Being a parent is a 24-hour job. You just don’t stop working. Add to it a professional career and there you go; you are practically always short on time. It gets difficult to manage work, house chores, and kids all together. One of the other things suffers, and you never want your kids to take the brunt.

While being a working parent is hectic, managing time the appropriate way can help you save some for other chores and tasks. Read ahead if you are a worried parent who needs tips on how to save time to do better, more productive things.

• Make a To-Do List: Ever heard of mommy brain? This term is used to describe spaced out, sleep-deprived moms who can easily forget things. Mom brain is a real phenomenon and a parent can vouch for that. You have so much to do but so little is actually remembered by your brain.

The best way to keep it all systematic is to make a To-Do list the night before and jot down all the tasks that you must do the other day. This will also serve as a reminder if you tend to forget often.

Plan out your entire day using the to-do list. The next day, while you keep getting done with the tasks, cut them off from the list. This also helps serve as motivation when you keep looking at the tasks you conquered and how much you managed to get done.

• Prioritize Your Tasks: While you make a to-do list, keep in mind to prioritize your tasks accordingly. The ones that are the most important and cannot be ignored should be prioritized first. The rest of the tasks can be done later.
• Plan Meals for the Week: Guessing what to cook is a time-wasting dilemma. Deciding on a meal plan for the entire week will help save time. It will also cut down on your store trips since you can list down all the ingredients for the entire week and get it in one go.

Making your children involved in the meal planning task will help take their point of view of what they would like to eat. Children have a habit of owning up to what they decide. Hence, taking their input will make sure they do not give you a tough time while eating the meals.

• Cook and Freeze: Make three to four half-cooked meals and freeze them. This will save time and help immensely when you are running late. Just thaw out a meal, finish the cooking and serve. Simple.
• Make Use of the Lunch Breaks: The lunch hours during a working day are a great way to get done with pending chores such as buying the grocery or picking up laundry. Plan out tasks to be done during the lunch break. Get yourself a sandwich and get working.
• Organize: We can never place enough emphasis on this. Organizing your stuff helps keep things where they can be easily found when needed. With kids around, keeping things organized is an impossible job. However, it is also the most important one. Get a file cabinet for yourself and maintain a copy of everything such as your child’s school or health records.

Placing baskets around the house assigned for different things is an excellent method to keep things organized. Keep a few baskets in the lounge for toys, books, games, etc. You can also keep baskets for dirty clothes, shoes, etc. This way things will stay where they can be easily retrieved from, hence, saving the time spent in finding them.

• Use Post-Its: Post-Its are a mom’s best friend. Stick them on the calendar to keep a track of important dates such as the next visit to the doctor, parents and teacher meetings, etc. You can also make a grocery list and stick on the refrigerator to remind yourself. A tiny whiteboard hung on the kitchen wall is also great to write reminders on.

• Get Up Earlier Than Others: Kickstarting your day a little earlier than others will give some time to get your tasks done with ease. You can shower, iron clothes and plan out your day in this time. Constant distractions while doing a task only extends the time needed to complete it. Getting up a little early will give you the much-needed time and focus to get your tasks done.

• Use the Internet: Making use of the internet to get done with tasks is a brilliant way to save time. Pay your bills online or get them automatically deducted from your bank account on the due date.

Utilize the many grocery stores that allow you to purchase grocery items online and they deliver them to your doorstep. Online shopping saves a lot of time which is wasted going around the store tackling crowds. If you are running too late, make use of the internet and get the job done in a jiffy.

• Multitasking: While this might affect your focus, some tasks are too mundane to be done alone. Toss clothes in the laundry while going over to your children and making sure they are doing their homework correctly. Do all this while having the meal cooking in the slow cooker and chopping vegetables for the next day’s meal. Multitasking saves time, you just need to be super active and upbeat to get it all done together.
• Assign Everyone a Task: One person doing all the work will surely get drained and exhausted. Work efficiency might decline and in the long run, it may be detrimental to the health of the person taking all the burden. Dividing tasks will help ease the workload and make it more manageable. Tasks can be completed faster if more people work towards achieving them.

Divide the more major tasks between the parents. The simpler tasks can be given to the children.

You can also ensure the children clean up their mess, make their beds, etc. Make a schedule of daily chores that they must do. This way all the workload will not be on the parents. Children also learn to be more independent when they are asked to manage and help around the house.

As a parent, balancing between work and home becomes extremely tough. However, with our amazing time-saving tips you can make sure you have more time to spend with your family and friends.