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10 + Time Management Tips For Working Mums

If you’re a busy mum, like I am, then you know how difficult it can be to stay on top of everything. Whether your kids are at school all day or you have a full-time job, you don’t always have time for the things that will help you manage your time better.

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To beat the overwhelm you need to get better at time management which is why it is such an important thing for working mums to master. Below I have come up with time management tips for working mums to help overcome this constant overwhelm.

Time Management Tips For Working Mums & Work-at-Home Mums

Schedule Your Working Week In Advance

One of the best time management tips is to schedule your week in advance. Block meetings off, time for emails, business content planning etc. Get as much scheduled in advance and leave some time for those tasks that pop up unexpectedly. Being able to schedule your social media using tools like Buffer, Postoplan.

Sitting down for 30 minutes on a Sunday to organise your week really does help. You will then know what you are going to do first thing Monday morning, instead of sitting down to work and then not knowing where to start first.

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Set Working Hours

This is a really good thing to do, especially if you work from home. Start your working day at say 9 am and then work until say 3 pm (or 5 pm) etc. When your work finishes for the evening close the door and try not to go back to it (well unless you are on a deadline). You need to have the restraint to stop and go back to “mummy” which is why the daily route below comes in handy.

Have A Daily Routine

If you schedule your business week in advance as in the previous time management tip, then creating a daily routine will help you stick to your daily tasks. You don’t have to do the same each day, but make sure you block out the times they definitely cannot be changed like school pickups, school drop off, and even lunchtime.

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Minimise Your Days Tasks

The night prior get as many things prepared as possible. Get the kids’ clothes ready, school bags and lunch boxes sorted. Even down to getting everyone’s shoes and coats ready. This means there is less to do and you can stick to your daily routine and hopefully not be playing catch up for the rest of the day.

Do The Most Demanding/Important Task First

This expands on your scheduling and your daily routine. Make sure you get the most demanding/important task done first. This means you will be fresh to tackle the task at hand instead of hitting it near the end of your working day and finding you are too tired to concentrate.

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Do Power Hours

Use a power hour (or power hours throughout the day). A power hour is a 60-minute window during this time you try to aim to complete a set amount of smaller tasks or one larger task. Examples could be: writing emails, sorting paperwork, scheduling social media etc.

Set your timer and go for it. Get as much of the tasks done in this time as possible without being distracted. You will be amazed at what you can achieve from a power hour.

Get rid of distractions!

This is all down to personal preference as I find for me having music on helps me work. However, get rid of as many distractions from your working area as possible. Have a declutter of your desk and sort your paperwork out so that you are not constantly going between tasks, as this can actually waste time.

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Schedule Self Care Into Your Day

Self-care is so important. Something that I have only learned in the last few years. Burn out is a real thing and so learning to schedule even just 10 mins of self-care into your day will actually give you more time to get tasks done.

Further Reading – Self Care Tips For Working Mums

Learn to Say “No”

Learn to say “NO”. Sometimes we feel like we have to say yes, even when we know it will add more stress and take time from us. Learn to say “No” to tasks or invites that you know you can’t do/don’t want to do. People won’t think badly of you. Sometimes saying No can be really helpful.

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Delegate Tasks

If your children are old enough, don’t try and do everything yourself. Delegate tasks to your kids and get them to take on some of the household chores. Even teaching them to make light meals (or even make sandwiches), tidying their rooms, hoovering etc. All these tasks that you do, don’t stress by doing them all yourself. Remember, housework can wait. If you are tired leave the housework for another day.

Use the internet

The internet is your friend! Do as much as possible online. From ordering food shopping, to clothes, even paying bills. Do it online and this saves you having to go to the shops and spending time driving there/going on public transport.

If you are a single mum (like myself) the internet is your BEST friend. Going online means you don’t have to drag your kids around the shops and have the added stress, especially during these unknown times of COVID.

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Prepare Meals – Batch Cook

If you are a busy working mum then batch cooking meals or even saving leftovers will really help with time management. Being a single mum also means there is no partner to help with cooking and after school activities.

If you love doing homecooked meals, then add batch cooking into your weekly schedule (or fortnightly if you batch cook more meals). This means you don’t have to stand cooking at the end of a long day.


Remember having good time management skills may seem pointless, but when you are a working mum or even a single working mum, then these time management tips will come in handy. Time management = more time to do tasks.

If you are looking for productivity tips, check out these 5 productivity tips for work at home mums.

Do you have any time management tips? If so, what works for you? Let me know in the comments below.

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10 + Time Management Tips For Busy Working Mums and Work-at-home mums

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