Mom Hacks
So much to do, so little time. Here are a few mom hacks to help the busiest moms get through the day and the week ahead so we can focus on building our empires:
Look at the calendar to map put week ahead. It seems like a no-brainer but to sit down and look at the calendar on Sunday night helps to set the intentions for the week ahead. Of course we are looking at what we have to do: conference calls and meetings for work, cooking and cleaning for the household, paying bills and organizing finances. But it also gives us the time to pencil in family days, date nights and girl times. We all know we need these times too.
Schedule help in advance. Looking at the calendar at the start of the week also lets us take a closer look at who has to be where, when and nail down logistics. We can easily see if we need an extra set of hands and call on family and friends and babysitters when we can't juggle it all on our own.
Meal plan over the weekend. It initially seems ambitious. If you are anything like us, you have often bought groceries with the intent to plan ahead, pack lunches and have dinner ready when you come home at the day only to throw away wilted produce at the end of the week. We suggest preparing a few staples that you can "repurpose" throughout the week. For example, in our house we tend to have a chicken in the refrigerator so we can have chicken with vegetables and then use leftovers for tacos or a chicken soup later in the week. Our kids like spaghetti, which is great for us because we can make a bolognese and keep half in the refrigerator for the week and then the other half in the freezer for a few weeks later. Having several meals stocked in the refrigerator helps save time in the evenings so we can spend more time enjoying dinner with your family, playing games, reading stories and splashing in the bathtub before bedtime.
Pack lunches after in the evening. Now that you have meal panned, you can easily make lunch in the evening after dinner. We just recently added this into the routine and it makes the mornings so much smoother.
Wake up before the kids. This may be one of the hardest ones. We need our sleep. The days are long and we can relate to all of you who cant wait until kids are in bed and want to get in bed with a book and a glass of wine or a remote control and a DVR full of shows and movies to watch. It is hard enough to have to wake when the kids wake up so the idea that we need to wake up even earlier can be a hard pill to swallow. We find, however, that in the quiet of the morning before the mayhem we can make ourselves a coffee and get breakfast on the table without the crazy that typically comes with getting everyone where they need to go on time.
What are some of your mom hacks to save time and be more productive at home and at work? We know you haven't gotten this far without any ticks of the trade.