Time Management for Moms

There is so much written on time management today. It seems to be the latest mantra as we all seek to get our perpetually busy lives under control. But what is missing from all the wisdom dispensed on scheduling, prioritizing, to do lists, peak energy hours, project management, delegation, etc is specific advice for moms.

Moms live with unique circumstances that standard time management tips do not address. Certainly when mom is at work, she faces all the same challenges that others do. But what about once she gets home? She doesn’t juggle just one day job; she juggles that and as many as a half a dozen or more. All the others don't end until she goes to sleep at night (and sometimes they don't even end then).

After all, Mom still is the primary caretaker as well as the chef, housekeeper, chauffeur, shopper, laundress and psychologist. According to a 2006 Salary.com, Inc. valuation in which they consulted with Stay at Home and Working Moms:

"Working Moms work 7.2 hours as housekeepers, versus 22.1 for Stay at Home Moms. Taken together…the roles of housekeeper, laundry machine operator, and janitor represent 29 percent of the Working Mom's "mom job," but as much as 38 percent of the Stay-at-Home Mom's job"

Is it any wonder that in the same study moms complained, "My house isn't as clean as I would like and I want to spend more time with my family."?

Ironically, these two complaints are completely intertwined. If moms can get their homes as clean as they like (in much less time), they will be able to spend more time with their families. That's why they need tips and tricks, such as the following, tailored especially for them.

Having a cleaner looking home can be easier than you think. It's all about shortcuts.

1. Make your beds daily. It literally takes seconds. An unmade bed makes the whole room look dirty no matter how clean it is. So the reverse is true as well. A made bed will make the whole room appear clean no matter how dirty it is.

2. Put clothes away as you change them. Again, it takes seconds to hang something up, fold it into a drawer or throw it into the hamper. Aside from an unmade bed, nothing makes a room look dirtier than clothes piled, stacked or thrown all around. Get in the habit of putting your clothes away immediately and save yourself tons of aggravation.

3. Keep bathroom counters free of clutter. Take an hour over the weekend and clean out your medicine cabinets, bathroom drawers and shelves. Free up space for storing the items on the counter. Since they are probably the things you use every day, keep them in areas convenient to where you get dressed in the morning. Although the thought of cleaning out the bathroom cabinets may be daunting, think about the time you'll save when you don't have to look for something you need and can't find. It could end up adding as much as an hour to your week. That may not sound like much but an hour a week is 4 hours a month and 52 hours a year, more than enough time to read a few magazines and a couple of books!

4. Don't let the kitchen pile up with dishes. Use the dishwasher. When something can't go in the dishwasher and you don't have time to wash it by hand, hide it in the oven until you can get to it.

5. Clear kitchen counters of clutter. If you're not letting dishes pile up the only other kind of clutter that collects in the kitchen is typically papers. Create an exceptional filing system and get those papers into it.

6. Organize the family room. Get rid of clutter here too. Storage ottomans are great at providing seating, tabletop surfaces and storage. Make generous use of them.

7. Vacuum often.

8. Open window coverings in the morning to let light in. Darkness makes even clean rooms look dirty.

Creating more time for your family or for yourself is as much about what you DON'T do as it is about what you do do. And so the following is a list of chores that can be done much LESS often than you are probably used to:

1. Dusting. Unless you or a family member has allergies that are made worse by dust, don't dust once a week. You may not even have to dust once a month. Dust when you can write your name in it and see it from across the room.

2. Scrubbing the floors. Don't mop once a week. If you vacuum frequently you don't need to get down on your hands and knees until you can SEE the dirt with your naked eye.

3. Washing towels and clothes. A towel can be used more than once before it goes into the hamper. The same is true of certain items of clothing, particularly jeans. You can generally wear them multiple times before they are truly dirty. Washing less often will give you the added benefit of making your clothes last longer.

4. Scrubbing anything. Don't spend an hour or more cleaning the bathroom or the kitchen. Get tough products that you can spray on, let sit and wipe clean.

5. Cleaning walls. Clean them when you see dirt on them and then clean only the dirty spots.

Combine the shortcuts with the chores you can do less often and you might find the time you spend cleaning decreasing. When you decrease the hours you spend housekeeping, you increase the time you have to spend with your family. What could be better than that?