Wanna get your hands on some time saving hacks that are going to change the game for your family and sanity?
Of course you do!
If there is one thing that all moms can agree on, it’s that we have a lot of demands that suck up a lot of our time.
Work, kids, school, pets, house, spouse.
We have A LOT of time-consuming responsibilities on our hands, and a lot of people relying on us to keep it together.
But that is A-OKAY!
Because today we are going through the most effective time saving hacks for busy moms. And these little tips and tricks are going to make all of those demands A LOT less overwhelming!
We’re also going to get your new schedule in place that allow you to save time, save sanity, improve your efficiency, and focus on the things that truly matter.
Things like your babies, beach days, and boozy drinks (if that’s your thing)!
TIME SAVING HACKS FOR BUSY MOMS
Here we go mama!
If you’re too busy to read the whole article, make sure you pin it on Pinterest for later so that you can get to work on executing these things! It will change the game for your home and your family.
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1. GET YOUR HEAD ON STRAIGHT
We gotta start with this one because it’s truly the most important thing on our list.
We must be in the right frame of mind if we’re going to save time or adjust where time is being spent. It all starts with our mindset and our determination.
One of my favorite quotes from Henry Ford: “Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right.”
And it’s the truth!
If you believe that your life will always be unorganized chaos, then it probably will be. If you tell yourself there is not enough time in a day, then it will always be that way.
But if you shift that thinking a bit and tell yourself that you are TAKING CONTROL of your time and your routine, then you can do it.
These time saving hacks for busy moms CAN help. But it all starts with your mindset.
2. LIMIT YOUR SCROLLING
If you want to start saving more time, you need to evaluate where your time is being spent (and wasted).
I can almost guarantee that 99% of people reading this post right now spend too much time scrolling on their phones every single day.
Some of that scrolling might even include browsing through Pinterest looking for time-saving hacks (which is probably where you found this article)! Nothing wrong with a little browsing, but we have to keep it in check.
If we want to get our schedule under control instead of having it control us, we need to know exactly how our time is being spent and where adjustments can be made.
It’s time to be brutally honest with ourselves!
And when we realize that time is being wasted on things that do not serve us and our family, we have to be willing to cut back on them.
Do you REALLY need to follow that celebrity gossip and see what Kim Kardashian is wearing today?
Do you REALLY need to watch hours upon hours of TikTok videos and Instagram stories about people that you don’t even know?
And the big one that we’re alllll guilty of.
Do you REALLY need to binge-watch multiple seasons of your favorite TV show in one weekend?
There’s nothing wrong with enjoying social media and Netflix. But we need to put a cap on it if it’s cutting into other priorities.
And if you’re reading this article looking for ways to save time, then yes, it is cutting into other priorities.
So, put leisure activities back into their place and cut back on mindless scrolling.
PRO MOM HACK: Set screen time limits on your phone!
If you’re an iPhone user, go into your Settings, and click on Screen Time.
You can set limits on the time you spend on certain apps. You can schedule downtime. And you can adjust communication settings so that you aren’t bombarded by social media messages. There are similar apps that you can download if you’re an android user too.
Pay attention to how much time you’re spending on social media (or doing mindless scrolling) and cut back on that time a little bit each week. If you’re on your phone for 3 hours a day, cut back to 2.5 hours this week, and then 2 hours next week.
3. SHORTEN THAT TO DO LIST
Before you say it’s impossible to shorten your to-do list, hear me out.
Most of us have a to-do list that is a mile long, it’s true. And most of us know that we will never be able to get through that list in a million years, not even if we had a clone!
So, why even try?
Staring at that impossibly long list is not doing anything good for your mental health.
However, if we can shorten that list to include only the essential things that MUST be done today, we’ll be much happier.
Realistically, we can only handle a few large tasks and a handful of small tasks in a single day. So, our daily to-do list should only include things that we can reasonably accomplish. Reevaluate your to-do list and remove everything that is not essential.
You KNOW that you aren’t going to have time to organize the garage tomorrow, so put it on the “non-essential list” and don’t feel guilty about it.
BOOM – I just saved you a ton of time!
4. MEAL PLAN
This one is hard for a lot of people, including me.
I don’t really enjoy meal planning and I’m not great at it either.
However, I have learned that meal planning saves A TON of time every week and it helps us avoid that dreaded question “what’s for dinner”?
How does meal planning save time exactly?
When you meal plan, you grocery shop more efficiently and you have all the supplies you need in the cupboard. This means no unnecessary, time-consuming trips to the store.
You can also intentionally plan meals that are quick and easy, like crock pot meals and InstaPot meals. Both great for saving time!
Meal planning doesn’t have to be complicated.
