Working mothers lead the most challenging lives. They have to make sure that they do not compromise at work. They also have to take special care that their family is getting complete attention. This dual role is not easy to play. Yet, women manage to tackle these challenges. Those young mothers who are still struggling to do justice to their roles at office and home should learn some good time management strategies and tricks. Here we have some best time management tips for working mums that will help them cope with their hectic lifestyle.
Importance of Time Management for Working Mothers:
The following mentioned are few better time management tips for working mum at work and how to be organised at work.
1. Prepare A Timetable:
A timetable is a great way to organise schedule and plan the events. Working mothers have many different tasks to handle simultaneously. Preparing a timetable will help them evaluate the time required for each task and plan their routine accordingly. Most working mothers who have multiple tasks to tackle use the timetable to plan their routine. Here is a list of the different things you may include in your timetable.
- Child’s School Timings
- Hubby’s Office Timings
- Time for you to Leave for Office
- Maid Servant’s Arrival Time
Once you make a note of all the important tasks you have to handle at home, you may move to the routine insignificant daily chores. It is a good idea to allocate time for each of the daily chores. Most mothers have the following chores in their daily routine and here is how you may allocate time for each of these chores.
- Bathing- 20 minutes
- Exercise and Yoga-1 hour
- Preparing Breakfast-half an hour
- Getting your child ready for school- half an hour
Once you know how much time each of these tasks will take, plan the activities in a proper order so that you avoid time wastage. You need to evaluate which activities take the most time and what are the causes of time wastage. It will help you manage your tasks properly.
2. Prepare A Monthly Menu:
One great challenge most mothers face is preparing food that the entire family likes. It is often difficult to please the entire family. Deciding what to prepare for breakfast, lunch and dinner can be a time-consuming process. It is thus a great idea to prepare a monthly food menu. You need to discuss with your family to plan a perfect menu that pleases your family. Consult every member in the family and try to understand each one’s choice. Pick the common choices and add these food items to the menu. Make sure you do not repeat the same item twice in a fortnight. This is necessary if you don’t want your family to be bored of what you prepare.
3. Prepare a List of Quick Recipes:
You must always have a list of quick recipes at hand and be prepared for any kind of challenges that may hamper your daily routine. You need to make a list of food options that can be prepared quickly. You also need to have a list of recipes that can be prepared without using the stove. Women working in offices sometimes get late because their stove fuel is over and they have to arrange an alternate breakfast for which they are not prepared. Here are some suggestions that will help you tackle such situations.
- Stock your fridge with salad dressings, jams and sauces. You may use these to prepare salads, sandwiches or other uncooked easy breakfast items.
- If you are not a vegan, it is a great idea to have some eggs stocked. Breakfast items like Omelette, Scrambled Egg or boiled egg are always easy to prepare.
- Purchase a stock of instant preparations like Pasta, Noodles, Cornflakes and Oats.
4. Plan Shopping Trips:
Purchasing groceries for the household is another time to consume and challenging task. If you plan these shopping trips well in advance, you can save a lot of time. The best thing to do is to make a list of all the items that are to be purchased. Look for shops where they deliver groceries at home. This will save you a lot of time and effort. You can even place an order on a telephone in case of such shops.
5. Make The Best Use of Technology:
The advent and advancement of the internet have made life really simple for most of us. If we make the best use of technology, time management at work would be a cakewalk. The online shopping websites and portals are the best places to shop while on the go. You can make purchases while you are travelling. You can check out discounts and offers and make the most lucrative purchases.
If you are abreast with the use of the internet, you can also plan events and surprises with the help of internet. If you are going to be late from office, you can order the pizza or burger while travelling homewards. This will keep you happy because you are able to do justice to your duties. People at home will also be happy because there will be no waiting and delays.
6. Manage Office Tasks Properly:
Very often one delay causes another delay. If you are able to manage the tasks properly during office hours, there are few chances that you would be late to reach home. Hence it is vital that you plan your office activities properly. Some simple work tips to ensure timely completion of work is listed below. Have a look:
- Make sure you always reach office on time.
- Wear a watch on the wrist. It makes you appear time conscious. It also helps you keep track of time during the day.
- Never keep backlog work and try to finish all the tasks within the set deadline.
- Document your work and track your speed of handling different tasks.
- Identify the barriers that reduce your speed. Use work management to get rid of these barriers.
- Do not exceed your lunch hour. Avoid personal interaction during work hours.
- If social networking distracts you, stay away from these networks during office hours.
If you follow these simple time management tips, you can manage home and office without much difficulty. As a working mother, you are answerable to your office and manage your family schedule. Proper management is vital to ensure you do justice to both.
