70 Time Saving Secrets for Working Moms

Managing work, the home and family is no easy feat, and trying to find the perfect balance can feel next to impossible at times. Savvy working moms know that every minute counts, and any time they can save throughout the day adds up to more time they’re able to spend with the family. These 70 blogs have all the tips and tricks you need to maximize your time so you can spend more time with the people who matter most.

Feeding the Family

If you ever find yourself staring aimlessly into the fridge or pantry wondering how you’re going to create a meal out of what you have on hand, you’re not alone. However, coming up with new meals doesn’t have to be this way. Meal planning in advance relieves the pressure of coming up with new meals every night, taking the stress out of the weeknight dinner routine. Try the tips in these 10 blogs to feed your family in no time.

• Plan what you are going to eat for every meal using the 20 tips found on Skinny Mom.
• Doubling the amount of food you make for a meal and freezing half of it for another time is one of the helpful tips from She Knows.
• On the weekend take some time to whip up some make-ahead freezer meals so that dinner is only a freezer away on busy weeknights. Find 20 recipes on Six Sisters’ Stuff.
• Use shortcut recipes to make dinner in a hurry without a lot of fuss or muss. Use these 40 time-saving recipes found on Real Simple.
• Plan your breakfast and lunch ideas in advance to save time when meal times arrive. Find menu suggestions on Sunny Side Up.
• Plan dinner menus a month at a time so that you can rotate through your favorites. Menu planning ideas can be found at Money Saving Enthusiast.
• Fill lunch boxes ahead of time with tasty food your kids will eat. Check out the lunch ideas onLynn’s Kitchen Adventures.
• Pre-prep breakfasts so that your family can get their own breakfast ready while you are doing something else. Find 12 make ahead breakfast recipes at My Whole Food Life.
• Try one of these 30 after school snacks found on Peanut Blossom that you can give the kids when you are running out the door and need something quick.
• Set the breakfast table the night before so that everything is ready and you don’t have to spend time grabbing dishes for the kids. For more information see Today.

Housework

While few people enjoy housework, most people enjoy living in a clean home. Housekeeping doesn’t have to be a chore that takes up your entire day, though. Check out these 10 blogs for housework tips and tricks that will save you time and energy.

• Dividing the chores up between everyone in the house is a smart time saver according toToday’s Work at Home Mom.
• Remember the “ABC” rule: always be cleaning. Keeping a tidy house doesn’t take long if you clean as you go according to Mamiverse.
• Keep your sponges clean and germ-free by putting them in the dishwasher every time you run it. Find this tip and others on Baby Zone.
• Clean out your refrigerator to keep an inventory on what you have and put items on your grocery list that you need so that you don’t waste time running to the store picking up staples repeatedly. Learn how on Life as Mom.
• Take a tip from JPW and set a time limit of 30 minutes for everyone to work on a room in your house.
• Break your ‘spring cleaning’ list down into tasks that you can spread out over the year and do one task per week like the blogger recommends on Mums Make Lists.
• Clean your dryer lint catcher with soap and water so that it will take less time to dry your clothes, thus allowing you to do them faster and save time. This and other tips can be found on Healthy Home Mom.
• Don’t let things stack up; make sure that you keep up with your daily chores because they will multiply quickly according to Dr. Julia Chicken.
• Clean your bathroom in a quick and methodical way on a regular basis. Keeping it up weekly will decrease the amount of time you have to spend doing it, as seen in this video on Clean My Space
• Find a simple way to clean your kitchen by checking out the seven cleaning steps on Living on a Dime.

Night Before Prep

While you are probably exhausted at the end of each day, you can save yourself a ton of stress and time by doing some quick preparations at night to be ready for the morning. Check out these blogs to learn what you can do the night before that will save you mega time in the morning.

• Have the kids help make their own lunches and do as much as you can the night before to save morning hassle, according to Renown Scribbles.
• Prepare your briefcase and the kids’ backpacks and have them ready to grab by the door the night before, per Mail 4 Rosey.
• If you drink coffee, Making Time for Mommy says to program your coffee maker and get it ready the night before so that you can enjoy a fresh cup of coffee in the morning without waiting.
• Have the kids shower the night before to save time in the morning. Find more time saving tips like this on Our Kids Mom.
• Give your morning routine a makeover by taking care of as many things as you can the night before, as discussed on Eumom.
• Chop and prep vegetables and other food the night before for the next day’s meal so that you can make dinner two or three nights a week, suggests Homemade Mommy.
• Go Girl Finance suggests planning as much of your day the night before as possible.
• Have a clean-up routine at night before you go to bed where you gather up the clutter and get everything put away. More tips on doing this can be found on Growing Up Lifestyle.
• Include the kids and your spouse in the nighttime clean-up routine. According to No Stopseven toddlers can help pick up.
• Sign any school notes or slips the night before so that you don’t have to rush around and do it in the morning says Things to Share & Remember.

Morning Tips

Is morning something akin to mayhem in your home? It doesn’t have to be! Check out these 10 blogs for tips on saving time and streamlining your morning routine.

