How Busy Moms can Create Systems for Daily Success
I have observed that we often use planning and time management interchangeably. However, the reality is these concepts are different in theory and in practice. They are interconnected and the ability to effectively manage our time has a lot to do with how well we plan our life. In today’s post, let’s explore both planning and time management so that busy moms will have the tools and mindset they need to create systems for daily success.
Sharing my Love for All things Planning, Time Management and Productivity
I have always loved planners, stationery, journals and most importantly planning. Starting in middle school, I would take some of my extra composition books and notebooks and put them aside for me to use as journals. I’d write everything down. Everything from my dreams and aspiration to cheers that I would make up for my school’s cheerleading squad. I’d keep track of my progress as it related to conditioning for my sports to how much money I had saved up and what I was going to do with it.
I was all in when it came to organization and journaling before it became popular!
Fast forward to today, I cannot function without organizational tools. My favorites are planners and digital calendars. On my YouTube Channel, Coach D’s Planner Life, I thoroughly enjoy reviewing planners, journals and stationery products as well as sharing plan with me videos. These quick tutorials walk my audience through effective ways to organize their to-dos and how to maintain productivity. You can watch my favorite planner unboxing below.
Planning vs. Time Management
Let’s start by taking a look at how planning and time management are defined in the Cambridge Dictionary.
Planning is the act of deciding how something is done.
PLANNING | definition in the Cambridge English Dictionary
Typically, when I plan my week I examine the things that I need to accomplish and outline ways to get them done. I also focus on a few of my top goals, no more than five (5) goals per month to maintain efficiency. The above definition of planning makes complete sense to me because I take time to plan out action steps and when I will execute them.
Time management is the practice of using the time that you have available in a useful and effective way, especially in your work.
TIME MANAGEMENT | definition in the Cambridge English Dictionary
In my opinion, planning plays a critical role in effective time management. For working mothers, we have to use our time effectively and protect our time boxes. This helps us to prevent burnout and overwhelm. Fatigue is inevitable when we are not mindful of how many tasks or plan we cram into our naturally chaotic schedules.
Systems for Daily Success
When I use the term systems, I simply mean a repeatable process that we implement to connect diverse aspects of our lives. It may sound a bit complicated, but it’s not. Planning every Sunday and following routines for getting things done are great examples of simple systems for working mothers.
Having a process for preparing lunch boxes, meals for the week, and executing on goals are other examples of successful systems. I always encourage mothers to figure out repeatable processes and effective ways to manage their time in order to be successful.
To Wrap it Up
Planning is an effective practice for busy moms. Time management is a critical skill that working mothers must cultivate to succeed without risking burnout and fatigue. There are some simple practices, we can implement right away, as outlined above, that will allow us to create daily habits that lead to our overall success.
I’ll talk more about planning and time management in upcoming blog posts, so please subscribe to receive the alerts!
Debranetta
Founder, Career Mom Community, LLC
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