You can keep this super simple by sticking a magnetic calendar on your fridge, filling in the dinner plans for the week, and then making a shopping list of items you need to purchase for dinner that week.
Then get creative and try to find ways to repurpose leftovers for lunch the next day!
5. USE THE CROCK POT OR INSTA-POT
Since we are talking about food, let’s keep this ball rolling.
When you’re trying to save time, using your crockpot or Instapot will be a godsend. You can have all of your ingredients thrown into the crockpot in about two minutes.
Crank it up and let it do it’s cookin’ thang for the rest of the day.
You can handle your errands, take care of the kids, do whatever you gotta do.
And then, when everyone is home at the end of the day, dinner will have cooked itself.
You can literally save hours of your week by not cooking every night.
Of course, crockpot dinners might get old if you’re eating them seven nights a week. So be sure to mix it up!
Find some easy bake recipes, one skillet recipes, crock pot recipes, etc. There are so many options!
6. HAVE EVERYTHING DELIVERED
You might already know this, but most of us can have absolutely everything that we want or need, delivered to our door, with no charge for shipping.
CRAZY WORLD WE’RE LIVING IN!
Want to have toys and diapers delivered to your house from Target? You got it!
Want to have hammers and shovels delivered to your house from Home Depot? You can do that too.
Want groceries from Albertsons? A new mattress from Sweet Night? Or dinner from any local food joint your heart desires? Yep, it’s all possible!
And delivery saves you a ton of time.
You don’t have to load up the kids, drive to the store, wait in lines, bag your groceries, fight with the kids over toys, load up the groceries and the kids, drive home … Am I missing anything?
Instead of all that, you just have to open up the front door, bring the stuff into your house, and put it in your cupboard.
So. Much. Time. Saved.
Most companies offer free shipping if you pay a certain amount, usually something small like $35.
Plan and budget accordingly so that you can do your online shopping when you will qualify for free shipping.
Saving time and money is pretty much my favorite thing in the world, and it’ll be yours soon too!
7. USE DRIVE-UP OPTIONS TO SAVE TIME
What if you run out of diapers and can’t wait for delivery?
There have been a few times that we ran out of something and couldn’t wait for that delivery to reach us.
In those cases, you can use the drive-up service that most companies now provide.
Companies like CVS, Target, and Albertsons (and many others) offer convenient drive-up services. Meaning that you order your supplies online, you pull up to the designated “pickup” spot, and they load up your stuff into your vehicle for you.
Again saving you the time and hassle of unloading your kids, waiting in line, loading up groceries, etc.
Make life easier on yourself whenever possible! It will save you time and sanity.
8. CREATE A FAMILY COMMAND CENTER
A family command center is just a central place in the home where everyone has access to the tools that keep the family from spinning out of control.
This includes things like electronics and chargers, mail, the monthly calendar, the weekly meal plan, grocery list, to-do list, car keys and wallets, etc.
Family command centers are huge time savers!
They allow you to stay organized and keep everything that the family needs to function in one place. And they also create a central place to communicate and help each other get through the week.
If you don’t have a family command center already, I highly recommend it. Here are some awesome family command center ideas to inspire you!
It doesn’t have to be fancy or expensive. It could simply be a couple command hooks and a shelf by the front door, a simple setup on an office desk, or some magnetic calendars and storage caddies by the fridge.
Just get the family used to this central place where they can find everything they need to get through the week. If someone needs their tablet, their phone charger, or their mail, go to the command center. If someone wants to know what is for dinner, go to the command center.
Also saves mom the hassle of needing to answer 10,000 questions for everyone all day long!
9. RECRUIT HELP
One of the easiest ways to save time is to pass off a few tasks to capable others.
This might mean switching off school pick up / drop off with your spouse or another trusted person to free up some of your time each week.
It might mean hiring a house cleaner to pick up the slack at home a couple times a month. Or it might mean asking the babysitter to stay an hour later so you can get some work done.
It is OKAY to recruit help.
Even if it means paying for it (when it’s reasonably possible).
Keep in mind that your time and your sanity are both valuable and important.
If you can manage to budget for a house cleaner to come once a month or even once every quarter, then do it.
If it saves you some time to focus on other important things, then it’s worth it!
10. PUT A CHORE LIST ON THE FRIDGE
Speaking of getting help, everyone in the family should be pitching in to keep the home running smoothly.
Best time saving hack ever?
Stop doing everything yourself and teach every member of the home to pull their weight and do their chores.
Put a chore list on the fridge and require chores to be completed before screen time. I guarantee those chores will get done if you stick to this rule!
You can also implement a 15-minute clean-up rule every evening before bed. Set a timer and have everyone in the house tidy up the house before getting ready for bed.
And waking up to a tidy house makes the morning run so much smoother!
