Time Management Tips for Busy Mamas

Sometimes life feels like a circus act. You know.

We mamas are the star performers in a seemingly endless juggling act. And we have an impressive lineup of hats to wear while we perform, don’t we?

Whether you’re a stay-at-home, work-at-home, or work-outside-the-home mom, I’m guessing you’ve probably struggled with time management before. Am I right?

Well, I thought you might like to hear about a time management strategy I’ve been experimenting with. It’s working splendidly for me so far, and it really wouldn’t be nice to keep it a secret, now would it? So without further ado…

Have you ever heard of the Pomodoro technique? I stumbled across it just a few weeks ago while searching for something, anything, to help me be more productive. It’s basically a variation of time blocking that was developed in the 1980s by a guy named Francesco Cirillo. His strategy utilizes one of my favorite tools – the timer. Francesco’s timer happened to be shaped like a tomato, hence the pomodoro technique! (That’s the Italian word for tomato.)

Don’t you love how timers can turn anything into a game? I love games.

Maybe you’d like to jump right in and play, too! Here’s my simple how-to to get you started:

1. Set your timer for 25 minutes and get to work.

2. When your timer goes off, take a 5 minute break.

3. Repeat steps 1 and 2.

4. After two hours (four 25/5 blocks) take a 20 minute break.

5. Repeat steps 1-4 as needed.

To take things a step further, I’m combining the Pomodoro Technique with another productivity-enhancing method called batching.

Simply put, batching is grouping similar tasks to be completed during the same time period. For example, you could designate one of your time blocks for making phone calls, another one to pay bills, and another to sort through the baby’s clothes. It saves time to batch tasks that require the same tools, apps, or mindset. It’s far more efficient to open your laptop once to take care of seven digital tasks than it would be to open your laptop on seven different occasions. Make sense?

You can also break down larger projects and batch those tasks the same way. For example, if you manage a social media account, you might choose to write a whole week’s worth of content in one sitting. During your next work session you might edit photos to post with your written content. I’ve discovered that it’s not efficient to toggle among twenty tabs, ha!

Here’s another example: if your goal is to organize your entire house, you would break that project down by focusing on one room at a time or one category of items (clothes, books, toys) at a time.

Whatever your goal, focus on just one type of activity during each time block.