Better Time Management and Task Optimization as a Mom

I firmly believe that you can have it all — you can be a great mom, a great spouse, have a great career, and still have time to pursue the simple pleasures that make life sweet. To have it all, however, you need to accept that you can’t do it all because you simply don’t have enough time.

Consequently, you need to stay focused and make every minute count. To achieve your dreams as a busy mom in today’s world, you need to become disciplined about managing your time and optimizing your tasks.

Time management 101

If time management is a struggle for you, you’re not alone. Statistics show that 82 percent of people don’t use a systemized approach to time management, while one in three say they use simple to-do lists, and one in four say they focus on whatever feels most important at the time.

Those who embrace time management often do so because of the benefits it delivers, of which there are many. At the top of the list is less stress. Time management allows you to do away with the sense of being overwhelmed which makes life stressful.

Time management also boosts productivity, allowing you to reach your goals faster and have more free time. The overall result is a better work-life balance.

Getting better at time management and task optimization starts with accepting that time is a limited resource. We all get just 24 hours per day to pursue our dreams. If that sounds like it will never be enough, keep in mind that no one has more than 24 hours to work with.

The next step is prioritizing your time, as time management requires making decisions to focus on what you want to achieve. If you have goals, you need to allocate time to the tasks that will help you to achieve those goals. If something doesn’t serve your goals, it doesn’t deserve your time.

The following steps can help you to systematize your time management, giving you solid tracks to run that will help you gain control of your schedule.

Practice time blocking

Time blocking allows you to allocate certain portions of your day to certain tasks. For example, you might block off 9 to 9:30 each morning for going through your email inbox.

Time blocking accomplishes several things. First, it allows you to prioritize those things that need to get done. Getting an important task like reaching out to a new client or attending your child’s soccer game into a time block essentially guarantees that you will have the time for it.

Time blocking also allows you to increase your focus by forcing you to commit to the task at hand. If you have blocked off time for writing a new blog post, you can focus on that rather than thinking about preparing for tomorrow morning’s staff meeting. Your staff meeting prep time will have its own time block.

To use time blocking effectively, you need to be realistic about the amount of time it takes you to accomplish tasks. You might not like how long it takes you to prepare social media posts, but denying reality won’t help you. If you’re not happy with how long tasks are taking you, focus on improving your efficiency.

Sticking to your schedule is also critical when you’re time blocking. If it’s time to move on, move on. If you haven’t given yourself enough time, review and adjust your schedule. Time blocking should help you have time for the important things, as well as help you to realize what you don’t have time for.

Commit to single-tasking

Busy moms can often find themselves multi-tasking, both at work and at home, and believing that it makes them more efficient. Research suggests that the opposite is true.

Single-tasking is a better strategy for effective time management and task optimization. Like time blocking, single-tasking encourages you to focus on one task at a time, improving your ability to concentrate and reducing the stress that often accompanies multi-tasking.

The key to single-tasking is blocking out distractions. Whether it involves a personal task, like reading a bedtime book to your kids, or a work-related task, single-tasking in today’s world requires turning off notifications, closing email and social media apps, and seeking out a quiet place to focus on the task at hand.

Try delegating

As you develop a more focused schedule, you may find there are important tasks that you just don’t have time for. If they need to get done and you don’t have time for them, delegating may be the answer.

At work, this can involve passing tasks to other competent employees who have more available time than you. In some cases, it may involve hiring new employees or securing virtual assistants to help manage a growing workload. Either way, the result will be freeing up time for you to do the important things that you do best.

Delegating is also an option for the work that must happen at home. Hiring a house cleaner is one example of delegating, as is ordering in instead of cooking dinner. The key is to delegate tasks that are less important to you so you have time to focus on your priorities.

Overall, your time management efforts will be more successful if you stay focused on your priorities. Whether your goal is career growth, quality time with your family, or a healthy balance between the two, effective time management will be a critical part of getting there. Time blocking, single-tasking, and delegating are all tools that can help you to achieve your dreams faster and with far less stress.

— Raquel Gomes, CEO of Stafi, is passionate about helping business owners, and especially women entrepreneurs, understand that they can, in fact, have it all – the successful business, time with loved ones, and the freedom to pursue the things that matter most. But she knows to have it all, you can’t do it all. That’s why she founded Stafi – a virtual assistant company that finds and places highly-qualified, highly-educated offshore staff that can complete all the tasks that keep business owners from their most valuable work: serving their clients and growing their companies. Originally from the south of Brazil, Raquel is a licensed psychologist with an MBA in International Business.