Episode 142: How to Prioritize Everything You Need to Get Done as a Work at Home Mom

Full Episode Transcription:

(00:07):
Hey y’all. Welcome back to another episode of Quick Tip Thursday. I’m gonna be answering the question of, “how do I figure out how to fit everything into my schedule?” It’s really hard to fit all the different pieces of being moms and wives and having to cook and clean and all the things along with our business. So in this episode, I’m gonna give you three steps for prioritizing everything in your life so that you can work toward accomplishing your goals and the goals that God has for you.

(01:45):
So number one, right off the bat you have to prioritize your values. I want you to create a list of your value priorities in your life. So for example, mine are God first, then my marriage, then my children, health, and then my business in that order. So create your list of your value priorities, and then you need to establish your daily priorities. So one day of your week, may be heavy on business, another day, may be heavy on family, you need to sit down each week with a planner and prioritize those top priorities that have to happen. So first thing you’re gonna do is begin with your time with God. Where does he fit in your day? Then next, you’re gonna plug in your family time. Then any non-negotiable meetings or other top priorities, you can highlight those in a certain color. Then next, you’re gonna put in any non-negotiable tasks you need to do in your business or just in your life.

(02:50):
And then I recommend to have these stand out, highlight them in different colors. So for me, my top priorities like God, marriage and my kids, I put in a yellow highlighter so that they really stand out. You also wanna make sure you’re plugging in your work blocks wherever your schedule has open spaces. So after you’ve got those three main priorities in of God, marriage, kids, then you’re gonna put in where you’re gonna work. These work blocks are gonna be where you take your focused action on what you need to get done in your business, which are now prioritized around your most important values and priorities. Take a shot for how many times I say prioritize or priorities in this episode. Okay? Then once you’ve got everything plugged in, you need to go back and take a look and make sure that your top priorities are really reflected in your schedule.

(03:45):
If you don’t take the time to look at your bigger priorities, there are so many things that can come our way as busy moms, and we’re always gonna have requests from others. So if we are in control of our calendars, people are going to find a way to fill up our time, and we might look back in a little while and see that we don’t have any time with our spouse in our lives. Maybe we aren’t spending any quality time with our kids and we’re just busy shuffling them from here to there. So you really have to take an overarching look of what your week looks like, and if it’s not meeting your top priorities, then that’s where you’re gonna have to make adjustments. All right? The second step for prioritizing everything in your life is to create simple time blocks in your schedule. You wanna color code your blocks so that it’s easy for you to kind of see the transition.

(04:36):
Each time block needs to have a start and a stop, or they end up bleeding together. This is when your work goes into your family time or vice versa. When you have different color coded time blocks, it’s a visual alert to you to not cross a boundary. We can truly only do one thing well at a time. So time blocks need to happen with your full intention and presence. It does take a lot of practice. It’s not perfect. It’s not set in stone, but it is so, so crucial to have. The third way that you need to prioritize so that you can get everything done is to communicate your priorities and your time blocks. If we don’t communicate with others about our priorities and our boundaries, there is no accountability. So first things first, You need to talk to God about your boundaries. Ask him to help you set them and stick to them, and then you also need to communicate them with your husband and your kids.

(05:40):
They’re going to help you make sure you get the time that you need to get done what you need to get done, but to also prioritize them and spend the time with them that they need. Having that communication will keep you accountable, and if you’re really struggling, I encourage you to find an accountability partner with someone that’s in the same space as you. That way you guys can check in with each other and make sure you’re focusing on the things that are actually important to both of you. All right, y’all, I hope this episode was helpful. I invite you to come and submit your questions for Quick Tip Thursday. If you would like me to answer them, all you have to do is go into our free Facebook community that’s at facebook.com/groups/ditchtheclassroom. Scroll to the quick tip Thursday post and drop your question there, and I would be more than happy to answer it here on the show. All right, y’all, I love you so much, and we will see you next time.