10 Time Management Tips for Mompreneurs

If you feel like youâ€™re constantly juggling motherhood and running a business, itâ€™s time to take a hard look at how you spend your time. And in the interest of brevity, I’m making this post just a list of bullet points. If you’d like to hear a little more detail on my suggestions, you can tune into my Audio Blog on the Mom Biz Coach Radio Show by clicking here.

10 Time Management Tips for Mompreneurs

Create a schedule for Monday through Friday.
Create blocks or â€œchunksâ€ of time in each day.
Make appointments for yourself in your calendar (such as Google calendar) just as you would schedule meetings you have with other people.
Buy a kitchen timerâ€”Set it for a specific amount of time to accomplish a certain task. Stop doing the task when your time is up and move to the next task in your schedule.
Consider when you feel most energized, and when you need to slow down or take breaks. Create your schedule for the day accordingly.
Do HPAs (High Pay-off Actions–the ones that give you the most bang for your buck) in the morning.
Alternate between mental focus and physical movement.
Include your household tasks as part of your dayâ€”laundry, grocery shopping, meal planning and prep, signing papers, doing homework with children.
Develop a routine with your children so they know what to expect and are prepared for it each day.
Get the hard stuff out of the way, and then give yourself a reward (take a healthy snack break, take a walk, do a yoga class, read a magazine, call a friend to chat. If you enjoy reading email, surfing the web, browsing around twitter and facebook but feel these things take up too much of your time, give yourself 15 minutes of one of these as a reward after doing your tough tasks/HPAs a couple times per day)
Got some tips of your own to share? Please leave a comment!

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About Lara Galloway

Happy Mom of 3; Forbes Top 30 Women Entrepreneurs to Follow on Twitter; engagement marketer; mompreneur coach helping moms create businesses they truly love!

http://www.putyoubackintoyourlife.co.uk Katie Duckworth

Great stuff! Here’s something I’ve found incredibly useful and encourage my clients to do at times of overwhelm. Calmly tell yourself ‘there is plenty of time, there is plenty of time.’ It’s amazing how it affects how you feel – even if you think you ‘know’ it’s not true!

Cheers
Katie
http://www.putyoubackintoyourlife.co.uk
.-= Katie Duckworth´s last blog ..How to survive the school holidays =-.
http://www.momishome2.blogspot.com Bethany L.

These are great tips! I’ve heard most of them before in one form or another, but I constantly need reminders. This year I’m really focusing on getting a real handle on the way I spend my time during the week, so this was timely. Thanks for sharing!
.-= Bethany L.´s last blog ..When I Want Your Opinion, I’ll Give It to You! =-.
http://www.mombizcoach.com Lara Galloway

Thanks, Bethany. I am fond of saying that most of the work I do as a coach “is not rocket science,” but instead really simple stuff that we need to hear a certain way at a certain time in order to actually get it. BTW…have to say I love the title of your latest blogpost, so I’m headed over now to go read it!
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http://www.doggettstudios.com/blog Eric Doggett

Great tips! and I would add that these are equally applicable to dads that work out of the house too
.-= Eric Doggett´s last blog ..Jennifer =-.
http://www.mombizcoach.com Lara Galloway

Thanks for that, Eric. What sort of work do you do outside the house? When my husband is home with us on the weekends, he’s really good about alternating between mental work, relaxing/playing with the kids, getting some exercise outdoors, and then doing the manual labor chores. He gets a lot done that way. I appreciate you stopping by!
http://www.mombizcoach.com Lara Galloway

Yes, that’s a great idea, Katie. I’m fond of saying “Whatever you believe is true!” So if you practice saying/declaring that there’s plenty of time, it helps you adjust from a mindset of stress and overwhelm into one of power. I think it’s like putting a smile on your face and trying not to be happy… Thanks for the comment! Nice to know folks in the UK are tuning in Headed off to read your blog now…
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http://www.jenniferhollander.com Jennifer Hollander

Great list Lara! Love the clock pic!! I plan on covering some of the same points in my ‘Get control of your documents” teleclass next week. Loving your 9 Secrets to Target Market Series btw!

Chat soon ~ Jennifer
http://www.jenniferhollander.com/Document_Clutter.html
http://prospectbark.com Chun-Soon

Thanks for the list, and for making it bulleted. The messenger is the meaning, here.

I had an idle twenty seconds this morning between work, baby, cleaning the house and breakfast. This post was worth reading!
http://www.mombizcoach.com Lara Galloway

Glad the telegraphic messaging did the trick!
http://twitter.com/KimConstable Kim Constable

The time blocking works brilliantly for me. I use my iCal to block out time for each day and then make sure I stick to it. It helps me to feel totally in control and not feel like I should be doing something more meaningful when I’m doing laundry. It’s easy to become overwhelmed with all the tasks we have to do, when we’re juggling it all. Time blocking completely overcomes this for me! :)
http://www.mombizcoach.com Lara Galloway

And doesn’t it feel great to know that you’ve actually considered your priorities and planned the time needed to handle them? I love your comment about feeling in control and not wasting time worrying that you should be doing something else. What a relief!