How to Get More Time in Your Day:
We all wish we could have just one more hour in a day to get stuff done. I mean, that’s all we need right? An extra hour to solve all our problems? HA!
As we all know, everyone has 24 hours in their day–even the super-productive people! The key is focusing on what we do (and what we don’t do) in those 24 hours that helps us make the most of our limited time as moms. In this post, I’m sharing my 11 hacks for saving time in the house and my tools that help me do it!
- Milk delivery
- Roomba scheduled
- Reminders on your phone for times you forget recurring
- Reminders on your phone for household tasks like putting out milk bottles
- Grocery list
- Meal plans
- Auto-delivery of diapers and household essentials (laundry dergent, dishwasher pods)
- Save time and energy other places:
- kids eat leftovers from their lunch for after school snack
- leftover meals that do double duty
- making double batches of food Saturday/ Sunday morning
- Delegation of tasks:
- shopping- evan
- laundry- helena
- kids chores
- creating routines so kids know what to expect
for the mom who needs more hours in a day (aka every mom.) So let’s get real. On any given day, I have way more things on my to do list then I can ever get done (and let’s not even get started with the should do list…) So, after employing the work smarter not harder mentality to our daily routine, I have come up with a few tools that help me get more done every day.
TIME SAVING TOOLS FOR BUSY MOMS
TIME SAVING TOOLS TO CUT DOWN ON COOKING TIME
I am not a big cook. I will never be (because I would much rather eat a bowl of cereal than have to cook.) However, cereal does not a proper dinner make for kids. Thankfully, this time saving tool helps me put dinner together in a hurry. We use it about four nights a week and most often use it to make black beans that we use on our breakfast burritos, burrito bowls, and tacos. It is like a slow cooker but does a bit more and is way faster. I highly recommend it!
You might roll your eyes with this suggestion, but this time saving cooking tool has completely revolutionized our meals! My husband loves having his bowl of rice with eggs in the morning, and we often have it as a side with dinner alongside meat and veggies. This makes the perfect batch of rice every single time and it is completely hands off! No more juggling toddlers, babies, and cooking rice! Plus, it keeps the rice warm for up to three days!
You may have noticed on IG stories, I have been trying to drink a daily smoothie. It is the easiest way to get lots of green veggies. This blender has the highest ratings, plus you can make soups in it! Ummm, sign me up! To save money on these expensive purchases, I always go for the factory certified refurbished option!
I try to batch a lot of my cooking tasks so when I am chopping and prepping fruits and vegetables for the kids I do them all at once. I even cut up six sweet potatoes at a time, and throw them in one of these. Using this helps me wash the produce beforehand and then I store the freshly-washed produce in these. And when we have leftovers, I portion them into lunches for myself, Evan, and the kids in these.
TIME SAVING TOOLS TO CUT DOWN ON HOUSEKEEPING
With Brooke on the move, I need all the help I can get with keeping this house clean. Even though we have someone come and clean the house every two weeks, during the interim, this would cut down on the dog hair, dirt, and the crumbs that inevitably come with a giant dog and three kids. Although people swear by this one
I am super intrigued by this robot mop. I mean, if it legitimately washes my floors for me it seems like between the vacuuming and the mopping, 50% of my cleaning work is done! #winning
Yes, I am throwing dryer balls in on this list. What in the world do they have to do with saving time? Umm, they reduce the time required by my dryer to dry my clothes by 35%! Plus, they cut down on static electricity. To make them smell good, I simply put a few drops of lavender essential oil whenever I remember.
TIME SAVING TOOLS FOR ORGANIZATION
I lose my keys or my phone at least once a day. Since we don’t have a house phone, I used to have to use my google phone to call my cellphone to locate it. Not anymore. This baby is gold–pure gold! I have it on my car keys, one in my wallet, and the app installed on my phone. Even if my iPhone is set to silent, this will make it ring so I can locate it. Seriously, such an amazing time saving/ sanity-saving tool!
I am dying to try this diaper bag organizer out. You all know I LOVE my not diaper diaper bag which I use daily but this would allow me to rotate diaper bags with my L.L. Bean one that I often use when I am going somewhere that I need a bit more rugged of a bag.
Let’s be honest, I end up at 1% battey every single night. This wireless car charger would be a game changer in saving me from zero battery at 7 PM. And this pretty gold phone charger looks super cute!
You guys, I have a HUGE phone–I have an iPhone 6 Plus and it is big! I don’t always have it on me, especially in the house (hence the need for the Tile). Having this on my wrist at all times, would be so much easier! Plus, I could monitor how far I run, walk, and my calorie burning better!
After reading this book, and starting to time block my day with this planner, I have seen a huge surge in productivity! It is all about having laser focus during the time blocks that I can dedicate to work, and coming up with systems for everything else. Emily is one of my favorite accounts to follow on Instagram, and I love her honesty about battling perfection.
We LOVE our Echo but this new Echo Spot has me thinking of all the cool things we could do if we had a screen!
I order EVERRRRRYTHING online like most busy moms. Unfortunately, sometimes when we are out of town, I won’t know if a package has arrived or not. This cool tool allows me to track who is at my front door, when a package was delivered, and even remotely monitor my front doorstep! I can see who is at my door before I open it.
TIME SAVING TOOLS TO CUT DOWN ON ERRANDS & GROCERY SHOPPING
Grocery shopping is a pain in the butt with three kids. I need a cart just for the kids to get through the store. So, instead, we do two things at our house: my husband picks up groceries on his way home from work or we use Shipt.
- Shipt: A few hours before I need groceries, i log into the app, I add my items, select a delivery window, and then a Shipt shopper will pick-up my order. He or she texts me when she is at the store, asking if I need anything else, and charges my credit card through the Shipt app. The Shipt delivery person then drops off our food, and I am able to tip them in the app. It costs $99 a year, but keep your eye out, because I scooped up our membership for only $50. Deliveries are free over $35 (which is easy for us to do.)
- Walmart Curbside Pickup: I have used Walmart Curbside pickup several times for items that our grocery store doesn’t carry. Our Neighborhood Walmart also has a lot of great food options, and since Walmart Curbside Pickup is free, it is a great economical choice for busy moms!
- Peadpod Delivers is also another great option if they don’t have Shipt in your area. I grew up in a house using Peapod, so it is a familiar service that definitely saves lots of time! I personally don’t use it because it doesn’t service in the area we live; but, have friends who live in Peapod areas and they rave about it!
- InstaCart is another fabulous service that saves tons of time for moms. I am eagerly awaiting the day it comes to our city!
- Amazon Fresh just moved into our neighborhood and I am excited to try it out! We already use Amazon Prime and Subscribe & Save for everything from diapers and wipes, vitamins, dishwasher tablets, (you get 20% off with recurring orders for diapers and wipes with Amazon Mom--sign up if you haven’t already!)
TIME SAVING TOOLS FOR ENJOYING YOUR TIME IN THE CARPOOL LINE
While these might not necessarily save you time, they will pass the time more quickly! I love listening to podcasts in the car when I am out doing errands I can’t outsource. I love streaming audiobooks using Audible, which is the easiest way for me to read books these days. I still do occasionally read on my Kindle at night though (and the books are often cheaper on there then they are in paperback–plus, I don’t have to store them!)
And because our car inevitably smells anything but fresh (no, there is no rotten food in there but it is an old car!) I am dying to try out one of these vent clips to infuse the car with some purifying essential oils. We always run this diffuser at home (especially during the germ-ridden winter months). And when we are away for extended periods, I make sure to turn down the heat and turn it up when we are about to get home with this handy tool--no more waiting for a cold house to heat up when you return from out of town!
