There’s nothing that makes you realize the value of time like becoming a mom. Suddenly every five or ten minute pocket of time becomes precious and we want to make the most of them. Yet, we all only have access to 24 hours in our day, and a good portion of those are best spent sleeping. So how do we maximize the other in a way that still promotes restful, sustainable rhythms?

Let’s dive into five super simple habits that you can adopt today to free up some more pockets of time in your day. Here’s to a calmer, more sustainable approach to our daily rhythms and productivity.

1. SET YOUR ALARM SLIGHTLY EARLIER

Ugh, less sleep? I know. In the sleep deprivation of motherhood it can sound like the worst advice ever, but honestly it’s a game-changer for my days. Starting the day off waking up to a crying baby, needing to get breakfast ready right out of the gate and having to multitask in order to simply brush my teeth and put on clothes is a sure way to get off to a rough start.

Even waking up 20-30 minutes earlier to be able to brew some coffee, read my Bible, and make a plan for my day (more on that soon) gets me started on a way more intentional, peace-filled foundation for the day ahead.

Bonus tip: wake up to a real alarm clock, not your phone. When we wake up to our phone, it’s a lot easier to get sucked in to checking social media, news apps, and email right away. I like to charge my phone in the kitchen at night and wait until I’m well into my morning before picking it up.

2. HAVE A PLAN GOING IN TO THE DAY

This step makes a big difference. It can look different for everyone, and it looks different for me in different seasons as far as systems I use, but going into the day with written out prioritizes and tasks that need to be done is so helpful. Even something as simple as writing out on a notepad (or in the notes section of your phone) your top 3 priorities, and then a list of everything else that you want to get accomplished. Lately I’ve been using Trello to time-block my days and designate those priorities, but even the simplest methods do the job.

I like to also make note on my list of tasks which would be reasonably accomplished while the kids are awake and living their life (because some things just feel impossible/pointless to do while babies are crawling around, like cleaning the toys up) and which should be done during nap time. Then I know what I want to be focusing on during each point of the day.

3. DESIGNATE TIME FOR FOCUSED WORK

Going off of the last habit of having a plan, I think it’s really important to have “work hours” set aside to get deep, focused work done. The kind of work you can’t do with kids at your feet or while prepping dinner. Stuff like customizing your website, writing blog posts and emails for your email list, or having an important zoom meeting. Whether it’s having this time set aside after bedtime, during a consistent nap time, or during a time when you have a babysitter – having a few hours a week that you can bank on for focused work is so helpful, rather than trying to spread that out inefficiently over less focused times.

During those times, turn your phone on Do Not Disturb, focus on your top priorities, and don’t work on anything else until the time is up.

4. SET BOUNDARIES ON YOUR PHONE

Screen time limits are your best friend. Go into your phone’s settings and set some boundaries around how long you can be on each app, or your phone overall. This will give you some accountability to yourself to the mindless scrolling, or less-than-efficient use of your time. And we’re not even going to go into how much that time spent being stimulated by our phones interferes with our mental processes long after we put the phone down because that’s another post for another day.

Set boundaries around how soon after starting your day you check your phone, and how close to bedtime you remain using it. I’ve found that at least an hour without it before starting the day and at least an hour without it before falling asleep is beneficial both to my mental state, but also to my time efficiency. The digital vortex is sneaky sneaky and we have to be proactive to combat it.

5. STACK RESPONSIBILITIES AND TASKS

This is one of my favorite ways to make time in the day. It’s not about constantly doing more and multitasking ’til you flop, because we know I’m not about that life. But I love turning on a news recap while I make breakfast for the family in the morning, or catching up on my favorite podcasts while I fold the laundry, or listening to an audiobook while I go for a walk. These are simple ways to stay up to date with all the things I want to, without having to set aside any extra time. And it also helps me stay more focused on the task I’m working on.

FINAL THOUGHTS

We’re obviously not going to optimize every waking moment of every day because we’re humans and life happens. We’re not machines and we’re created for balance and rest. But little steps to be a little more intentional with our minutes and hours of the day go a long way.

Here’s to being faithful stewards of our time, friends!

xo, Xan