How to be A Productive Stay at Home Mom – 15 Useful Tips

Hey there, Mom! Your day-to-day life can be chaotic and overwhelming at times. Here are 15 useful tips on HOW TO BE A PRODUCTIVE STAY AT HOME MOM.

HOW TO BE A PRODUCTIVE STAY AT HOME MOM

1. Change your mindset

Many moms prefer life to be perfectly in place and on time but the truth is it will never be. You can do your very best but it’s still not good enough and sometimes it is impossible to get everything done especially when you’re a busy mom and busy working mom.

There is so much pressure and there’s so much to do that you just give yourself a little bit of grace and lower your standards down. I realized this myself as soon as I became a mom. I was finding it difficult to get absolutely everything done and keep the house the way I want it cleaned and organized. But then I quickly realized that you just can’t especially when the baby is unwell or your toddler has decided to be clingy to you the whole day. While there goes all the house works waiting for you to do them, you can’t because you need to just sit there and be with your child and cuddle them.

And that’s fine. So, just be aware that something’s always going to give which leads to the next tip, which is to prioritize.

2. Prioritize

Second to our list of how to be a productive and organized STAY AT HOME mom is to prioritize.

It is very easy to spend time on things that don’t really matter. So what really helps me is to write down three priorities a day. My to-do list may be very long on some days, but if I can just get those top three priorities done, then I feel productive already. I can call it a day as soon as I put my baby to sleep and relax.

Say for today, I want to write one blog post, I want to do the laundry and arrange the closet, and I also want to go for a jog outside for 30 minutes. It is really nice that if you can make it to your top priorities something that you like doing or that is linked to your health or feeling good then that is even better. Self-care as part of your priority for the day is something that is important to consider. After all, you are way better at other chores if you’re feeling good.

3. Do the thing you’re dreading first

Do the chore that you are dreading doing first thing in the morning. To say you hate working out, or you hate cleaning, just get it done first. And then you can enjoy the rest of your day. I feel this works well with me because since I have that energy in the morning, I can focus on those things that I especially do not like. And then when I am done, then I can look forward to enjoying the rest of my tasks. I usually congratulate myself after because I have given myself that push and accomplished something.

4. Get everything ready the night before

Your future self will thank you for this. It just really helps with the morning overwhelm if you are prepared. Just think about what you’ve got going on, what to prepare for lunch, snacks and dinner, and the clothes. Every night, I would lay out my daughter’s school uniform for the next day on her study table so that when I woke up in the morning, all I need to do is to wake her up, make her favorite breakfast and help her get ready for school.

On Saturday evenings, I would do the same for everyone in our home since the next day is a Sunday, so clothes for church are laid out and stuff to bring as well and the same routine goes. This gives me that feeling of preparedness and not feeling all stressed out because let’s face it. Mornings will always be chaos.

5. Get up before the kids

If you’re not great in the mornings, you might want to consider getting up before your kids do. Because we all know, you can get so much done in just an hour when there are no kids running around! And it can also be really nice to have a calm, quiet start to the day if you get up before the kids. You can have time for yourself, like maybe taking that hot shower, your skincare routine,  doing your makeup, and getting dressed for the day. It is so much better if you have that time for yourself before taking care of everybody else. 

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6. Prepare lunches and snacks beforehand

Some mommies would do this the night before. I don’t. Because I live in a hot and humid country and so preparing lunchboxes and snacks that very day is working better for us. Even when I was still working, I would cook first thing in the morning for my lunch to bring to work and heat them up at lunchtime. 

7. Delegate tasks

Kids as early as toddler years can be of help already in your home. Giving them little tasks such as keeping away toys, and taking snack wrappers to the trash bin. Age-appropriate tasks will help them learn how to organize little things. Do not forget your spouse or partner! Delegating tasks to each of the family members and making a chore chart is such a good idea. Give the kids a reward, maybe at the end of the week for doing their tasks well! 

