5 steps to be productive as a mother!
Nothing makes me happier than when I am productive as a mother! The best, most productive moms are efficient and great at achieving significant results. Productive moms appear to have more than 24 hours in their day. How are they so productive and how can you become productive as a mother? The answer lies in following the Pareto Principle, better known as the 80/20 rule.
The Pareto Principle explains that 80% of your results comes from 20% of your work. So, to be most productive, focus on the most important tasks- the ones that will make the biggest impact on your family and home. Focus all your energy on completing the tasks that will yield the greatest results and drop or postpone your other tasks until a later time. By doing this, you will get the most return for your work and energy.
FINDING YOUR FREE TIME!
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How do you determine your 20% and what to focus on?
FOLLOW THESE 5 STEPS TO IMPROVE YOUR PRODUCTIVITY
1. BRAINSTORM & PRIORITIZE WHAT IS IMPORTANT
Try to do this step at the beginning of the week and then tweak it each evening during the week. It’s a quick process- don’t spend more than 5 minutes each night reviewing it.
Start by writing down all of the tasks and projects you need to complete. Then, prioritize those items by assigning a number to them. For example, your biggest, most important task would be number 1, your second most important task is number 2, and so on. You cannot assign the same number to more than one task. You cannot have two number 1’s!
Really think through your list and determine what is most important. Try to accomplish as many of the first 3- 5 tasks as you can each day. Those are the Top Tasks I list on my daily schedule. Questions to ask yourself to determine a task’s ranking:
Is it critical for me to get this task done today?
If I don’t complete this task, will there be negative consquences?
What is the benefit of me completing this task today?
How many people will benefit if I do this task?
Is this something that could be done at a later date?
If I don’t do this task at all, will anyone notice?
2. Create a daily schedule
After determining your top tasks, create a daily schedule. (You can download a schedule below). List your top 5 tasks on your schedule, schedule in your appointments, list your big goal, 1-2 small tasks to do to move you towards that goal, and schedule in a P.O.W.E.R. hour. You can learn more about the P.O.W.E.R. hour here. Prioritizing your tasks and having a daily schedule will keep you focused and on-task. Be sure to do your top tasks and big goal tasks first. They are the ones that will have the greatest impact or are the most urgent.
If you are brand new to scheduling, start by writing down your appointments, one big goal and your top 3-5 tasks you need to achieve that day. As you become more comfortable following a daily schedule, begin to fill in more of the sections on the daily schedule.
P.O.W.E.R. HOUR
Be sure to schedule a P.O.W.E.R. Hour (or POWER Pockets™) into your day. This time is dedicated, focused productive time to help you complete your daily tasks like cleaning, organizing, bill paying, meal planning, etc. Some of your top tasks could overlap with your P.O.W.E.R. hour/ POWER Pockets™ tasks. For example, if most of your to-do items were about cleaning your bathrooms, you could use your P.O.W.E.R. hour for that particular task. Then, you can have Top Tasks that are related to other things- like errands or laundry.
Your P.O.W.E.R. hour does not have to be one hour all at once. Most days, my hour of productive time is actually a combination of P.O.W.E.R. hour time and POWER Pockets™.
I use 30 minutes during lunch to do tasks like bill paying, ordering groceries and planning. Then, when I get home, I use another 20 minutes to clean a specific area of my home, and do a 10-minute tidy-up. That 20 minutes of home cleaning, plus the 10- minute tidy-up, plus the 30 minutes of POWER Pockets™ lunch time gives me a total of 60 minutes for my daily P.O.W.E.R. hour! I was very productive for one total hour, I just broke it down into smaller increments. The goal is to have one P.O.W.E.R. hour each day- no matter how you break it down!
GOAL SETTING
Setting goals, especially a big goal, that stretches you and pushes you to your limits is important for helping you create the life you have always wanted. Losing 20 pounds, paying off your credit card debt or writing a book are all examples of big goals. You can learn how to create a goal here. It is essential to add small tasks each day that push you towards reaching that big goal.
3. Get busy!
This step is where the rubber meets the road. It’s time to be productive as a mother! It’s time to start working on completing tasks from your daily schedule! Be sure to focus on doing your most important tasks as early in the day as possible. Do your most important tasks first. It is natural to want to get all your little tasks done first and then spend the rest of the day on your big goal or task, but it is actually better to do your most important task first thing every day to ensure it gets completed and doesn’t get bumped off the schedule.
Try to work on your big goal or top task first thing in the morning to ensure it gets done. The P.O.W.E.R. hour can be a mixture of POWER Pockets tasks that you do throughout your day plus any additional time after work you spend on POWER tasks.
use your POWER Pockets™
Often, my top 3-5 tasks are tasks I can complete during my POWER Pockets™. Tasks like bill paying, scheduling routine appointments, dropping off dry cleaning and other errands. My top tasks count towards my P.O.W.E.R. hour time!
If I have time left in the day, then I continue working on the next task in line. If I don’t get to it today, then I bump it to tomorrow. This happens frequently so don’t get discouraged if you don’t mark everything off your schedule. Life happens and we have to adjust. It is okay and normal to not get it all done.
Your schedule and needs will change daily. That is why it’s so important to review and plan your next day’s schedule the night before to make sure you can actually DO what you have planned!
Always focus on doing the most important items each day first to ensure you have the highest level of productivity and greatest chance of successfully achieving your big goal and most important tasks!
4. Reassess & Reschedule
Each evening, review and reassess your day’s schedule and plan tomorrow’s schedule accordingly. Review what you did not mark off your schedule or various sections. Review your weekly Brainstorm list and re-number as necessary and always review the progress you have made towards your big goal. Celebrate those small steps! This step usually takes 5-10 minutes to complete and allows you to have a clear, relaxed mind when you go to bed.
5. Reward Yourself
You’ve worked hard all day and taken great strides toward completing your big goal. You were productive as a mother! You’ve completed many tasks and projects and planned your successes for the next day. You deserve a little time to relax. Watch a movie, read a good book, take a bubble bath, or go have dinner with a friend. Celebrate your daily successes. Daily achievements produce big rewards!
We all have the same 24 hours in the day, but it is how we manage those 24 hours that makes the difference. By following these 5 simple steps, you can set realistic, achievable tasks that will bring you the most value and help you achieve your big goal. These steps will help you be productive as a mother and help turn your dream life into a reality!
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