There was a time I just wanted to follow my dreams to become a woman of purpose. I wanted to impact, at the same time make money. But when I found myself struggling with taking care of the home, the kids and me, I gave up with the understanding that being a woman, especially a family woman, is not at all a joke. 

There are always many things to do and the more I tell myself not to give up, the more I become so weak and unproductive. 

I didn’t beat myself too long before seeking help but despite having two toddlers who are always craving for attention, I am now able to do many things within the same time I had for the day. However, I know that this is the same struggle of other mums who are either working or staying home with kids. A lot of them had dreams and careers they had abandoned, they had businesses that is not bringing in sales as expected, just because they could not devote their time to it because of other commitments. 

This made me to design and share these time management and productive tips for mothers who are struggling like my old self, clueless on ways to balance their life with their dreams and seeking fulfilment as a woman. I also realized that the problem is not actually what a woman can do, but the ability to carry out the tasks alongside other responsibilities at home. See also a weekly plan printable for you to get organized and reflect on how you spend your week. 

1.   Plan

One of the ways to get nothing to do is by not having a plan or a to-do-list. This plan is not just your personal tasks but including your outings for the week, appointments, shopping, school runs, meetings, and other things that take up the whole week from you. It also does not mean that must accomplish everything that you have listed or planned, but at the end of the week, you will be able to see that you have really achieved a lot by striking out the most important things that you managed to do. 

When I plan my week, I do it with my spouse or other adult with me because, for things like dropping or picking children from school can save me some time, so I want to know if he would be available to do that, and I can dedicate that time to either sleep, read or work. I also have an app that keeps reminding me of tasks to do which I can’t afford to snooze until I am able to complete it or else, I will forget the task. Planning my week ahead has greatly helped me in not getting overwhelmed or thinking I am not growing. It also helped me to reflect on areas I should have focused on. 

2.   Start your day with positivity

Believe me when I said this is the easier way to be productive. When you wake up in the morning with a mindset of doing your best and leaving the rest, you have already conquered the negative mind of not achieving anything for the day. One of the ways to start the day with full energy is by creating a routine. How do you spend your morning? Aside praying, cleaning, what do you pick up next? Identify the things that take most of your time in the morning and see if some can be shifted to another time to make the most use of the period.

If you are a stay home mum with little children, the best time to jump on your personal tasks is when the kids are sleeping in the morning, before school time or breakfast. I, as a work from home mum, found myself doing a lot early in the morning when my kids are still sleeping. I do this after keeping food on the cooker, setting the washing machine and arranged the kids' lunch for school. By the time they wake up, and I prepare them for the day, I wouldn’t mind how long time we spend together reading or doing school runs, I know that at least, something is out of my schedules for that day.

3.   Prioritize and Relax

Did I hear you ask that where is the time? One of the mistakes I made after giving birth to my second daughter was trying to do things when she is asleep. I will clean, cook and when she eventually wakes up, I will have to hold her, feed and play. Before I knew it, the night is here and just when I thought I should sleep, she will stay awake again. You want to avoid imagining this on my health. No time to rest, I wasn’t having enough sleep, and I must be up the following day to take care of her and the big sister. 

Hey woman, relax! I have understood that no matter how many chores I do in a day, there is always something to do the following day that will take almost the same time. So, I started prioritizing. If it is not necessary for me to go out and shop, I don’t. I will make use of what we have at home just to buy some time off for that day. Once my baby is asleep, I managed to sleep too even if I am going to wake up before her, the one-hour sleep must have calmed my nerves, boosted my energy, and keep my brain at alert for other productive things. 

So, look at the things that you have written for the week to do, break them down into daily tasks, when you start ticking them out of your daily list, look at the remaining one that is yet to be done and see if it is necessary to forfeit your sleep or relaxation time for. 

4.   Delegate and seek help. 

Don’t let anyone tell you that it’s all smooth running the home, working and fulfilling dreams. The difference between the struggling mum and the one holding the award plaque is accepting that the latter is not perfect. You can’t afford to seek perfection as far as running the home is concerned. If you have people around you who offer to help, you should jump on it. If I need to change the little one’s nappy, the sister is always happy to help, and I don’t take that for granted. I don’t pick toys alone from the floor, I engaged my kids. If there is need to clean up the kids after using the loo, I allow their dad to help because I want to avoid living with the mentality of everything must be done in my own way. Running a home must be done with a team building mindset, everyone has a role to play, no matter how little they are. 

Delegate tasks, even if it is not perfect, so you can have time to do other personal stuffs and relax. If someone you can trust offer to watch over your kids just for you to have some nap time, don’t hesitate to give the chance because either you are there or not, the kids would be fine.

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