As a busy homeschool mama and blogger, productivity and organization are necessities in my everyday life. Since you are here, I take that your needs are pretty similar to mine. So let’s dive into how to be a productive work-from-home mom.
There are many reasons why mothers may choose to work from home. But most of the time, it’s for time freedom/flexibility and to be more present with your kids. and enjoy being a full-time mama.
If your kids are not in school and are home with you like me, then make sure to prioritize them. And most of all, make sure you are not running yourself into burnout. Write your why for being a work-from-home mom and place it next to your desk where you will always see it. This will remind you why you are doing what you choose to when you feel your kids are demanding too much of your time or you are working way past your bedtime.
7 Simple Steps To Be A Productive Work-From-Home Mom
1. Create routines that will help you work from a place of ease
I bet you have routines for your kids that help them strive and make your life a lot better!
Suppose you haven’t yet done so. I highly recommend you create morning and evening routines for yourself.
Your routines do not have to resemble anyone’s routine. Find what works for you and your family and stick to it.
Share these routines with your spouse and kids (if they are old enough to understand) to be in the know and respect your time.
I highly recommend spending at least five minutes every night before you go to bed planning for the next day.
It makes things so much easier when you go to bed knowing what you must do when you wake up. Doesn’t it?
Write out what task you will be working on and how long it will take for each job. Schedule your kid’s pick-up time from school, playtime, time for meals, and doing house chores. Your entire day should be on your calendar to know what you should be doing or working on.
Planning the night before and putting things on your calendar allows you to stay organized and recognize how you are spending your time.
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2. Wake up a tad bit earlier
Before you scroll past this or hit “X” to close this post, hear me out.
I’m not saying you have to wake up an hour earlier or 30 minutes earlier. But striving to wake up at least 15 minutes before everyone will allow you to enjoy some alone time. And, I’m sure as a busy work-from-home mom, you crave alone time.
You are probably always complaining that you never get alone time. Or, there’s not enough time in your day to get everything done.
Waking up a tad bit earlier will set you up for success. It will allow you to be a productive work-from-home mom by enabling you to do you first.
I’m sure you’ve heard the saying – “you can’t pour from an empty cup!”
So, why run on empty?
Waking up before your kids and, hopefully, your spouse will give you a quiet and peaceful home to yourself.
No yelling or kids’ cartoons are playing in the background.
Dedicate this fifteen minutes to taking care of yourself as a mom.
Now, I’m not saying you should use this time to meditate, journal, or read. I mean, if you want to do that- great!
But if that’s not your jam and you want to sip on a cup of coffee while scrolling your phone or browsing Amazon, then do you.
This fifteen minute is for you. It’s your self-care time.
Related post on self-care and making time for yourself:
3. Prioritize your kid’s needs first
If your kids are home with you, you know how often they will call you from the moment you open your laptop. It’s in their childhood nature.
However, I found that giving my kids mommy and me time before starting work reassured them that they are loved and mommy will always be there for them.
Sit and connect with your kids for a few minutes. Get them their snacks, crafts, and toys. Whatever they will need. Get it for them and tell them that mommy will be working in her office.
4. Set boundaries with yourself and those around you
To be a productive work-from-home mom, you must set boundaries with yourself and those you love.
As a busy work-from-home mama, learn to respect your occupation, workspace, and time. If you don’t show respect for your time, then no one will either.
Do not put anything that will derail you in front of your needs.
Remind your kids that mommy will be heading to work and should only be interrupted if there’s an absolute emergency. Set age-appropriate boundaries with your kids so they learn to respect your workplace and time.
Do the same with your family members and friends. Too often, family members think that since you are working from home, you have endless time to spare. That is far from the truth.
You cannot just jump on a phone call during your workday. Can you?
Tell your mom her phone call will have to wait until the evening when you are done working. You can’t meet up for a play date during work hours. And, no, you can’t just begin taking unnecessary time off to be someone’s chauffer.
What are your boundaries when it comes to working from home? Please tag me on Instagram @whatmommy_wants, sharing them with me.
5. Get your most important work done first
I would first work through all the small tasks for a long time before moving on to the big jobs until I came across one of Marie Forleo’s videos on productivity.
In this video, she reminds us that every time we use our brain to think about something that’s not super important, we are draining the limited amount of cognitive fuel given to us for the day.
Our cognitive fuel is at maximum as we wake up and drains as we engage in daily activities and tasks.
As a homeschooling mama, I’m already using up so much of my cognitive fuel that it makes sense when I sit to work to get my most creative work done first with whatever brain space is left. That’s why I prioritize writing over checking emails or posting on social media.
Now, for you writing may not be your creative work, and maybe showing up on social media needs to be prioritized, or you need to make sales calls.
Decide your most important work for the day and choose to do that first.
6. Put your phone in a different room and close all tabs
I recently started doing this after realizing I was losing too much time to social media. While my job requires me to be on social media, it doesn’t need me to be there all day.
Now, your schedule may look different from mine. But what I started doing was spending fifteen minutes on social media every morning before the kids were up or before our homeschooling day began to go through messages and comments on social media and another ten minutes to review my emails to gauge my workday. I then place my phone in my room, which is different from where I do my work.
At lunchtime, I browse social media for another 10 minutes or so when I have lunch, and then the phone goes back into my room until late in the evening after my workday is done and we have had our family dinner.
I refrain from using my laptop to browse social media and close my email tabs, so I don’t flip to it when I see a new email.
I only keep the tabs that I am working on open.
This method has allowed me to gain much more time in my day while being productive. If you can find a similar strategy, it will work wonders for you as a work-at-home mom.
7. Make your workplace comfortable
This is so important if you want to be a productive work-from-home mom.
Having a neat and clean area that you can work from with ergonomic products will allow you to be more efficient while taking care of your well-begin.
Make sure you have a comfortable chair to work from, and if you are a blogger like me, having a standing desk may be ideal.
Takeaways on how to become a productive work-from-home mom
As a mompreneur, I have been using these work-from-home mom hacks to stay organized and manage my time efficiently for the last two years.
For many, working from home as a mom is a luxury. However, no two days in the life of a work-from-home mom are the same. Some days are more organized than others.
And some days you will feel more productive than others.
I hope that these hacks will allow you to enjoy what you do while being a practical work-from-home mom.
Share in the comments below your favorite step, and please share this blog post with other work-from-home mamas to improve their productivity while working from a place of ease.
