Do you (like me),  write yourself a to-do list at the start of each week and by Sunday night find you’ve barely crossed anything off?  Maybe you’ve had ‘join a gym’, or ‘finish your sewing project’, or ‘start a blog’ on your list for months, or even years.

Pretty much every Mama I talk to, tells me that time is the number one thing they struggle with.  We’re all overworked, exhausted and grappling to find a balance between work and family as well as squeezing a minute or two for ourselves in there as well.

I’ve recently decided though that like email and other work tasks, housework and other jobs that we typically do as Mums expands into the time you give it. So if you only have an hour a week to clean – you’ll make it work.  If you spend all day picking stuff up, you can spend all day cleaning.

I think a huge part of having more time as a Mum, becomes embracing a bit of a ‘good enough’ mentality.  Rather than stressing about trying to keep a spotless house, we do a quick clean, think ‘good enough’ and head out to the park.  Rather than spending time helping Eamon get dressed – that’s his job and if he chooses a ninja turtle costume for three days in a row – then that’s what he wears.  No one ever died from a few crumbs on the floor or a grass-stained outfit.  Good enough is perfect.

With this mindset in mind – today I want to share 3 more tips to have more time as a Mum.

How to have more time

Get really clear on what actually needs to be done

I think a lot of us spend a lot of time doing things that don’t actually need to be done at all. To have more time you need to decide what are the essential things that you actually need to do today, and just focus on those. Yes you may need to do washing but do you really need to do 5 loads? Don’t set yourself up for overwhelm – there is no prize for finding the bottom of the washing pile and it rarely lasts longer than half a day.

Stop Multitasking

How many times in your day do you find yourself doing a billion things at once? Maybe you’re unpacking the dishes, helping your little one learn sight words, packing lunches, making breakfast and half scrolling Facebook at the same time.

Multitasking doesn’t work because it means that your attention is divided between all the things, and you’re not giving anything your undivided attention. The time it takes to switch from task to task, means you actually LOSE time rather than saving it.
We also just tend to feel less scattered and rushed when we are doing one thing with all of our attention. Try it – I guarantee you’ll feel like you have more time.

Learn to Say No.

This is HUGE for Mums – we need to learn how to say no. I’m really working hard on this one, this year. We get talked any number of things that might sound okay in theory – but unless they’re on your ‘hell yes’ list – you might want to reconsider.  Otherwise you’ll find your entire week is filled up with helping everyone else out and there will be no time left for you.

I’d love to know how you maximise your time? Any hacks for me?  If you’d like to delve a little deeper into managing your time (or freeing up time – as I like to see it) you might be interested in my new online course VIVE. We’re kicking off on January 1 – find out all the details here and sign up to be the first to hear when enrolments open.