8. Accept help!

It’s perfectly okay to accept help if family and friends offer it. It doesn’t make you any less of a supermom if you accept help. This quest on how to be a productive STAY AT HOME mom could be achieved with a little help from others!

When I just gave birth to my second child, our situation was much different from when I had my first child. With my first child, we lived in my country so asking my mom and sisters for help was so so convenient for me. But when we had our second child, we were already here in Taiwan and so I was technically away from my family and my husband’s parents also live hours away from us. Also, they are way too busy to come to us. Gladly, we have friends living around us.

At first, I was very hesitant to ask for help, but they were so kind to give us a hand to buy stuff for us when they go for grocery shopping. Some of them would come to our house and offer to cook or take care of our baby when I need to be doing some important errands. Things were hard to manage when you have a newborn baby, with the lack of sleep and tiredness but lovely friends make it better. I appreciate them so much. 

9. Find a way of organizing

Find a way of organizing that works for you. This is like the skills that I’ve managed to practice over the years as I have my kids along and have leveled me up in this journey on how to be a productive stay-at-home mom. For an instance, I used to be a paper journaler type of woman, but when I become a mom, paper isn’t too practical at all, so I made a switch to using digital planners or digital apps on my phone instead.

I can plan, and note down my to-do lists even when I am breastfeeding my child or laying down. It is so handy since I just usually bring my wallet and phone with me when I go grocery shopping. I feel very productive when I check all those tickboxes of my reminders, to-dos, or shopping item list. I personally use Samsung Notes since I use a Samsung Galaxy Note 9 phone and google calendar as well as google notes. 

10. Meal Plan and Prep

I am Asian, and this meal planning and prepping is not our thing. We love to cook fresh food before mealtimes. But I realized that meal planning and prepping is actually very convenient for moms especially after giving birth! I love doing this now because it saves so much time and it takes the pressure away from always thinking of what to eat and what to cook again. I mean, meal planning for me is not really my forte. But now, I’d like to say that I am getting better at it.  

11. Set a Cleaning Schedule or a Cleaning Day

have that cleaning schedule ready – the most important tool on how to be a productive STAY AT HOME mom

In my home, we have our morning and evening cleaning routine every day. But for a deeper cleaning routine, weekends are when I normally do it such as cleaning the bathroom, and changing the bedsheets and pillowcases. I find that it is much easier to let things go during that week or that day of doing the bulk of the cleaning. 

12. 10-minute tidy up

This is such a good practice whenever you need it any time of the day. Set a 10-minute alarm and start tidying up. You will not believe how much you can get done in just 10 minutes! Give it a try!

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13. Declutter

how to be a productive STAY AT HOME mom? declutter! it is a no-brainer.

Make it a project for a day in a week to focus on decluttering a drawer, a cupboard, or a closet. Decluttering, in general, can help to clear your mind. If you’re feeling like there’s so much stuff in your head, spend some time decluttering and you’ll feel so much better for it. Don’t forget to make use of clutter organizers! They make the home super organized. I’ve made a 30-day declutter challenge for free to help you with a quick guide to home organizing. Make sure to grab it!

14. Have some quiet time

Giving your home some quiet time for yourself and your kids is very important. Giving your kids the time to watch tv or do puzzles is a good time for you as a mom to have a little of quiet time for yourself as well.  A time to relax and not be up and about tidying up or cleaning. This is for you to also watch your favorite tv series, or maybe answer your emails, anything that makes you sit down and relax a bit. 

15. Make time for self-care

This is for you to help minimize stress. Having a chaotic family life is normal, but the biggest issue is the stress that we feel and the pressure that we’re under. Give yourself an hour to de-stress by doing self-care, like a warm bath, skincare routine, doing a hobby you love, or going out for a run. Doing so can make a huge amount of difference in your mental health. 

It’s important to note, making time for self-care contributes a whole lot to how to be a productive STAY AT HOME.

Do you have anything more to add to the list above on how to be a productive and organized stay at home mom? I’d love to hear them. Let me know in the comments down below.

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