5 Effective Time Management tips for Great Working Moms

Time management is one the key ingredient for efficient and loving working moms.  For most working moms, if they can have more than 24 hours in a day, they would gladly ask for it, especially to fulfill their duties as a mom and wife….

Everyday, I would start my day at 5 AM.  After rising,  I would dedicate a few minutes of my quiet time to thank the Lord for another day and I would ask for guidance and to pray for my loved ones.

When my children were much younger, I would make sure their lunch boxes were filled with healthy treats. From time to time, I would also personally drop them off to school then rush off to work and make sure I was on my desk at before 8:00 AM daily.

Sometimes I get so tired, especially when my workload is intense and deadlines have to be met. The pressure of work and family get stressful, and there are times when you want to quit. Because of this stress, I was able to come up with great EASY TIME MANAGEMENT  TOOLS which all EFFICIENT WORKING MOMS can do…. I am personally so excited to share these great techniques for WORKING MOMS to have work-life balance and some ME time for working moms (We all need this)

MUST DO for WORKING MOMS:

1. DAILY TO DO LIST

Making a daily to do check list is one of the most effective tools to have a stress free life. Every morning before I do my morning chores, I spend 5 minutes writing my TO DO LIST and reviewing yesterday’s tasks to see if I have pending chores. This TO DO LIST truly helped me have a great work, life balance and be more organized… This is a MUST to all WORKING MOMMIES…

For me, I have a small notebook in my shoulder bag to list down all my To-do lists. Try to separate the to-do list for work and for home so you would not be confused. For millenial moms, the most practical TO-DO LIST ORGANIZER is our cellphone. There are many free apps now that have great TO-DO LIST organizer and they even sync to all your devices’ calendars.

When I started doing a daily TO-DO LIST, I have observed that my stress at work has greatly lessened. I would always divide my TO-DO LIST (Urgent and Important, Not Urgent but Important, Urgent but not Important and Not Urgent and Not important) so I would know my PRIORITIES.

Make sure the TO DO LISTs are Time Bound (Make deadlines)

2. Calendar WORK and HOME ACTIVITIES

To Calendar my Work and HOME ACTIVITY, I always use my phone (All phones have a calendar which you can plug in schedules) to list down urgent deadlines (including the time) at work, meetings with clients and making sure that important activities of my children are also listed down.But for a back up, a have a small pocket calendar which I can write my calendar of activities. (I bought this for P 30.00 in National Bookstore)

By having a calendar, it allows me to HONESTLY see conflicts in my schedule and PRIORITIZE which is URGENT AND IMPORTANT in my calendar. In the past, I don’t really calendar my activities and I would forget important client meetings, and even promises I made to my children (though unintentional)!

Having a calendar will also allow you to assess your commitments and allow you to have at least even an hour of ME time to go have manicure and pedicure, go to a spa, or even have a work out at the gym.  

3. COMMUNICATION and TRANSPARENCY AT WORK AND SCHOOL

Being a working Mom to 2 daughters, it was truly a challenge to attend all the Parent Teacher Activities in school while trying to beat your quotas and deadlines at work. Worse even you have to take a client out that evening on the eve of your wedding anniversary… All this conflict came into my life while my children were growing up. COMMUNICATION AND TRANSPARENCY in my workplace and with my children school SOLVED my struggle with being torn between being a MOM and a good boss… (I need to set the example to my staff and be professional)

COMMUNICATING with guidance counsellor and teachers of my children:  During the first week of my children’s school during their elementary and high school years,  I went to school and talked to their class advisers and guidance counsellors at school. I politely explained that I am a working mom and being in all my daughters’ Parent-Teacher conferences may be a big challenge in my part. I asked if they would give some consideration to update me by an email of text about me daughter if there is an emergency, they can contact 24/7…

The guidance counsellor and her class advisers are working Mom themselves and they were genuinely helpful and understanding and because of my transparency and honesty with them, we were able to find a win-win scenario and my children never felt neglected even when most moms were in school.  Most schools are very understanding , especially to working moms who make ends meet for their families. Teachers are God’s instrument of learning and they have compassionate hearts.

COMMUNICATING AT WORK:  In the workplace, there will always be instances that we need to go overtime which clashes on a special occasion, or we need to take out a client on our children’s birthdays… These are common circumstances that arise at work.  There was a time my daughter celebrated her 7th birthday on the day of the most important audit for our whole company, I talked to my daughter and said that I needed to move her party to the next weekend because mommy needed this account badly to help not only her but the whole company. My daughter, at a young age of 7 agreed and it was a big relief on my part. Kids now are very understanding and mature if we explain the situation honestly… 

And if there is a very urgent and important matter in your family that may apparently coincide at work or a late night overtime that is very urgent and important for the family (your children is sick, graduation), talk to your boss honestly, she will surely understand as long as it is of extreme importance . Most companies are very humanitarian and compassionate as long as these matters are communicated honestly and in advance so management can prepare. (But don’t make it a habit, management may start having a bad impression on you)

4. PAUSE before COMMITING

During my younger years while my children were growing up, I would accept speaking engagements, accept deadlines for meetings without even checking my calendar and this started many conflicts, unnecessary ill feelings among clients, my children, and friends …

You could just imagine how chaotic my life was, and I would end up crying and realize that I need to always check my calendar before committing. Sometimes, the circumstances gets very exciting and we tend to be carried away…

NOW, I PAUSE, CHECK CALENDAR before COMMITTING.

5. REVIEW BEFORE SLEEPING

Every evening before I go to sleep, I make a sneak peek in my phone to check my calendar and my TO DO LIST. This allows me to PLAN and PRIORITIZE for the day ahead. This allows me to have a better, stress free work and family life… 

These 5 amazing advice will surely help making GREAT WORKING MOMS have a better work life balance…

GO all amazing working moms!!!

To God be all the praise and glory.

(working mom blog)