Bookmark This Page

Delicious Google Bookmarks Stumbleupon Digg BlinkList Blogmarks Facebook Ma.gnolia Reddit Twitter Yahoo My Web Livejournal

Time Management for Working Mothers

Do you feel like you are fighting a losing battle with all the million and one things you have to do as a mother and a career woman (not to mention wife, housecleaner, cook, chauffeur, sister, daughter, and friend)?

Working mothers seem prone to be victims of poor time management. It’s almost as if as soon as you mix motherhood and a career together, your time management skills go right out the window, along with your sanity. The real problem is not everything you have to do in a day, it’s the lack of time there seems to be to get it all done.

However, it doesn’t have to be this way. There are plenty of tips for time management for working mothers that you can follow in order to have a less stressful and more organized lifestyle while coping with the demands of your work, motherhood, and everything else in your life.

First of all, give up the notion that you need to turn into “Superwoman” in order to more effectively manage your time. You know who I’m talking about. She’s the ultimate working mother who perfectly balances everything in her life. She always looks perfect and has a perfect job and always gets her work done and has perfect children and a perfectly cleaned home with perfectly prepared dinners and she’s got time to spare to spend on her perfectly perfect hobbies.

The thing is, no one’s perfect. You may have seen Superwoman in magazines and on T.V., but probably not in real life. There’s no such thing as attaining “perfect” time management for working mothers, either. However, you can manage your time better than you do now, and become less stressed and more balanced.

The next step in time management for working mothers is to define how you would like to divide your time and spend your energy—your ideal situation. Use your values and your priorities to dictate your ideal lifestyle. This will serve as your motivation in better time management. Now you have to turn these ideals into action.

The best way to do this is to set goals related to better time management. Goals can turn your desires into reality. In order to set a goal, you need to think of what you want out of your 24 hours a day. Think about what you want for yourself, your work, your children, your partner, and other parts of your life.

Think of goals in a positive light, free of boundaries and restraints. Envision them as already accomplished. Write them down, and write down your motivations and strategies for achieving these goals, as well. Be as specific as possible. Write an intention statement for each goal.

For example, if your goal is to spend more quality time with your children, you could write “I engage in one simple and fun activity with my children every evening.”

There are other methods for developing time management for working mothers. Another is investing in some good personal time management software, which can do wonders for organizing your time and daily routine more effectively, and allowing you to achieve your goals. Time management software prioritizes what needs to get done and when. It allows you to keep track of everything and it “remembers” important things for you. If you can’t afford software, investing in some good old-fashioned notepads, calendars, or whiteboards will also do the trick.

By setting goals and keeping track of your tasks, you will soon become better at managing time, which will increase your productivity and allow you to meet your personal goals and enjoy the lifestyle you’ve always wanted, which is what time management for working mothers is all about.