Powerful Time Hacks for Getting More Done Each Day (When You Work at Home)

Mama, do you feel at the end of the day you’ve accomplished nothing?

I sometimes feel like this.

I work at home as a mom blogger and freelancer and by 5 pm I look and see what I did and it’s not that much.

Some pin graphics, a few outlines for my client pieces and that’s it.

What gives?

While I have those days, I do know how to be more productive and I strive to find ways to cut my time in half.

We are we all given the same 24 hours a day, yet some people seem to get more done than others. How is this possible?

Honestly, I believe it is just a trial and error of finding the right hacks and tricks that work best for your family and for you, which saves the most time possible.

Here are a few of my time hacks that I have adopted into my schedule over the years. These have been the biggest changes in my daily productivity.

Listen Instead of Reading

I love writing, but I just don’t have the time to read blog posts anymore.

I want to share all the wonderful blog posts out there but what I found most helpful is listening to podcasts or YouTube videos than reading a blog post.

As a working mom you can do this on your way to work as a follower told me with my content.

Use Dictation

I use dictation apps for my phone to write articles, get ideas down quickly, and even send text messages or emails.

Of course, all of the dictation software for your phone is not as accurate as the ones for your computer, but I feel like it is about 75% accurate. This means that I usually just do a quick read through to clean up my text.

One blogger, Jon, was born without the ability to use his hands, so he uses dictation software and specialized computer gadgets to run his multi-million-dollar business.

It is outstanding how much he gets done with dictation software.

Find Resources for Your Weaknesses

The internet is full of wonderful resources, especially free resources.

I am able to find and fill the gaps of homemaking or motherhood that I do not excel at.

For example, I do not enjoy cooking or meal planning or coming up with preschool crafts, activities, and homeschooling lessons.

Instead of feeling like a failure in that area, I use what other talented people put freely on the internet.

Here are some links to my favorite (and free) resources:

Do what works for you!

I like lists and planning things out for the day or week. When I don’t have a schedule I fail finding meals to eat or activities to do.

Have A Checklist For Everything You Do

Most jobs will have minimal checklist, even for the simplest things to ensure nothing is missed.

This is a big thing in safety procedures, such as flying the airplane or operating a big rig. The people that operate these machines are experts at what they do, yet they still rely on the checklist to ensure that nothing goes wrong.

Use this strategy for your own household. Use your bullet journal to keep all your lists in one place.

For example, you can have a checklist you run through every time you go somewhere. Mine looks like this:

Do I have the kids’ shoes?
Socks?
Did they go potty?
Do I have snacks and water?

Obviously, my list is geared towards my twins who cannot manage to remember their shoes, socks, jackets, and water by the time they get in the car. Obviously, for older children it would be something like this –

Do I have my homework assignments?
Do I have my lunch pail?
Do I have my after school activity equipment?

You can even do this for each room of your house.

Have a small list inside the cabinet of the bathroom which was everything that needs to be cleaned each day and everything that needs to be cleaned each week.

This allows your brain to go on autopilot, and it is also a helpful learning tool for other members of your family. When my husband offers to help clean, he doesn’t realize that the bathtub does need a quick wipe down as part of maintenance cleaning.

Making a checklist allows your brain to not think so hard when you’re completing the task, which will allow you to get your job done faster.

It is as if your brain says, “Okay, I can stop focusing on what needs to get done, because I know I will not forget anything – there’s a list.”

Create A Schedule and Practice It

Make a list of things that you want to accomplish when you wake up and things that you want t0 accomplish before you go to bed.

When you first make this list, you are going to fail at doing everything on the list. That is because you need to train yourself.

It is the same principle as training your children.

You don’t expect them to get it right away, so don’t put those expectations on yourself. So many times, we give up on ourselves without allowing ourselves the proper amount of time to train and get into the habit.

Make that list and train yourself first to look at every morning.

Do your best to get everything done on the list. Then after a month, evaluate how you’re doing on my schedule. Are you accomplishing most things on the schedule? Does something need tweaking?

Perhaps you need to wake up earlier, or you need to move some your morning items to the night before. That is what the beauty of a schedule is– you can customize it to your needs and your ability.

Remember that different phases of your life will have different schedules. When you first have a newborn, your morning schedule might be as simple as put laundry in the washing machine and make sure that you eat.

And you know what, that is 110% A-OK. No matter what phase of your life you’re in, it is okay to have a schedule that only has two items on it. You can gradually increase your list as you get better at following your schedule.

Outsource & Delegate

If all else fails mama, outsource and delegate!

I hire ghostwriters for some of my blogs. I also have a VA to help me with questions and editing.

My husband helps me with the tech and business side of my writing business. I could not handle multiple blogs, multiple clients and keep my house clean and organized without outsourcing and delegating tasks.

You can ask your MIL to pick up the kids from school once or twice a week to give you more time to work on your home business.

Enlist your husband to do dinners once a week. Pizza or chicken nuggets once a week isn’t going to hurt anyone! 🙂

I’m not getting my twins to help me do laundry.

They are able to fold towels and put their clothes away. Soon, they can help me load up the washer and start the load.

Learn to Type Faster

If you want to save time writing a blog post, learn to type faster!

Over the years of writing for brands, I’ve learned to type faster so I can pump out a 3k word blog post in an hour and a half.

Don’t spend hours researching or writing your blog post! Invest in taking typing tests from KeyHero. They are free.

Start Batching Your Tasks

Look – the best way to get more done in your day is to batch your tasks.

Do all your email at one time or outline all your blog posts for the week at one time.

For me, I batch days.

On Mondays I focus on creating content for my blogs. On Tuesdays I work on creating emails and answering emails and so on. In the evenings I work on graphic design or more learning time.