11. WAKE UP 10 MINUTES EARLIER
Seriously. Try this.
Set your alarm for 10 minutes earlier so that you have a few extra minutes to get moving in the morning.
It makes a big difference.
If you can wake up just 10-15 minutes earlier every day, you’ll be able to do 1-2 little tasks and scratch them off your to-do list while you would usually be snoozing. That is 7-14 possible extra tasks you could get done every single week!
A couple small things you could do with this extra 15 minutes each morning:
Make the bed.
Clean the coffee maker.
Start a load of laundry.
Wipe down kitchen cabinets.
Organize a junk drawer.
Clean out your purse.
Dust the furniture.
Water the plants.
Sort the mail.
All of these little tasks add up, so get in the habit of waking up a little earlier and checking something off your to-do list. It sets you up for a day of success!
12. SAVE TIME WITH THIS LAUNDRY HACK
This is one of my favorite time-saving hacks for busy moms … because we all know that the laundry never ends when you have kids!
Use this simple laundry hack to hang clothes super quickly! It’s going to save you a lot of time and it’s going to make the put-away process much less painful.
13. USE TIMERS
Time seems to slip away from us faster than we expect. So, if we want to take back some of that time, we have to be more intentional.
Timers will help everyone stay focused and get things done with intention.
Examples: set a timer during evening cleanup. No browsing on your phone and no chatting with the family. Just set the timer and work until it goes off.
When you take this designated time to focus on the task at hand (and stop pausing to check your phone), you get a lot more done. This leaves you with more free time for more important things.
14. DESIGNATED GROCERY STORE TRIPS ONLY
I went through a phase where I didn’t do any meal planning and I just randomly ran to the store before dinner time to grab whatever we were feeling that night. This usually resulted in 4-5 grocery store trips every week, and A LOT of wasted money.
We all know that when we wander into a grocery store tired and hungry, we end up buying a lot of unnecessary things!
All of that time and money could’ve been spent on better things.
Instead of wasting time running to the grocery store every night because you don’t have food or you forgot dinner ingredients, stick to your meal plan and designated grocery trips ONLY.
This saves you the time of driving, sitting in traffic, waiting in lines, bagging up groceries, etc.
Get it all during your weekly designated grocery trip. Or better yet, have it all delivered to your house!
15. USE THE RIGHT TOOLS
You know what takes up a ton of unnecessary time?
Trying to clean house or cook meals with the WRONG tools.
Scrubbing dishes that have gunk stuck on them. Mopping floors with a crappy mop and then trying to ring out that heavy, dirty mop by hand. Cutting fruit or veggies into a million little pieces with a dull knife.
These things all become extremely time consuming AND frustrating.
My home and my daily routine became much less stressful when I started investing in the proper tools to run my household. When you use the right tools, you can do things faster, clean up quicker, and save a ton of time.
Believe me: everything becomes easier with the right tools!
Some of my top recommendations for kitchen tools that save time:
Apple slicer
Blender/Food Processor
Multi-Use Veggie Chopper
Command Hooks
Sharp Knives
Knife Sharpener
Lazy Susan for spices
Baskets for pantry
And some of my top recommendation for cleaning tools that save time:
O-Cedar Easy Ring Mop (the best mop ever)
Scrub Daddy
Microfiber Towels
Heavy duty scrub brushes
Magic erasers
Extendable tub/shower scrubber
All surface vacuum
These are all things that can last a very long time if you take care of them them. And they’ll make your life sooo much easier!
Even if you can’t afford to buy them all, start investing in one thing at a time until you’ve replaced any junky household tools with high quality and convenient household tools!
16. GET RID OF JUNK
The more stuff you have, the more stuff you have to take care of. And taking care of stuff takes TIME.
Make life easier on yourself and get rid of things you don’t need and love. Maybe even donate to someone in need and let those things get lots of love from a new family!
If it’s collecting dust and it’s not super important to you for some real reason, then let it go. Less stuff to maintain means more time for things that truly matter!
17. START EVERY DAY WITH A PLAN
I’m a firm believer in planning out your day and checking things off as you get them done.
If you don’t have a plan, you’ll waste a lot of time on unproductive things.
So, start your day with a plan (and a checklist)! Make sure you have a clear picture of what you NEED to get done and focus on getting essential tasks done first.
Don’t forget to make time for some rest and some fun with your kids too!
TIME SAVING HACKS FOR BUSY MOMS
The most important thing to remember is that YOU are in charge of your life. Take control and take accountability.
Cut out the things that are wasting valuable time. Make adjustments to the home routine so that everyone is pitching in. And get rid of any baggage that is holding you down or sucking up your time unnecessarily.
You got this mama!
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