More and more women are working full-time.  After having children, women return to the workforce for two reasons. One, they have to.  Two, they have a career to manage.  Staying organized as a working mom is hard.  Regardless of either reason, a mom’s plate is full when working full-time.

Making sure the kids are fed, bathed, and ready for school, doing laundry, picking up toys, getting to work on time, prepping for a meeting, grocery shopping, the list goes on and on and on.

Time is precious for working moms because the day is not spent with their children, so maximizing time is key as well as staying organized.  Time spent being unorganized is wasted time.

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HOW TO STAY ORGANIZED AS A WORKING MOM

1. Delegate

The first tip to staying organized as a working mom is to delegate.  As a control freak, this is hard because it’s just easier to “do it myself.”  However, after seeing the relief that comes from using help from other people and services, it’s a game changer.

Offload tasks that can be handled with help. Whether it’s hiring a cleaning lady or getting lawn care.  It’s worth the investment, those tasks can easily be taken off your to-do list.  This could also include:

• Grocery delivery
• Subscribe and save option for frequently used items
• Chore chart for kids

If you live near family, use their help, or find a college student looking to make some extra money.  You’ll be happy you did.

2. Meal Plan

Grocery shopping and meal planning is a process.  Going into a week without a plan, everyone fails.  Mom’s not happy there’s not much food in the house or she’s not happy because there’s no healthy food.

The best way to meal plan is to have an organized pantry.  When the pantry is organized, you can see what you have and it makes it easier.   You can build your meals around what you already have vs. starting from scratch, saving you time and money.

Pick a day of the week that works best for you and stick to it, allow 30 minutes to an hour.  This will give you enough time to pick out meals as well as figure out what ingredients you already have.

Water Hyacinth Bin

Bin Clip Label

Keep your meal plan posted where you can see it.  It can be on a door, cabinet, refrigerator, etc.

I recommend using a clipboard that fits your style because you are going to look at this every day and you want to love it.  Using a clipboard gives you a great visual and makes it easy to write on.

You can meal plan on the couch or your car, you don’t have to worry about finding a hard surface.  Then use a 3M command hook so you can hang it easily next to the refrigerator or pantry, somewhere where you can see it. I like 3M hooks because they are easy to install and don’t require any tools.

3. Batch Process

Instead of doing little things each day, pick one day and get it done.  For example, laundry.  Pick a day and get it all done with.  No one likes to do laundry (if you have, send them my way please!) doing a little bit every day is dreadful.

4. Create a Command Center

A command center is vital for working moms.  This is the central hub where everything goes.  From school papers to mail to calendars to keys.  It’s all of the things that you take with you when you leave the house.

Having a place for all of the frequently used items prevents them from getting lost and makes getting out the door on time because things are where they are supposed to be.

Place the command center near the closet door.  If you’re short on space, make use of a door organizer.

5. Calendar

Use one calendar for everything.  Multiple calendars are tough to manage and things get lost in the shuffle.  Most working moms have a work calendar and a personal calendar but don’t combine the two because they don’t want their personal on their work computer.

Many companies use Outlook for calendar invites.  I write down all of my work appointments in my paper calendar, it is duplicating work but it has minimized the confusion.  Whether you use an electronic calendar or paper calendar, have one master calendar and stick to it.

6. Kids Help

Babies and young toddlers really can’t help out much when it comes to putting toys away but as they get older they’ll be able to put away some toys. Encouraging them to put away certain toys not only saves you time but also teaches them to put away their belongings.

7. Turn It Off

When you leave the office, leave it there.

Turn off notifications.  Constantly checking your email at night or on the weekend is a distraction. As a working mom, this is very hard to do but it’s a game changer.

Be intentional about your time spent on the weekends so that when Monday rolls back around, you are rested and fully ready for the week ahead.

8. Write It Down

Using printables is one of the easiest and least expensive ways to become organized.  You can use customized printables or just a piece of paper and a pen.  Either way, putting it on paper makes it easier and you’ll feel relieved.

The other thing you can use is a journal.  Having your thoughts written down somewhere will clear your head.  A blank journal can start you out on the right path.  You’ll be able to customize it to your liking and organize it the way you like it.

Whether you are using printables or a journal, make sure you are using pens you love.  The type of love where you get annoyed if you can’t find it.

I’ve been using G-2 Pilot pens for a little while and am completely obsessed with them.  They write smoothly and make your handwriting look nice.

Now, you can you whatever pen you want, just make sure you love it and always use the same one.  This way the ink color stays the same.  Using two black pens from different companies doesn’t produce the same type of black and it’s annoying when the black pen doesn’t match, right?!

When you are using a solid color pen whether it’s black, blue, or red, adding some color helps brighten up the page and make it pretty. Highlighters help to highlight important notes (no pun intended).

FINAL THOUGHTS

It can feel like you have a lot on your plate trying as a working mom.  Off-load tasks by delegating them to other people.  Pick one day a week to meal plan and batch process any other tasks you don’t enjoy doing.  Use one calendar to keep all personal and work appointments in one place.  Turn it off once you leave the office.  If you have kids, have them help out.  Last but not least, write it down.  Having your thoughts written down will give you greater clarity.