21 Essential Time Saving hacks for moms
As mothers, we all need some time saving hacks in our lives, whether you’re a working mom or a stay-at-home mom. Between carting the kids to school, child care, extracurriculars, work, and maintaining the household, how do some moms seem to get it all done?
While looking for ways to maximize my time, I found these time saving hacks so useful, I wanted to share them with you. And don’t worry! If you still can’t get everything accomplished, every mom struggles to get it all done. Over time, we get better at managing our time and putting systems in place that work for us and our family. Although it might be unrealistic to expect a perfectly pristine home at all times when you have children, we can implement time saving strategies. Hence, our households run with greater ease and efficiency, reducing the stress that comes with being a mom!
Time Saving Hacks In the mornings
Here are 21 essential time saving hacks to try in your household!
1). To minimize morning chaos, get everything ready the night before. For morning efficiency, pack the backpacks and place them by the door. Have everyone’s clothes picked out and laid out so you have less to think about in the morning when you may be in a rush. If you work out in the morning, have your workout clothes and tennis shoes laid out.
2). For better morning systems, make a list of everything you and your family do to get ready in the mornings. To help everyone’s sanity, a visible list or schedule of what needs to happen each morning sets the expectation for you and your family. Doing everything in the same way each day makes the daily routine much easier.
3). When in a hurry, brush your child’s hair while they eat breakfast. My daughter has wavy hair that is completely wild in the mornings. To minimize complaints and to gain efficiency, I brush and fix her hair during breakfast.
4). Have one place where you always set your keys. What’s more frustrating than realizing you lost your keys when you’re in a hurry? To prevent losing your keys, make a designated spot where you always place your keys. We have an old picture frame that we painted and put small hooks on for our keys. The frame is next to the door and we’ve used it for years!
Around the House
5). To simplify routine tasks, make lists for everything. These lists will save you time by only having to make them ONCE!
- To save time on groceries, have a preplanned grocery list on your phone that has your regular staples on it for every grocery store trip (i.e. milk, apples, bananas, yogurt, etc.) Then all you have to do is add the items that are unique to each trip.
- For travel, have a preplanned packing list. List all of the things you pack for every trip and reference it each time you pull out the suitcase.
- For on every day, have a diaper bag list. Do you feel like you’re packing for vacation every time you leave the house with your baby? Me too. Having a list helps ease the mental load every time you’re heading out the door with your little one.
6). Place an empty “Donate” box in every closet. When a child has outgrown clothes or toys, place them in your donate box. The faster you can get clutter out of your house, the easier your house is to maintain.
7). To save time and messes, line your trash can with 2 trash bags and put few extra trash bags at the bottom. Having two trash bags will help prevent leaks and messes; plus, you already have the next one ready to go!
8). Put 2 waterproof sheets on your children’s beds. In the middle of the night, if there’s an accident, just pull one sheet off.
9). To help everyone be on the same page, have a family calendar visible for everyone. For visibility, I use a chalkboard calendar in our kitchen. Keeping a visible calendar helps my husband and I keep up with the children’s schedules together. I even list what I’ll be cooking each day on the calendar. That way, if I have a busy day, my husband also knows what meal to prep and he can get dinner started.
Clean Your Space, Clear Your Mind. -Unknown
10). Schedule chores throughout the week. To teach responsibility, delegate some of the chores to your spouse and children. It takes some work on the upfront to teach your children how to do these chores, but once the kids know what’s expected of them, getting chores done around the house gets easier.
11). For short productive bursts, set timers to accomplish tasks. We set timers for screen time, clean-up time, transition times, etc. It’s amazing what you can accomplish if everyone pitches in on clean-up for even 5 or 10 minutes at a time. Setting timers for transitions (such as a 5-minute warning) also helps reduce the tantrums.
12). Do one load of laundry every day. For more manageable laundry, do a little laundy each day. Be sure to carve out time to dry and fold, too! My week flows much better when I can keep up with all the laundry.
13). To keep everyone entertained and happy on-the-go, keep a bin of items for your children in the car. Fo our family, this bin includes an extra change of clothes and shoes, snacks, blankets, diapers, wipes, toys, and paper/crayons.
Time Saving Hacks In the Kitchen
14). Plan your meals and snacks on a weekly basis. Meal planning saves SO MUCH time and money! As a bonus, it’s also easier to keep your meals and snacks healthier, you’ll see much less food wasted, and you’ll eat out less. Win, win, win!
15). To save time, utilize grocery delivery or pick up services. At the top of my gratefulness list is grocery pickups. Grocery pickup saves me time since I don’t have to go down aisle after aisle, and I save money because I’m better at sticking to my list and price comparing online. Plus, no one has a meltdown in the check-out line! If I have an extra busy week, I’ll spring for grocery delivery.
16). For fewer decisions each day, plan regular recipes on the same days of the week. To simplify your life, plan Tuesday Taco Nights, Wednesday Pasta Nights, or Friday Pizza and Movie Nights regularly. Having a predictable menu eases your mental load by giving you fewer decisions you have to make when you’re busy. Alternatively, if you prefer more variety, have regular recipes on an every other week rotation.
17). Utilize your crockpots and Instant Pots. When we have sports and extracurriculars, I use my crockpot at least 3 times each week. It makes my cooking life SO MUCH easier.
Children's Toys
18). To prevent bordom, rotate your children’s toys. If the grandparents spoil your children, rotate toys to maintain your sanity. Having too many toys is overwhelming for children, just like having too much clutter in your house is overwhelming for you. Simply store some of their toys in bins and swap them out every 6-8 weeks. Bonus: when you swap out toys, the kids feel like they have new toys!
19). Use the washing machine to wash your kids’ toys. To make sure the toys are contained, throw them into mesh laundry bags. I discovered this trick accidently when I found toys in my laundry, and they were so clean!
20). For the smallest of Legos, use a lint roller to help you pick them up. The kids even enjoy doing this one!
21). Place a blanket down and spill out blocks on the blanket. Once your child is done playing, just pick up the blanket by its corners and dump the toys back in their bin.
To simplify your life, give these incredible time saving hacks a try, and you’ll be amazed at how much better you can manage your daily routines. As a fellow mom, I have found them extremely effective for making our lives more efficient. With the time you’ll save, you can savor those beautiful moments with your kids even more. Here’s to a brighter, less hectic future for you and your family!
