Productive morning routine for busy moms

The key is to strike a balance between work and spending time with your child.

I often wonder how some mothers have everything so well under control. Their babies are impeccable at all times, stick to their routines and never fuss over brushing their teeth, their houses are always in order, and even the chaos is controlled. I am in awe of mothers who find their me time while not compromising on how much time they spend with their children. How? Is all I can say. Luckily, I have a friend who is that mom, and I asked her for her secret, and kindly enough she shared it with me. I applied those tips to improve my own morning routine, and believe it or not, it feels like I can now steal a few extra hour from the same 24 hours that I had even earlier. If you want to know the magic word too, here goes:

• Not late nights, early mornings do the trick: So I work from home and have a toddler too. Since working when she's awake is impossible, I used to stay up at night, after she went to bed, and catch up on my work. It got so out of hand that sometimes, I wouldn't sleep at all, and the next day I would be dead tired. Staying up late at night will not make you more productive. You will be tired from the day and want to sleep. The key is to sleep early, or with your child and wake up a few hours before them and get your work done.
• Have breakfast before your child wakes up: So this is what was happening. I w as staying up late, waking up with daughter and then it was all about her. Meanwhile, I would be grumpy from lack of sleep. I would be fretting over brushing her teeth and getting her to eat while losing my temper because I was getting hungry too. Eating before she wakes up gives me the energy to tackle a toddler who is definitely not a morning person.
• Don't try to work in bits and pieces: Earlier, I would squeeze in little work throughout the day, which wasn't working at all. Working for bursts of 10-15 minutes wasn't getting any major work done. So I divided my work into huge chunks of finishing some before she woke up in the morning and later during her nap.
• Sort out the meals for a week: The best thing I have done to make my life way easier is sorting out the meals. For any mom, the biggest stress is 'what to cook for lunch/ dinner'. Planning the meals for a week relieves me of the stress and freezer meals have been my saviour.

Hope these tips help you, whether you are working mom or not. Do you have any tips to get work done while looking after a baby? Do share it in the comments.

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