for little time-savers like Re-boot laundry every day ( 1 load per day ), shine your sink at night (hate waking up to ANYTHING in the sink!), get dressed "to-the-shoes" every morning, Swish & swipe your toilets every day first thing, after you use them (any soap, soap is soap), Wipe off bathroom counters & mirrors every day (again, while you're there, first thing), etc.
I always did O. errand per day, in the morning, then made it home for lunch, etc.
A loose-bones framework schedule works best for me, but with an eye to the constant need for a Plan B!
Working part time or full time from home, is really HARD, with kids in your midst. I know. I have done that.
Then there are SOOOOO many things to keep track of and stimuli and noises and needs, and the kids, ALL at the same time... and this makes some people's brain, out of whack.
It is multi-tasking... TOO much.
The brain can only be splintered into so many needs/tasks at one time.
Can you get someone to come to your home to help mind the kids while you work?
You have to have a schedule. You have to know, what you need to do, every day.
You have to not expect your kids, to just be still and quiet and minding themselves while you work. Not saying you expect that, but with kids around and you having to work in the home, that in itself can just make the mind overwhelmed. Like oil and water. It does not mix.
EVEN if you are super organized... you still have kids at home in your midst while working. So, if you can you need to change when you work and work at night or when they are napping and if they nap. And when they are not home.
You are a working SAHM, at home.
And can you fulfill what your employer needs you to do, at home, with your kids around?
OMG, so GREAT so read your post. I'm such an unorganized mess and have no excuses. Love the advice.
I have not done so yet but there is a web site for moms just like us, it's called www.flylady.net.
supposed to be a step by step site to help you get organized.