• Do not turn on the TV or the computer in the morning because it will be a distraction that will most likely make everyone late according to Mom Always Finds Out.
• Make a To Do list first thing in the morning before you get the kids up so that you know what you need to accomplish that day. This and other time saving tips can be found on WAHM.
• To get a little added exercise, walk your child to school in the morning. If you can stop by the convenience store on the way home that’s even better according to Care2.
• Get up extra early while the house is still quiet and enjoy some alone time to meditate or read and get your day off to a better start, suggests Empower Network.
• Try to put in a load of laundry in first thing in the morning so that you can get at least one load done each day, suggests Calypso in the Country.
• Plan to give the kids baths at night and take your shower then as well so that mornings are less hectic, notes Madhuri Banerjee.
• Take public transportation for your office commute so that you can be doing something while you are getting to work instead of stressing out behind the wheel, as pointed out byReUpLifestyle.
• Be organized and make sure that everything has a place so that you don’t have to hunt for it in the morning. This should make your morning faster and less stressful according toGirlfriendology.
• Let the older kids make their own breakfast in the morning. Try these microwaveable scrambled eggs from Beyer Beware.
• Use a crock pot to start dinner first thing in the morning so you can save time later during dinner. For 53 simple crock pot recipes check out Domestic Superhero.

Workday Strategies

There may not feel like there’s enough time in the day, but you can maximize your work time if you work smarter, not harder. Check out these 10 blogs for tips on increasing productivity during the workday.

• Only check your e-mail twice a day so that you can focus on your work without constantly being distracted. For this tip and five other time savers check out Shine.
• When I Work suggests outsourcing things at work that aren’t absolutely necessary to help save time.
• Categorize your e-mails so that you know what needs to be done with them, as recommended by Articulate.
• Determine when you are at your best during the day and plan to do your hardest tasks during that time says Fresh-Insights.
• Ignore distractions at work that aren’t helping you get your job done, like social media and coffee chat, say the writers at People HR.
• Don’t forget to use your voicemail and your ‘out of office’ reply to let you get your work done instead of answering a ton of calls suggests Kingsbridge Professional Solutions.
• Find a dentist close to your work so that you don’t waste a lot of time traveling to and from the office, as recommended by the Intellectual Eye.
• Look at what you’ve accomplished during the week and see what’s left on your To Do list on Friday to stay on top of things, suggests Biz Best.
• If you own a small business, make sure that you use a smart phone to your advantage so that you can be working on the go. This can save you up to six hours a week, says Small Business Trends.
• Save travel time by video conferencing instead of meeting in person, as suggested on the info graphic shown on Visual.ly.

Managing the Home

No one wants to be up all night paying the bills or searching for the plumber’s number when there’s a leaky pipe. Check out these 10 tips for saving time on home management tasks.

• Set your bills up to pay automatically or schedule them through your bank so that you don’t have to set aside time to pay them, per Divine Caroline.
• Stop wasting time looking for stuff. Instead, check out the organizational ideas on Creative Savings.
• Don’t rely on your memory; make lists and prioritize the items so that you know what has to get done that day. More list tips can be found on Money Saving Mom.
• Create a ‘launch pad’ where you can place everything that needs to go out the door with you the next morning. Find tips on creating a ‘launch pad’ on Crunchy Parenting.
• Use time spent waiting to pick up the kids to do things like clean out your car, write cards or plan your menus, suggests Arranging it All.
• Shop online for gifts and essentials with Amazon’s Subscribe and Save plan, where you can order diapers and wipes to be delivered on a schedule with free shipping.
• Figure out what your time wasters are by keeping track of every time you waste time for a week, according to the tip on iVillage.
• To save time running around getting school supplies for your kids’ homework projects you should create a fully-stocked homework station, as shown on Sand & Sisal.
• Create routines for everything in your home so that everyone knows what is expected of them and you spend less time having to think about it, as explained by Andrea Dekker.
• Get involved in a carpool for school or after school activities and save time, as detailed byFamtivity.

Health and Beauty Tips

You have to take care of yourself so that you’re well prepared to take care of everyone else. Whether it’s saving time fixing your hair or putting on your morning face, these time saving health and beauty tips could give you more time in your day.

• Make sure that you get enough sleep. Being well rested will help you be more productive the next day and you can get more done in less time according to Working Moms.
• Use beauty products that serve a dual purpose. This will save you time and money according to Skincare-News.
• Save time in the morning by adopting the 5-minute face routine detailed on Van City Pretty.
• Schedule time in your day just for yourself, whether it’s for working out or taking a bath, suggests Just 4 Families.
• Don’t wash your hair every day; instead, Fizness recommends using a dry shampoo to perk it up and save time.
• Hold a tissue under your lashes to avoid time consuming mascara clean-ups per Daily Glow.
• Create a make-up area in your bathroom or bedroom where you can lay out your make-up instead of digging around in a bag looking for things. This tip and many others can be found on Oprah.
• Save time in the morning by blow drying your hair the night before and just touching it up in the morning, recommends My Food ‘N’ Fitness Diaries.
• Plucking your eyebrows can take a long time and, according to You Beauty, an over-plucked eyebrow can age you, so skip this.
• Save time on doing your hair and go with a more natural messy look that is all the rage according to Marie Claire.