Organization Hacks For The Busy Mom

Vintage Homeschool Moms

Organization Hacks For The Busy Mom – In Five Minutes or Less ~ Episode 523

Ready for some organization hacks that can save you hours of time in just five minutes? In this podcast, Felice Gerwitz will share a proven method for reclaiming your time. The podcast may run a little longer than five minutes, but the time you’ll save is worth it.

Ready to take control of your time? Visit the Media Angels website for a range of products, planners, and other time-saving tools. We’re here to support you on your journey to better time management.

As a busy mom, I felt that some days nothing was accomplished! In fact, I called it a win if I had the children clothed, fed, and safe for the day. Many times I felt frustrated because I was wasting so much time finding lost items, to say nothing of never getting to errands that needed to be completed. So, after much frustration, I sat down and made a plan. In fact, it came to me as I was cleaning up yet another of my little one’s spilled juice. (This was before the days of sippy cups; be happy for those innovations, Mom!) Remember, you’re not alone in these struggles.

Method for Organization Hack #1

The first thing I did was take a sheet of paper and fold it into four squares. On each square, I wrote one thing. My headings used to say – Personal Needs – Kid’s Needs – Must Do Today – Errands for the Week. But it morphed into the samples below that I used each week during the days I homeschooled my children. Faith – Kids – School – Household. This simple act of organizing my tasks into these four categories brought a sense of relief and control to my chaotic days.

4-Square Planner – Blank

4 Square Planner – Filled Out Example

It doesn’t matter what your headings read; what is underneath them counts. Start small.

Questions to Answer – Organization Hack #2

1. What has to get done today?
2. What can wait for another day?
3. What will make you feel better if it gets done today?

If you can answer these questions, that will help your anxiety and allow you to accomplish more. I have learned that when I stress, I can’t think; when I can’t think, that’s right! Nothing gets done. When I was able to plan out my 4 squares weekly, the checks beside the list grew because I had all the things clearly laid out and briefly. I didn’t make long, detailed lists; there wasn’t a need.

Routines – Organization Hack #3

I didn’t have detailed plans because many things on the list were routine items we did each day.

1. Wake up, make coffee, pray
2. Wake up, kids (if you are not already up). If the older children are up, they are to play quietly until breakfast.
3. Eat breakfast (mom reads Bible story and short lesson).
4. Start school (another set schedule).
5. Lunch / one or two chores as time permits
6. Finish school
7. Lessons, sports, free time, etc.

Errands – Organization Hack #4

Going on errands used to be a time-and-day wrecker! I learned to plan for multiple errands on one day and to plan a route so that I could mimimze my time. I would think about where I needed to go and plan my errands (if possible) to the closet to the house first (on the right side of the road), with the last errand being the closest to the house that needed cold or frozen things stored -such as groceries. At times I needed to go to the bank and it was opened yet, so I’d leave that for on the way home. Now we have apps that make auto deposits, and checks you can deposit via apps!

Yet even those times need to be planned. If you are doing household chores, plan a time for paying bills or checking emails. Do not, and I repeat, do not check emails or social media first thing in the morning. Which brings us to hack number five.

Ignore Distractions – Organization Hack #5

Please recognize and ignore distractions, this will free up hours of your time. There are things that are our weaknesses, let’s just agree we all have them, we are human after all! I had to learn that even with a business, I had to ignore my emails, or I would get sucked into the vortex of trying to answer the major ones and finding that hours had gone by without me knowing it. My kids didn’t bother me because if they did, they’d have to start their schoolwork. I didn’t hop on social media until everything was finished and I could set a time for my time spent.

This method, making a plan, answering a few questions, having routines, organizing my errands, and ignoring distractions saved me hundreds if not thousands of frustrating hours. When people ask me, “How did you have time to write a book, create a class, or host a podcast?” Now you know why. You have the inside scoop. Any one of these methods will save you time.

Start small and see if any of them work for you – and let me know! Share this podcast with a friend and thanks so much for stopping by.

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