Chances are, if you’re here reading this, you’re a fellow work-at-home mom like me! :) And, while it’s the best life and we love our kids more than life itself, working from home AND being the primary caregiver is not without it’s challenges.

So, here are 11 productivity tips that help me keep some sanity as a work-at-home mom. I hope they help you take a deep breath and face tomorrow with the confidence that you’re freaking AMAZING and you can do anything you set your mind to. Okay, productivity tips….GO.

11 Productivity Tips for Work at Home Moms

1. Make daily lists.

I’m a list QUEEN, so I for SURE have 10 lists going on at any given time. HA. BUT, making just two to-do lists for each day, it can really help you get all the to-do thoughts out of your head AND help you mentally prepare for what you’ll do when you have some time to work.

So, List #1 is of the things that you MUST DO. These are the things that’ll lost your job, affect your family in a negative way, or cause your day to feel unreasonably stressful. For me, List #1 includes things like have a quiet time for myself, check Pinterest clients’ schedules, make dinner, and hang out with my son and get him to any activities he needs to be at. Those are usually the BIG, important tasks that really need to get done or else the day feels tense and out of balance.

List #2 is full of the other things that I would LOVE to accomplish for the day, but aren’t completely necessary if I run out of time or energy. Things like laundry, dishes, product photos, a quick workout, and doing a daily chore are usually on List #2.

Now, some days, the laundry gets so backed up that it makes it to List #1. Some days, checking client schedules isn’t on a list because I know it’s done for the week. But, sorting out your tasks like this each day really helps to take the heaviness and pressure off.

Another option is to make just one list, but add the 3-5 more important “must do” things to the list first. If you do this, you’ll start your work time by getting the first “must do” task completed. Need some pretty ways to keep your lists in order? CLICK HERE to grab the free lists I use!

2. Put your phone away.

Sounds like an easy one, but seriously, put it away when you have time to work. The BIGGEST distraction for me when I actually have an hour to sit down and accomplish something is that darn phone. My computer page is taking forever to load, so I pick up my phone to scroll IG for a minute and the next thing I know, it’s been 10 minutes and I’ve totally wasted precious work time watching puppy videos and some dances trending on TicToc. *FACE PALM*

You can try a few things to lessen the phone distraction.

1. Turn it off completely.

2. Put it on “Do Not Disturb” mode.

3. Simply leave it in the other room for the time you’re working.

And this goes for ALL other things that cause distraction for you too! For example, I work on scheduling pins really easily with my favorite show playing in the background. I can NOT, however, write a blog post with the same show on. Music is a lot better for blog writing and product creation for me. So, if the TV is distracting, sit in a different room. If the music is bugging you, turn it off. Do your best to get to a place where you can truly focus and get the MOST done in the short snippets of time you have throughout the day.

3. Make a flexible plan.

When my little guy was really young, I tried making plans and had them completely FAIL soooooo many times that I just stopped making plans altogether. But, as I’ve continued on this work at home mom life, I’ve learned a better way to plan my days that works for my work self and my mom self.

As a former teacher, I used to be very time driven. School starts at 7:30, at 8:15 we are in the library, at 8:45 we go back to the classroom for math. Music starts at 10:00 and lunch is at 10:45, then I get 30 minutes to eat and respond to that email…and so on. But, I don’t know about you, but my son has NEVER been on such a clockwork kind of schedule. So, when I planned what I wanted to accomplish by the time of day or to the minute, it left me feeling completely stressed and defeated when he woke up from his nap 12 minutes earlier than my plan said he was going to.

Making a plan for your work time is essential to keeping you focused and accomplishing the things you want to. Instead of sitting down at naptime and thinking, “Okay….so, what do I feel like doing right now? Let’s pull out this list of 20 things and pick one!”, having a plan allows you to sit down as SOON as the little one is in bed and start right away on the first task on your plan.

So, yes, you should still make a plan so your small amounts of time can be used efficiently, but maybe try breaking up your projects into smaller, accomplishable tasks. For example, for me, instead of my plan being “Write a blog post” in the one hour (usually?) of my kid’s quiet time, I’d break it up a bit so I can feel like I focused and got something accomplished, even if he only stays in his room for 30 minutes instead of an hour. My plan might look more like…

1. Write points 1-3 of blog post. 2. Write points 4-6 of blog post. 3. Collect pictures. 4. Label pictures. 5. Insert pictures into post. 6. Link all photos in post. 7. Review entire post. 8. Publish blog post.

