14 Effective Time Management Strategies for Work from Home Moms

With the rise of flexible work opportunities, more moms are finding a way to balance career and family. Juggling household responsibilities and professional commitments can often leave moms feeling overwhelmed and stretched too thin. Time management is crucial for work from home moms as it allows them to make the most of their limited time and achieve their goals.

Regaining control of your time and ensuring a healthy balance between work and family is possible. With numerous responsibilities such as childcare, household chores, and professional work, effective time management strategies allow work from home moms to thrive professionally and personally. 

So, let’s dive in and look at practical tips to help you manage your time, reduce stress, and achieve a better work-life balance.

Change Your Mindset

Time management means focusing on the most important things to you. Balancing a career and family for work from home moms is not easy, but with a positive mindset, it is possible to thrive and not just survive. Believe that your time management skills will improve and aiming for progress rather than perfection is much more beneficial.

Set Realistic Expectations

It’s important to remember that you are human and can only do so much. Setting realistic expectations for yourself and your family can help alleviate some of the pressure and stress of balancing work and home life. It’s easy to feel like you have to do it all, but the truth is that no one can do everything.

Be honest about what you can accomplish in a day or week, and don’t be afraid to ask for help when needed. Remember, it’s not about doing everything perfectly but finding a balance that works for you and your family.

Create Boundaries Around Work and Home

For work from home moms, setting boundaries is crucial for maintaining a healthy work-life balance. By clearly defining your working hours and boundaries, you can minimize distractions and interruptions while creating dedicated time for your family and personal life. When your workday ends, log off and transition from one role to another. Avoid checking emails or working during your designated personal time.

Communicate your boundaries to your family members and set expectations for when you can and cannot be interrupted. Establishing these boundaries will help work from home moms to enjoy quality time with their families. At the same time, this practice helps them recharge their batteries, increasing productivity and satisfaction in both areas of their lives.

Create a Designated Workspace

A dedicated workspace is essential for work from home moms as it helps to mentally separate work life from your personal life. Choose a quiet area in your home where you can work without distractions. Make sure your workspace is well-lit and comfortable, with a supportive chair and a clutter-free desk.

A reliable computer, high-speed internet connection, and other tools specific to your job will help you work efficiently. Keep your workspace organized by decluttering regularly and implementing systems for filing and organizing documents. Optimize your workspace so that when you enter the room, your brain will feel relaxed and ready for work. 

Establish a Routine 

Make a Daily and Weekly Schedule

Work from home moms can stay organized and on top of their responsibilities by:

1. Creating a daily and weekly schedule.
2. Planning tasks, deadlines, meetings, and personal commitments.
3. Scheduling specific time slots for focused work, family time, self-care, and breaks.

Having a clear schedule helps you visualize your workload and allocate time accordingly, ensuring work from home moms have a well-structured routine.

Set Realistic Goals

Remember, you’re a mom, not a superhero. Setting realistic goals can boost your sense of accomplishment. Breaking down large tasks into smaller ones makes your to-do list more manageable and helps track your progress.

Plus, there’s something incredibly satisfying about ticking off tasks individually! Over time, achieving all those small goals will get you closer and closer to reaching the big goal that you have set.

Prioritize Your Time and Tasks

Work-from-home moms must prioritize their time and tasks to balance work and family. Make a list of your daily and weekly tasks and put them in order of importance. Focus on completing the most pressing tasks first, and don’t hesitate to delegate, as this will free up more time to spend with your family. 

Consider creating a “5 before 11” list. Most people are the most productive in the morning, so this practice encourages you to complete your top 5 tasks before 11 AM. According to Allyson Lewis, Founder of The 7 Minute Life, completing your 5 before 11 means “you will have a blissfully peaceful sense of accomplishment, knowing you have done what is meaningful to you.”

Remember, saying no to things that don’t align with your priorities is okay. Overbooking and overcommitting yourself decreases joy and increases stress.

Pro-tip: Your priorities and tasks should be aligned with your goals. 

Take Real Breaks

It seems counterintuitive, but you will get more done when you take time off. Your brain needs a break every so often in order to function at its best. Stepping away from your tasks and resting is essential for maintaining focus, creativity, and mental well-being.

Stand up, stretch, or take a short walk to recharge and refresh your mind. Allow yourself to fully detach from work during breaks to promote a healthy work-life balance for work from home moms. Embracing rest is just as important as being productive.

Read my article 7 Steps to Avoid Burnout to learn helpful tips to take care of yourself.

Stop Multitasking

While multitasking may seem like an efficient approach, it often leads to increased stress for work from home moms. Multitasking reduces efficiency and performance because your brain can only focus on one thing at a time. Splitting your attention between multiple tasks will make you more prone to mistakes and less likely to retain knowledge.

Also, finishing one task will take much longer if you constantly jump back and forth between different projects. The bottom line is that multitasking prevents you from bringing your best self forward.

Use Time Management Tools

Time management tools can help work-from-home moms create a rhythm for completing tasks. Whether you need help with task management, note-taking, time tracking, or staying productive, there are a variety of tools available to assist you:

1. Time tracking tools: Time-tracking tools such as Toggl, Harvest, or RescueTime can help you analyze how you spend your time and identify areas for improvement.
2. Note-taking tools: From grocery lists, phone numbers, or meeting notes, we are constantly writing things down throughout the day. Note-taking tools like Evernote and Microsoft OneNote can help you quickly capture and organize ideas and information. 
3. Task Management Tools: Task management tools, Todoist and Trello, help you with your to-do lists, deadlines, and priorities, ensuring that nothing falls through the cracks.

Read my article From Chaos to Control: 6 Time Management Tools To Improve Your Day to learn about the power of time management tools.

Automate Household Tasks

Many grocery stores now offer online ordering and home delivery or curbside pickup options. This not only saves you time but also helps you stick to your shopping list, avoiding those tempting impulse purchases. Automatic home bills, like mortgage, utility, and car payments, can be a real time saver.  

Delegate Tasks When Possible

Delegating tasks can also help you avoid burnout and maintain your mental health. For example, consider hiring a house cleaner to handle household chores. Doing so will free up your time to focus on work or to spend quality time with your family.

Stop feeling guilty about passing off responsibilities; consider it an investment in your productivity and well-being. Plus, it can be a great way to support other small businesses or freelancers in your community. Delegating tasks and asking for help can make all the difference in achieving a healthy work-life balance.

Make Time for Self-care 

You are not a machine. You need moments of rest and moments of fun to be at your most productive. So, do what you can to take care of yourself. Make sure you get eight hours of sleep, don’t work through your lunch, and spend time with friends.

Moms often get so wrapped up in caring for everyone else that they forget about their self-care. Prioritizing self-care will make you more productive and effective when you’re physically, mentally, and emotionally healthy. Self-care is about caring for your well-being to be the best for your family and community.

Read my article Self-Care Is Never Selfish: How to Lose the Guilt of Self-Care to learn the importance of taking time for yourself.

By using some or all these time management strategies, work from home moms can master the art of time management and enjoy more quality time with their families. Remember, it’s all about finding what works best for you and your family and adapting to changes.

Embrace the flexibility and freedom that working from home offers, and make the most of your time to create a thriving career and a happy family life. You’ve got this!

Want to dive deeper into this topic? Check out my book Breaking Busy for practical advice and real-life guidance on boundaries, relationships, and self-care.