I'm the owner + photographer at Anne Casey Photography — serving Maryland & Pennsylvania

How are my fellow work-at-home boss lady mamas doing?! Are you feeling energized, organized, and completely on top of every little detail required to make a family, home, and business run smoothly? No? Good. Neither am I! Let’s just face the reality of the nearly impossible. It’s hard work. All of it! Being a mama. Managing a household. Working from home, and accomplishing everything in between! There are robots created for this sort of stuff for a reason (side note- gotta research those robot vacuums…). Work-at-home mamas are cut from a different cloth, though. We have this innate ability to just get it done. Maybe not always with a smile on our face, but we do it! In my years of juggling all of it, and even recently adding another addition to our family, I’ve acquired a few tried-and-true time management tactics to help me accomplish the impossible, and hopefully they will help you too!

1. USE A CALENDAR

I’m a HUGE fan of calendars from all walks of life! Print-out calendars, Google calendar, wall calendars, notebook calendars. You name it, I have it, and color-coded, too! A calendar is the perfect visual representation of what I need to get done in a day, a week, a month, and yes, even sometimes the following year. It helps me organize my time better so that I don’t over-commit to anything, and only work on what I can physically, mentally, and emotionally handle. Which brings me to my next tip…

2. SET REALISTIC GOALS

Being a working mom has A LOT of moving parts! I mean, we basically need to have super powers! With that said though, it’s best to remain realistic with our day-to-day activities. Know that there is only one of you, and it’s difficult to be in two places at once. As much as we could often use an extra set of hands, or four, we were only allotted two, and can only do so much. Don’t over commit to anything. Don’t add more stress by over-extending yourself. Learn your limits, and remind yourself that there are only 24 hours in a day! Sure, Beyonce has the same 24 hours , but let’s be real, she probably has an assistant or two (or twelve…) helping her out.

3. PRIORITIZE THOSE GOALS

Once you have your well-thought-out and realistic goals, take a moment to organize them based on importance of when they need to get done, and stay focused. It’s easy to get distracted and want to move on to other, possibly less important tasks, but if you do that, you’ll accomplish way less, and feel way more overwhelmed!

4. SET BOUNDARIES

Don’t forget- you are the Boss Lady! You have the power to delegate, and say “no” when something just isn’t working for you. Use that power. Become best friends with it. If you have a home office, along with specific times you want to get work done, make sure the rest of the family respects that time and space. It’s harder to do with the little babies, but it’s manageable!

5.  PLAN ACCORDINGLY

Take 15-20 minutes at the end of the day to plan for the following day. Take a look at your calendar, see what needs to get done, and make a plan that makes reaching your goals even easier. Yes, I did say that you need to plan for your plans! For example, if you need to leave the house with the kiddos the next day, plan to give yourself the time you need to get everyone happy, fed, napped, and ready (if possible). Try to pack whatever bags you may need the night before, so you aren’t rushing around like a crazy lady the following day, and risk forgetting extra diapers, bottles, or clothes…. I may or may not be speaking from personal experiences. Enter poo-splosion, no extra diaper, and zero change of clothes. It was a learning experience to say the least! Bet that gave you a real nice visual, didn’t it? 😉

6. SCHEDULE TIME FOR YOU

This is a VERY important one! We often get so caught up in taking care of everything and everyone else, we manage to forget about ourselves. The saying “You can’t pour from an empty vessel” holds a whole lot of truth! So while you are filling out your calendar, and writing down your goals and tasks, don’t forget to write in some time for yourself. Whether it’s an hour at the gym, or making an appointment to get your hair or nails done, or even a nap. Schedule it, commit to it, and enjoy it! You need to take care of yourself in order to efficiently and effectively take care of everyone else!

Hope these help!! Now go time manage that day of yours!