How to Accomplish More as a Work At Home Mom

Before having my first child, I really didn’t know how hard it was going to be.  I couldn’t understand the idea of not being able to take a daily shower. That’s because until you are a mother, you don’t fully understand the non-stop-ness of it all.  That, yes, you do still have the same 24 hours every day, but instead of the old schedule where you “worked” for 8 of them, you’re now on-call, all the time. Being a stay at home mom doesn’t change this- it almost magnifies it.  Working at home while taking care of children definitely magnifies it. You may find yourself as a new stay at home mom, feeling as though you have all the time in the world, yet none of it for yourself. Here are some ideas of how to accomplish more as a stay at home or work at home mom.

Know Your Vices

For me, it’s the kitchen.  I struggle to get anything else done when there is a sink full of dirty dishes, a dishwasher that needs unloading, one single clean bottle left in the cabinet, and a couple dirty pans on the stove (because they didn’t fit in the sink, clearly).  If my kitchen is a mess, I am a mess. What I mean is, I basically procrastinate absolutely everything in life when my kitchen is dirty. I don’t know why. But I do know that when the kitchen is cleaned at night or first thing in the morning, I accomplish more throughout the day. Maybe for you, it’s the trash… Or an untidy living room.  An un-made bed possibly? 

Get Yourself Ready in the MORNING

This is something I (thankfully) learned before marriage and kids and while working full time.  I noticed that if I didn’t shower, get dressed (even if it was athletic clothes), do something to my hair, and throw on some basic make-up even on weekends, I was muchhhhh less productive. And much more likely to stay in my apartment all by my lonesome.  Which is totally great, until you’ve done that for 4 weekends in a row and start to feel like you should start accepting some invitations. Being dressed and ready means I can accept a lunch invitation on a whim, and I like allowing myself the option of having that kind of spontaneity in my life. Doing this in the morning is key, otherwise you may find that you never get to it.  Or, like me, when I start slipping into a routine of PJ’s and bare faced until 3, I just don’t accomplish as much throughout the day. It’s like a nice signal to tell you it’s time to get stuff done. 

Schedule Whatever You Can (& Stick to it)

Being a stay at home mom or work at home mom with an infant makes it difficult to schedule anything.  I’ve tried and failed and learned that the best thing for my sanity is to schedule things that won’t be affected by the baby’s (non) schedule.  All of my cleaning (besides dishes) and laundry happens on one day. Monday. I chose Monday as a way of marking the “work week” and giving it some separation. Soon after staying home, I realized I craved a trigger to tell me when it was “weekend” time vs “work” time.  I’m sure this is from years of working Monday- Friday, but my weekend goals (family time) are different from my M-F goals, so I like to be intentional about taking a break from my weekly routine to be present in our weekend routine (or lack thereof), as a family. When both baby and I had frequent doctor’s appointments in the beginning, I scheduled those appointments on Tuesday.  Meal planning happens on Friday. P.S. This also helps you keep track of what day it is. 🙂 

Have a Morning Routine

For me, it’s washing bottles and doing dishes. Working out, showering, getting dressed and doing my hair and makeup.  Reading the Bible, praying, going over my goals, and scheduling my day using the Push Journal. I make the bed, open all the blinds, and tidy up the living room. Even if the baby wakes up early, I try to just incorporate her into whatever I haven’t done yet.

Make sure you check out the Push Journal for yourself. This way of goal setting has completely changed my life and made me into a much more productive person!! Check out Chalene’s podcast as well.  She is my biggest mentor!

Click Here to get the journal that will change your life!

Give Yourself “Off” Time

Burnout isn’t good for anyone in your family.  Least of all, you. Life is crazy, especially as a work at home mom.  It’s really easy to start your day at 6am and literally not stop doing things until 9pm. I’m still working on this one, but I’m doing my best to stop doing things by the time my husband gets home from work (obviously he and I are still taking care of baby- just not doing work things or extra cleaning that didn’t get done).  Dirty dishes from dinner? Either he does them quickly as we chat about our days, or they stay in the sink and we spend time relaxing together or going on a walk. The evenings and weekends are our only time together as a family, so I cherish those and am trying my best to be more intentional with that time. Speaking of…

Be Intentional With Your Time

No matter what you’re doing, do it intentionally.  If the baby is awake, I’m there. I try to be actively playing with or talking to her during most of her awake time.  At least, while she’s young and that’s possible. I’m always amazed at the pang of guilt that comes when I feel there was a day I wasn’t active enough with her. When she naps, I work.  She’s only 4 months now, so she still takes 3 good long naps, and usually a short one in the evening. I’m honestly not sure what will happen to the schedule onces she naps less… I suppose I’ll get better at working more intentionally in shorter periods of time. 

Turn Off The TV

I’m really good at this one…  Until I’m not. Once that bad boy is on, it’s hard to turn it off.  It’s also hard to get quality work done while it’s on, if you’re lucky enough to have gotten any work done at all.  I have found that the occasional work-from-bed morning with a show on in the background is just what I need for certain work tasks that are more mindless.  But, I try not to make it a habit, and keep myself from turning on the TV most days. 

Be sure to check out my post on How To Be Happier Every Day

I hope this helps you to accomplish more as a work at home mom. How do you accomplish more as a stay-at-home or work-at-home-mom? Let me know in the comments!

XO,

Abby