Episode 249: The 3 Best Time Management Strategies for Busy Work-At-Home Moms

Full Episode Transcription:

[00:00:00] Hey, hey friends. Welcome back to the Virtual Assistant Mama podcast. Before we jump into today’s episode, I just want to let you know that we have something super exciting coming up here in a few weeks, starting November 13th and running through the 17th. I will be hosting the five steps to become a virtual assistant series here on the podcast. So every day, November 13th through Friday, November 17th, you can come here and learn exactly what steps you need to take in order to become a successful and profitable virtual assistant. And, also, running at the same exact time, we will be having a flash sale on the Virtual Assistant Mama Academy. This sale is going to be amazing. I never, ever, ever have VAMA discounted this much. So y’all are going to want to get in on it. And I just wanted to give you a heads up. It’s coming. So you can start figuring out your finances, maybe sell something you don’t use anymore. Cut back on your coffee, whatever you need to do, because the Virtual Assistant Mama Academy is going to be everything you need to replace your income, work from home with your babies and be the present mom you’ve always wanted to be.

[00:01:17] So if you join in during the flash sale. Just imagine what your life could look like six months from now. Maybe you’re hitting up summer, not having to go back to your nine to five anymore. How would that feel? I know that this is possible for you and I want this for you so much. So get ready. It’s coming November 13th through the 17th. Our five steps to become a virtual assistant series and our flash sale on the Virtual Assistant Mama Academy. Alright, so today’s episode, I want to talk to those busy mamas who are just really struggling with time management, trying to figure out how they can get everything done that they need to do, working from home or even working out of the house, trying to be present moms, trying to be the best wives we can be, to be the best friend we can be, moms, everything we can be.

[00:02:12] We’re trying to do every single day. So in this episode, I’m going to share with you three essential time management tips that I think are going to help you feel like superwoman. Every person is going to be asking how are you able to get this all done? And it’s with these three tips. So tip number one, and you might not like me for this, is to establish a daily routine. Having a structured schedule can really improve your productivity and help you balance your work and family. responsibilities. Now, I’m not saying routine as in like, it has to be super structured, the same every single day. It can never change. It can never adjust because like, let’s be real. We have kids.

[00:03:02] Things are never going to stay the way we actually want them to. So you do need to have some flexibility with this, but just having a general outline to go off of will help you start to figure out where. The pockets of your time are going, so you’re not wasting time, and so you feel like you can actually get everything done. So to start, you’re going to set specific work hours, and then if you’re in a 9 to 5 still, then that’s probably dictated by your 9 to 5. But if you’re already working on your virtual assistant business, you could just set those hours for the most part. So you need to write it down in a planner. When those work hours are going to be so you want to designate blocks of time for focused work when your children are maybe engaged in activities that they can do on their own napping with maybe they’re at school. So during these periods, it’s really important to minimize distractions. Maybe put your phone on airplane mode or even better there. You can set up focus modes on your phone where certain people can get through and call you like if your kids are at school, the school could call you if there’s an emergency, but it’ll block like all their other calls and notifications. So you could set that up and then turn that on when you’re working. That way, you know, you’re super focused. You’re not going to. Get distracted and you’re going to be able to get the things that you want to get done. Done. All right. So not only can setting up a routine for your work help you, but creating a routine for your family, it’s going to be really helpful as well. So consistent meal times, consistent nap times, play times, having a routine for your kids. They’re going to know what’s coming and what to expect. And they’re more likely to. Not freak out about you needing 30 minutes of peace and quiet. They’ll be more likely to, like, play independently in the other room while you work if they’re used to that routine.

[00:05:06] Okay? You do want to make sure that you have your dedicated work time, but you also need to make sure you have dedicated quality family time. It’s really important to have that because otherwise, obviously, your kids are going to be feeling neglected and then, They’re never going to let you get any work done. So make sure you build in that quality family time where you’re putting your work aside and you’re solely focused on your kids. Communication throughout all of this is really key. So you want to make sure to Explain what the schedule is going to look like to your family so that they know when you’ll be available for them and when they need to leave you the heck alone so you can get some work done.

[00:05:49] Alright, tip number two, the second time management tip I have for y’all today is to prioritize your tasks. With so many different responsibilities on your plate, you have to identify those most important tasks and then tackle them first. Now, I don’t love making to do lists. You can do this if that’s where you’re at right now, but I really recommend you try to automate everything as much as possible. And I don’t mean like getting different softwares for all these different things. That’s not what I mean by automate by automate. I mean figuring out what you have to do on a consistent recurring basis Maybe that’s recurring daily tasks. Maybe it’s something you have to do a couple times a week People times a month, a couple times a year, but have that planned out in a program where, you know, exactly what’s coming down the pike.

[00:06:43] You can set the due date for it. You know, it’s going to happen. However, often it’s supposed to happen for you and you’re not trying to keep that all in your brain and try to remember it because you’re gonna forget. Okay. So if you put it into a project management system, I personally love Trello. T. R. E. L. L. O. That’s where I put all of my work tasks. And this is a great way to just take it out of your head and that Way when you sit down to work you just go and look and be like, okay I just gotta get this done this done this done and then I’m done. I do have a free weekly Planning template that I have for y’all in Trello and you can grab that at ariannavernier.com/free-weekly-planner or Grab the link in the show notes Also really helpful if you batch similar tasks together. So if you have a lot of different tasks to do on social media to market your business, you can batch those into one day. That way your brain is focused on that same category of work, and it’s not trying to bounce around because you’re gonna be a lot less productive and having to spend a lot more time trying to get in the zone than actually getting things done.

[00:08:02] Alright, tip number three for those busy work-at-home mamas, or even if you’re not working at home, to manage your time better is to utilize time blocking. Time blocking is a very powerful strategy to help you manage your time effectively. This is where you look at your work tasks, you figure out how long it’s going to take you, just an estimate of how long it’s going to take you to get your work done. And then you assign those tasks to work blocks where you know you’re actually going to have the time to get that done. So if you have a set of tasks that you’ve grouped together that you know is going to take you four hours, You don’t want to assign that to a work block that’s only three hours long because you’re not going to be able to get everything done and then you’re going to have to get back in that mode to finish that last, last hour. And so you just want to be really conscious of where you’re assigning things throughout your work blocks. Or time blocks in general, you can have a work block, but you should also have a morning routine block time, quality family time block time for yourself in the evenings, and your nighttime routine block. All of those different things are going to help you just. Feel like a powerhouse in all the different areas of your life. You want to make sure you’re not multitasking because it’s really easy to get distracted during your work block while doing a household chore or doing something for your kiddos. I mean, obviously our kiddos might need us sometimes, but as much as you can try to minimize those distractions.

[00:09:41] Alright, y’all, I hope those tips to help you manage your time better were helpful. Let me go ahead and review them. Number one is to establish a daily routine. This needs to be flexible, but just have some consistency so you know what to expect and so do your kids. Tip number two is to prioritize your tasks. And batch those tasks together as much as you can. And then tip number three is to utilize time blocking to figure out when you’re going to get everything on that never ending to-do list. All right, y’all. Thank you so much for tuning into this episode. Let me know if you have any questions. Come into our free Facebook community at facebook.com/groups/virtualassistantmama, drop your questions there. I’m more than happy. To answer them for you, I love y’all so much and we will see you next time.