By the time I picked up my son from preschool today, it was dark. We literally had an hour and half to do dinner, stories, and bedtime. This weekend (November 7th) we “fall back” and I always feel like their are less hours in the day during this season. As a busy, working mom, time management is always my struggle.
Healthy Women, the nation’s leading health information source for women, recently conducted a survey of over 1000 women, and found that if they had more time, they would spend time with family and friends, engage in physical activities/spend time outdoors, and engage in entertainment activities like reading. I would tend to agree, in that order.
Some of the things I do to save time include prepping what I can the night before, including clothes and lunches, grouping errands to avoid multiple trips to the store, setting a day each week for a specific chore rather than doing all of them every day, and dividing chores and errands up with my husband. Healthy Women, supported by an educational grant from Instead Softcup compiled a list of the top 12 time-saving tips women can benefit from to stay organized and stress-free.
Domestic Duties
1. Make Fridays left over night – you will clean out the fridge and save time and money. We actually like to reserve Friday nights for eating out!
2. We know you want to be watching TV, but how about making that personal time a bit more productive? Use commercial breaks to squeeze in some of the end-of-day chores – sort laundry, start the washer, vacuum a room, unload the dishwasher, organize the kitchen counter. I would add do a little exercise!
3. Sign up for free automatic bill-paying services for all recurring bills such as utility bills, etc. Then set up an online bank account for free, one-click payment of all other bills – saves time, postage, and gas! This tip saves us so much time!
Running Errands
4. Combine as many errands as you can into one outing – grouping them by location and reducing travel time. This is one of my staples!
5. Ask for help! Keep a list of your errands and an ear open in case your spouse, relative or friend is headed to the same place. My husband and I divide errands and chores.
6. Ride your bike, walk or run to run local errands – eliminating the need to take time to exercise later. I love this tip, but it’s not exactly feasible in the city we live in.
Communicating with Others
7. Set a schedule and establish boundaries throughout the day. For example, at the beginning of each conversation, tell others how much time you have available. It’s as easy as saying, “I’m glad you called, but I’ve only got about 10 minutes to chat…” I struggle with this and need to get better about limiting my time.
8. Make email more efficient – spending the time to unsubscribe for all the junk emails will give you an inbox with just the information you want, and less time deleting the stuff you don’t. I am working on this right now!
9. Take public transportation to work, and use that time to read, update your to-do list, or answer personal emails. Again, this isn’t feasible in the city we live in, but I think it’s a great tip.
Health and Beauty
10. Reconsider your definition of clean and don’t shampoo every day – your hair will be healthier and shinier and your shower will be shorter. As a women with curly hair, I live by this tip!
11. Keep your period light – at least packing for it. Wear a menstrual cup all day and save time packing up other protection. I’ve yet to try a menstrual cup…
12. Tried and true – set your clothes out the night before. Women who don’t can waste time trying on different outfits or having to iron at the busiest time of the day. This works for kid’s clothes too!
What are your top time-saving tips?
“I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of HealthyWomen and Softcup and received a $30 gift certificate to thank me for taking the time to participate.”
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I use a menstrual cup and I love it.
Hey moms. I’m a busy mom too and I LOVE to watch TV but I always feel guilty. I’m always waiting around in lines, for kids to get out of school, traffic jams etc. Now I watch TV while I’m waiting and catch up on all of my favorite shows I recorded on my DISH Network DVR at home. How you ask? I’ll tell you its a snap. I use my iPhone (which I know a lot of you tech savvy moms have now) to watch because I have a Sling adapter I bought at DISH. I work there so I find out about all of the coolest new products first and this one saves me time and I can let my kids watch TV while I’m driving.
I’m giving a speech tomorrow to a bunch of awesome moms of twins and I was searching online for some great tips to share and TA DA, I came across your site.
Hope all is well in your neck of the woods and thanks for giving me some ideas for my presentation!
Give a kiss to my future son in law from us!
Nat