Then, if he stays quiet for less time than I expected, I can still check off one or two things from my plan. I didn’t get the whole post done, but I got a few bites of it accomplished. And if he falls asleep and stays in his room for 1.5 hours instead of 1 hour, maybe I’m super excited and can get all 8 parts of the plan done! But, either way, I feel like I moved my work forward and got something done during my time to do so.

4. Separate your tasks.

So, splitting up the things that need to be done during the day by the time it takes to accomplish them is another thing that helps me to get most of the details taken care of each day. The little things that will take me 5-10 minutes can be done while my son is playing with blocks, eating lunch, sitting on the potty, playing with his toddler binder, or even if he wants to help me with the quick task. Things like starting a load of laundry, taking out the recycling, posting to Instagram, emptying the dishwasher, tossing dinner in the crockpot, calling my mom, and getting the mail are some of those quick things that I can do with him or while he’s entertaining himself for a minute.

The things that will take a longer time and require me to use some brain power and focus I save until my little guy is either having quiet time in his room, is being watched by another adult, or is in bed for the night. I’ve tried to work on creating learning resources and writing blog posts and taking product photos while my toddler is awake and romping around and, at least for us, it causes more stress than it’s worth. So, I try to save this list of things to get finished when it’s going to be simpler to accomplish them because I can actually focus.

5. Batch it up!

The idea of batching is basically allowing your brain to focus on one thing and really get into it for a set amount of time to accomplish a lot of it at once. So, instead of spending your 2 hour work time prepping dinner, writing the first part of a blog post, responding to 2 emails, and getting one work task finished, you spend the ENTIRE time choosing ONE of those things to focus on and complete for multiple days or even weeks. This allows you to check off that one thing for the foreseeable future so that you can focus in on the next thing that needs to be done without other things pulling at your thoughts and causing extra stress.

If you have 10 emails to respond to, block out a time to respond to all of them in one work time. Need to write 4 blog posts for the month? Work on writing them all in a few work sessions and then they’re done for the whole month. Are you a meal-prepper? Use naptime to get ALL the week’s lunches and/or dinner’s prepped instead of doing one or two each day and needing to get all the recipes and supplies back out each day.

I’m new to batching, but so far, it’s pretty incredible what you can accomplish when you really let yourself focus in on one thing and bust out a BUNCH of it all at once. :) I’ve been planning out content using sheets from this binder and it feels SO good to have it all written and planned out. Try it and let me know if you like it!

6. Set up predictable routines for you and your kids.

Setting up a routine for how a normal day looks for you and for your kids is a great way to cut back stress and unknowns for everyone. When people know what to expect from the day, we tend to feel more secure and safe, instead of anxious or unsettled.

Setting up a predictable routine for your day and your kids’ days helps everyone mentally prepare for what comes next. I keep my daily routine on a little chart I have with my planner and we use a simple, visual routine posted in the kitchen for my little guy. He pulls off each part of his day and then sees what comes next so he’s ready to go. It’s an easy way for us both to feel safe and know what to expect going forward.

Need a few tips for how to set up a routine for your little kids? CLICK HERE!

7. Set boundaries.

If I’m being really honest, I’m a big people pleaser and am not very good at setting boundaries. But, I’m learning how important it is to set boundaries because my time and talents are valuable and they can’t be used all the time by everyone.

- Boundaries for Work

I want to be there for everyone who needs me all the time, every time. But, I’ve learned that that’s a quick way to burn yourself out. So, it’s okay to say no without an explanation and to kindly decline extra things that you’re not interested in participating in. It’s also okay to stop answering emails at a certain time during the day and not responding until a certain time the next day. You don’t need to be available to everyone ALL the time, so decide what works well for your life and then set those boundaries to protect your time.

