Teekwa | Top Productivity Tips for Busy Moms

Productivity Tips for Busy Moms

Welcome to the monthly biz tip blog post! This month we are going to talk about the top productivity tips for our busy moms. Our monthly biz blog post allows us to interact with and learn from each other and help each other in our daily personal and business lives. I encourage my beautiful, amazing women to join in on the conversation. This is how I built a successful business because of the women that came into my life at the right season, whether it affected me personally, to gain business ideas, or to build trusting relationships. I will, at times, refer you to people that I know and trust to help you. If I can?t help you, I will definitely try to get the answer for you. I know a lot of things, but I don?t know EVERYTHING.

During the pandemic and while in quarantine, it seemed like a tornado hit, and things got all out of place, and we did not know what was going to happen. The entire world was affected by this pandemic; people were sick, died, businesses and schools shut down, and went totally virtual. The one thing I know about being a single mom is how to pivot. I know that starting out as a young mom, I had to learn very quickly about being a mother, but I had more challenges than some moms. Whether you are a single mother or married, it doesn?t matter what marital status you currently are; these tips can help you. Being home working my full-time job, running a business, coaching, and getting acclimated with homeschooling was a lot, but it was something that we all had to handle for over a year.

Many of us were quarantining with our families, but whether you have a spouse, kids, or you live alone, we were in a closed space 24/7. So, to me, it really doesn't matter whether you were out working a nine to five or going through your day, doing things like working and washing clothes and doing all the day-to-day duties; we still had to get the job done. It is just my son, who is nine years old, and me. So, what got thrown on my plate (which is totally full) was homeschooling, and that was for everybody who has kids. So now we have children, school, jobs, and businesses that we have to handle in a closed space every day. This is in addition to what we have to do in the home: cook, clean, wash clothes, etc. My phone rang, my DMs flooded my inbox, I got tagged in my groups, our virtual business started to pick up! What in the world, how did this happen? Jesus, thank you. I think it was amazing, but people got stressed out and burned out because of the workload.

Biz Tips

I mentioned I am a single mom, right? The business has definitely picked up during the time I needed to find balance in my home. I had to go back to the basics. I got knocked off my feet, and I had to start off my day with clear intentions on what I needed to. Before I go to bed, I like to get my things ready for the next day. I did this when I was going out to work before the pandemic, and then I lost it along the way during the pandemic. At home, there are more distractions because of the things we can do while working at home, but we have to train ourselves to focus on the tasks for the day. I know for me, it was more dishes because we were eating more, getting snacks, cleaning more because we are home every day, etc. All of it was a distraction!! Other things changed like we usually take a shower every day, but being that we were home, we did it whenever or not and lounged in our PJs; it didn?t make me feel like I was productive. It is amazing how just the little things can affect your day. As a business owner, I had to re-adopt a routine because I still had to go on camera in my Facebook group. I had to take showers every day, so I could feel good or put on a little makeup and bring my A-game to my tribe that depended on me. So, planning my day at night helps me to intentionally get up the next day and focus on what I need to do for the day. We created a schedule, a visual one, so my son and I could see what the agenda was for the day. Snacks were scheduled, too, because my son was getting out of control with those. I was constantly getting interrupted during my meetings for the day, so he got used to looking at the schedule to see what was going on at that time. During my full-time job hours, I would add all the meetings I had so he knew he could not interrupt mommy unless it was an emergency. If he needed help, I had family members get on Zoom to help him with his schoolwork. In the evening, when I got off work, he had the schedule of when I?d meet with clients for coaching calls, etc.

I have a desk area where I have three computers, one for my full-time and the other two that I use for my business. My Mac is stationary and I could take my laptop anywhere in the house. At times, I would go in the room with my son during homeschooling (if I did not have a meeting) to be close to him; he loved it.

Getting back to preparing the night before, I prepare my desk for the next day by cleaning it of dust or crumbs ;), and adding post-it notes as reminders of things I need immediately in the morning for work or for client?s work in the evening. I?ll stick them on the wall or my computer. You can use apps or any of the features you have on your computer for reminders, it is a personal choice, but I am a little old school. I use my Alexa to remind me of my to-do list, or I will have my pad at my desk - a mixture of both old school and new school! Whatever floats your boat. I'm a senior executive assistant, so I know what it is to make sure that you have things in place. So that's what I do. I set my day up for success for the next day.

The third tip is the mindset. I wake up every day with a renewed mind, and I thank God and say what I'm grateful for. I never start my day without making it intentional. The mindset is very important, and when you work on your mindset, it will change the dynamics of your life. If you are having challenges with your mindset, try listening to some motivational podcasts, reading encouraging books, listening to some devotionals from your church, or finding some on the internet, e.g., YouTube or some audiobooks. Go into your prayer closet and ask God to help you with your mindset; there are scriptures in the bible that speak to this. When I start my day with my devotional with God, just him and me, I set myself up for a great, productive day.

The fourth tip is to remove distractions. This can be difficult for some because it is hard not to pick up your phone to check social media or turn on the TV to watch your favorite show, etc. You will be amazed how much time you have back when you remove the distractions from the day. You will be amazed how you can finish a project in lesser time than you originally estimated when you shut off your phone and computer notifications. The notifications will get you every time, and then you will remove yourself from whatever task you dedicated yourself to do at that time to start scrolling through Facebook and Instagram. Or even start checking emails and answering them, and before you know it, 2 hours have passed. Now your schedule has been interrupted by distractions. Find a time when you are at your best and more productive and get rid of the distractions. I challenge you to do it for at least a day to see it for yourself. Whether it is in the morning, afternoon, or night, just try it.

My fifth is delegate, delegate, and delegate; there is power in the delegation. It can be a lot, and a lot of us like to stay in control. I am one of them. I like to be into everything, but it is not smart for anybody to continuously take on more than they can handle. Although people tell me I am a superwoman, I actually am not. I have burned myself out, I have taken on more than I can handle, and I have cried because I was overwhelmed. Just because I show up with a smile on my face to the world does not mean I can do everything, so I am not a superwoman, I am just a human the same as anyone else, and not one of us can continue to take on more than they can handle and not burn themselves out. God gave us wisdom, and he does things indecent and in order; therefore, if you are burning yourself out, it is not of God. With that said, take out a piece of paper and start writing things down that you can delegate to a family member, a friend, business partner, or really think about investing in hiring a virtual assistant to help you in your personal life and/or business.

My last tip is to incorporate some form of daily exercise into each day, even if it is just to walk for a � hour to an hour. I cannot tell you how it can make a big difference in your day. Eating healthy and doing some daily exercise will help you mentally, physically, and spiritually. During the pandemic, my son and I started taking liquid multi-vitamins, and it has done us wonders. Honestly speaking, during the winter months, my son did not catch a cold, and he is an asthmatic. I am not saying that this will cure or help you with your asthma; I am just expressing that ever since we started taking it, it?s helped us so much.

Recap of some productivity tips:

Be intentional
Create a plan & make it visual
Mindset
Remove distractions
Delegation
Eating healthy and daily exercise

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Teekwa Scarborough

Business Christian Coach

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