Overwhelmingly, a working mom’s biggest struggle is time management. Juggling paid work, housework, and care work of children and extended family means we sometimes feel like we’re barely keeping our head above water. It’s no wonder we feel exhausted and stressed most of the time.
After-hours work, unmade beds, sick children, plastic toys littering the floor and surface of every room and chronic sleep deprivation take a mental toll on women, feeling like they are barely keeping up and never getting ahead.
5 Powerful Statistics Prove Why Time Management is a Struggle
- Two-Thirds of working parents reported feeling too emotionally or physically drained when they get home from work to contribute to their family (80 percent of those surveyed were women).
- Working women with two children have a 40% increase in chronic stress.
- The average mom gets only 17 minutes a day to herself.
- One in four of us cry alone about household-related stress at least once per week.
- Three quarters of 2,000 mothers said, even in quiet moments by themselves, they can never fully relax if they knew there were jobs outstanding.
“Working mums report very little joy. There is almost no personal time, no leisure time – no time for the sort of pleasures that people talk about having before they had small children.”
Rae Cooper, Professor of Gender, Work and Employment Relations at the University of Sydney
So, How Do We Spend Our Time Then?
An interesting article on HuffPost broke down how many years, on average, over the course of your life you will spend doing everyday tasks. For example, based on an average life expectancy of 79 years, we will spend 33 years sleeping (or trying to sleep) and 13 years working, which combined, accounts for a whopping 58 percent of our time on this earth.
The first “leisure” category is screen time at an unbelievable 11 years of our life; 8 years devoted to TV and 3 years on social media. That is more time than we spend eating, exercising, socializing and romancing combined. That is especially remarkable considering televisions only became mainstream seventy years ago, and the first iPhone launched in 2007. What did we did we do with those 11 years of our life before then? Research shows we slept more. I suspect we worked less and socialized more. Whilst industrialization has brought us many benefits it is not without it’s drawbacks.
How Much Disposable Time Do We Really Have?
My curiosity got the best of me, and I broke these statistics down to each hour of the day, to better understand what this all means in a more practical and applicable sense.
According to their research, approximately 10 hours remain in a day after we work and sleep. I would argue an 8 hour workday, with an hour on both sides for commute and school pick-ups brings our maximum disposable time down to seven hours per day. During this time we cook & eat, raise children, exercise, clean, socialize, shower & groom, stream our favorite TV shows, scroll social media and do everything else in between.
These Seven Hours Could Be Viewed In One of Two Ways…
Seven sparse hours? “I just don’t have enough time to do it all, there are not enough hours in the day!”
OR…
Seven sensational hours? “The world is my oyster! A window of opportunity to align my time with my priorities that have purpose and meaning. Life is good.”
Regardless, One Absolute Rings True When It Comes To Time Manangement
HOW you use your time is the most important choice you make in the trajectory of your life.
Realign your precious, valuable time with your priorities.
Release the distractions and low-hanging fruit causing you shame and guilt.
Reclaim your time so that you can progress towards the life you desire.
Shift Your Mindset: Time is Abundant, Not Scarce
What if we looked at time differently?
Instead of focusing on its’ scarcity, seeing its’ abundance?
Focusing on the time you DO HAVE instead of the time you do not?
Working mom’s are masters of productivity and efficiency in the workplace. Now it’s time we maximize those skills in our own lives with the same level of commitment.
As women, our desires often take backstage to the demands of a career and motherhood along with all the other commitments in our lives. Why do we often put the needs of others first and prioritize ourselves last? Shouldn’t it be the other way around?
We must change our mindset and learn to take care of ourselves first. So that we can live a life we love. So that we can thrive at home and work. So that we can be our best self in every aspect of our life!
When you get time back and are able to breath just a little bit, space is created for you to think and focus, opening opportunities for renewal and growth.
Why You Need to Start Tracking Your Time
Now it’s your turn to start tracking the hours in your day, so that you can fully understand how you are using your time. This exercise will pay off in the long-term as you will have a base from which to map out your future position, enabling you to take action and make changes that pivot you toward your priorities.
You might be very surprised to see how you actually spend your time as compared to how you think you do! I know it was an eye opener for me!
I’ve created a super easy Time Tracking Tool that breaks down each day of your week into very digestible and simple format. Just seven days of tracking your time management will give you enough information to take action.
Becoming aware of how you manage your time makes you more mindful of the choices you make. Soon you will be asking yourself throughout the day, “Does this align with my priorities?”
12 Tips to Align Your Time With Your Priorities
To get you started here are some ideas to help you start start the process of making space focusing on your priorities.
- Find one quick win that will make a small difference to you. From little things big things grow.
- Outsource one service – If that’s not sustainable long-term, then just try it once. It’s amazing the impact a deep clean of your house can have on your sanity.
- Need/Require/Buy LESS – simply said, it’s makes life easier.
- Declutter & Minimalize constantly – Every item you see or touch in a drawer or closet ask yourself when you last used it and if you still need it. Hopefully you say no more than yes. If no, throw it or put it in a bag set aside for donations (just like you have a garbage and recycling bin). Everyone in your family does this for their respective belongings.
- Forget perfection and accept good enough.
- Make time for what’s important.
- Hold others in your life accountable for their responsibilities; partner, ex-partner, children, family etc.
- Then you delegate – I’ve no doubt you delegate at work, make sure you’re doing it at home as well. It’s an opportunity for their growth. It’s liberating for you.
- Didn’t get something done? Let it go. Shit happens. It’s not the end of the world. Channel Frozen’s Let it Go or Wilson Phillips’ Hold On and the guilt will dissipate.
- Ask for help when you need it. If you your village is small or non-existent, reach out to fellow mom’s, especially when it’s hard. I have yet to have someone tell me no when asked. We are a compassionate bunch despite our hectic busyness.
- Get a smart speaker. The grocery list alone is worth it. And don’t get me started on the reminders and timers.
- Give yourself grace, have compassion and be forgiving.
Now, I Dare You To Imagine…
- Having a clear view of your priorities!
- Having available time to spend on endeavors that have purpose and meaning in your life!
- Being able to relax and feel truly at peace!
- A life free of burden and guilt!
Dare to dream…It is possible, One Step at a Time.
Please comment below and share your thoughts with this community of female peers and like minded women! Forward to a friend or woman you believe would find value in these words…Together we are stronger.