- Boundaries for Kids

I’ve set up some boundaries for time with my kiddo too, but it looks a little different than work boundaries. Some boundaries I’ve set up with my 3 year old include when it’s okay to watch tv, when it’s acceptable to come out of his room in the morning, and what “quiet time” in the afternoon looks like and is used for. I use my son’s quiet time to get some work tasks accomplished, so we’ve set up boundaries and expectations for that time of the day so that everyone can get what they need. It’s okay to tell your kids “no” sometimes and for them to see you work hard sometimes. That’s how we all learn about real life and how to balance work and play in our world. :)

8. Plan tomorrow before bed tonight.

I don’t remember where I heard this tip, but it seriously is such a good one for being productive and using all your time as efficiently as possible.

By writing out your plans for tomorrow tonight before you go to sleep, it clears your mind of all the things you need to remember to do tomorrow, gets a jump on those to-do lists you’re going to make a separate out tomorrow, and gives you what you need to hit the ground running the SECOND the babysitter shows up.

I like to make my overall daily plan in my planner and then separate out the tasks on smaller to-do lists or a different section of my day in my planner.

9. Give your body what it needs.

Raise your hand if you’re a fellow stress-eater! *insert my raised hand here* I TOTALLY GET IT. Stressful week ahead, you’d better KNOW there is going to be a pound of cheese in the bottom drawer and a whole bunch of chocolate covered almonds in the pantry too. Oh, and probably a few Starbucks Double Shots chillin’ in the fridge, just in case. BUT, I found that my brain works SO much better when I’m keeping that stress-food to a minimum and taking time to actually feed my body good stuff.

So, take the extra 3 minutes to make a protein shake. Spend the extra two bucks to get the organic frozen meal you saw at Target. It’s worth the small amounts of time and resources to keep your body and your brain working as well as they can be. You’ll have less brain fog, feel better physically, and feel less depleted at the end of a long day if you’ve taken the time to eat some stuff that fuels your body.

Oh, and water. I’m the world’s worst water drinker, but water is so so important for feeling good. If you need something to help you drink more water, this electrolyte powder is my absolute favorite and it helps me to drink way more water than I normally would because it tastes yummy. Haha! So, pro-water drinking tip…make it yummier so you want more.

10. Ask for and accept help.

You have a LOT on your plate and much to accomplish in the short snippets of time you have. So, when your mom asks if you want her to come play with your little one for a few hours, SAY YES. Or your best friend says they have an extra ticket to the movies this summer, does your kid want to come along? YES. Do you have another work-at-home mom friend who would want to trade kiddos a few times a week?? YES YES YES.

(P.s. I have a mom friend who works from home too, so she keeps my kid one morning a week and I keep her kid one morning a week and it’s WONDERFUL…the kids get to play together and we each get to have a couple hours a week to really focus on work for FREE?! Do everything you possibly can to find yourself a Laura! :) I’m so blessed!)

But, I’ve also needed to ASK for help at certain times too. I get up early with my son every week day, since my husband has a more-than full time job that he needs lots of sleep for. And I LOVE getting to spend the whole day with my kiddo. But, it would be nice to have a few hours of extra sleep or intense work time, so my husband gets up early with our kiddo on Saturday and they go out and play somewhere to give me a little bit of time to accomplish things. I also reached out to a friend who has a trusted nanny watch her girls a few times a week to ask if I could bring my little one to play with them one morning a week. The sweet nanny said she’d love it, the kids get some great social time, I can sneak in an hour or two of work, and I still get to spend the majority of my time with my son.

There are SO many options for getting extra time and the help that you need. Don’t be afraid to ask for and accept help that you need. :) It takes a village.

11. Give yourself SO much grace and keep breathing.

I hope this one is really obvious, but give yourself so much space for grace and breath, mama. You are doing THE most important job, raising and loving your babies. And that is challenging enough at times, even without the extra businesses or work tasks that you have pulling at you.

So, remember that your best is good enough and it will probably look different from day to day and that is okay. Keep showing up for your kids, keep showing up for yourself and people you love, keep showing up and doing your best at work. That’s the most you can do and it is ENOUGH. <3

Okay, I hope these tips that have helped me get better at being a work-at-home mom help you find your groove a little bit too. I have absolute faith that you can be an incredible mom AND excel in your work. You’ve TOTALLY got this!

Cheering you on, mama!