7 Helpful Time Savers for the Busy "Working" Mom

Working moms or moms who do a lot of volunteer work need to be extra organized to keep sane. If you find yourself exasperated at the end of the day, or when you feel that 24 hours in a single day is not enough time complete your daily tasks, then it's time for some help. Here are 7 helpful timesavers for the busy working mom that'll at least get you through one crunch day.

1. Use snack-bags. (Save 5 minutes/day)
Snack-bags are half the size of a regular sandwich bag and are usually available with a zip-lock. They are a great tool to have when packing a small snack for a child's lunch. Instead of buying the expensive individual packaged chip, cracker or cookie bags, you can be frugal by purchasing the large family size snacks. Then you can save time by putting the snacks from the family size bag into the snack bags all in one sitting. When it comes time to pack lunch, you can just grab a snack-bag of snacks without wasting time for less money.

2. Shower in the evening. (Save 10-20 minutes/day)
If you find yourself frazzled in the morning having to get your children ready as well as yourself, you can save time by modifying your morning prep routine. Instead of taking a shower in the morning, try doing it in the evening after dinner. You'll find yourself more relaxed for bedtime and less rushed in the morning.

3. Do your ironing the night before. (Save 10-15 minutes/day)
By ironing the night before, you will have already pre-determined your/children's clothes for the following day. You will have eliminated the empty staring in the closet in the morning.

4. Teach your kids to be self-sufficient. (Save 10-15 minutes/day per child)
Begin grooming your kids into doing age-appropriate tasks on their own. Although you may still have to select their outfit, encourage your five year old to put on their own clothes and place their dirty PJ's in the hamper. Also praise your kids for combing their own hair & dressing up on their own. Do a quick check before they leave the door for school so you can do some last minute straightening (i.e. ruffled collars, unzipped zippers, misaligned buttons, etc.).

You can rearrange your pantry so that easy breakfast foods (muffins, cereal, granola bars, etc) are within reach of your child's arm length. This allows your child to choose and take out their breakfast from the pantry while you can be pouring them a glass of milk or juice.

5. For the next shopping trip, make a list of items as you run out of them. (Save 10-15 minutes)
Get a note pad with a magnet to post up on the refridgerator or other visible area. As you run out of items like toilet paper, toothpaste, milk, eggs, etc., jot them down on your note pad. By the end of the week, you will have created your shopping list. You will prevent the aimless wandering in the grocery store that usually happens when you do not have a shopping list to go by. You will also help yourself save money because you will know exactly what to buy by sticking to your shopping list.

6. Sort mail everyday. (Save 30 minutes/week)
As you pick up your mail, begin dividing the stack of mail into two piles: 1) Junk Mail and 2) Good Mail. By doing it daily, you don't have to waste endless hours on a weekend to sort through it all.

For bills, write the due date & the amount due on the outside of the envelope. This will help you chronicologically sort your bills based on the due date as you receive the mail. Thus, saving you more time when you are actually ready to sit down and pay your bills.

7. Keep a laundry basket downstairs for toys. (Save 5-10 minutes/day per child)
Kids love to play with their toys. Our general rule at home is to keep all toys upstairs to help minimize the clean-up downstairs. However, when a few toys manage to sneak out of the toybox down to the living room, family room & dining room, the children are asked to gather their toys together. Instead of getting upset at the children, I get them involved in cleaning up the mess they've created. By keeping a laundry basket downstairs for toys, the children can pick up their own jump ropes, dolls, pokemon, etc., place them in the basket and take it up to their bedroom on their way up to get ready for bedtime. The 'nagging' and 'yelling' is minimized. The children learn that it is easier to keep the toys upstairs, rather than carrying a laundry basket each night back to their bedroom; so, they no longer bring the entire toybox downstairs anymore.

Hopefully, by implementing some of these timesavers, you can at least recover a minimum of 30 minutes of 'MOMMY-time' to use anyway you choose by the time the kids have gone to bed. You deserve it!