Even though you are likely the manager of your home, as well as a working mother, you can find ways to reduce the amount of personal errands you have to do.  Working mothers who split their time between going to work and raising their family are also often in charge of balancing the checkbook, getting groceries, doing the dry cleaning and laundry, paying bills, etc.  These personal errands eat a ton of time!  You can minimize the time you spend on many of your personal errands by becoming friends with technology and various delivery services.  Here are a few ideas to get you started: 

• Netflix or some other delivery service for movie rentals and video games
• Grocery services provide your grocery list delivered to your door!
• Some dry cleaners offer delivery and pick up services- find one!
• The online services of the US Post Office include a pick up service for no additional charge- so package-up your mail and request pickup and skip visits to the post office!
• Use online bill paying services to schedule your payments automatically

It’s easy to get caught up in your to-do list at work, your home calendar for the kids sporting events and music lessons, household chores… but when you’re working this hard you need to reward your successes.  The bonus of setting up rewards for yourself (such as a manicure, new pair of pants, time to enjoy coffee at the coffee shop, etc) is that you are likely to work a little faster and be more motivated when you know what your reward will be upon completion of a specific task. 

3.  Plan Your Meals

You know what’s easier than coming home and digging through the refrigerator and pantry trying to decide what to make for dinner?  Knowing what you’ll have for dinner for several nights at a time, and having all of the ingredients you need ready to go, too!   

Use the Food Network website to find easy recipes and meal planning strategies that take the stress out of dinner-time.  With Quick Fix Meals with Robin Miller all of the guesswork has been taken out and you can follow along with the recipes and meal plans; but you can also spend an hour once a week creating your own plans for meals you already know your family enjoys and do all of your shopping at once.  You’d be amazed how much time pre-planning your meals saves over the course of a week! 

4.  Make a Note of It

How often do you find yourself stuck in traffic, waiting in line at the grocery store, or otherwise rushing from one appointment to the next, only to remember some little nugget of information that you need later?  Or an item you forgot to add to your calendar or to-do list?

Get in the habit of carrying a small notebook around with you in your purse or briefcase (whatever you have with you all the time), or a digital recorder.  Check your cell phone or mp3 player’s user manual, as many now come equipped with a voice recorder that lets you record memos to listen to later. 

5. Save the Best for Last

If you procrastinate often on the things that you don’t like to do, then you should switch your schedule around and do the unsavory tasks before you do anything else- whenever possible.  Save the things you like, or don’t mind doing, for last.   

Let’s say you don’t like to make marketing phone calls, but you’re required to make at least 5 each day.  You could schedule your time so that you do all 5 of those dreaded calls before a specific time each morning, so that you get it done and over with and can focus on the things you enjoy.  You’ll have the relief that the task is completed, and it won’t be in the back of your mind- causing distractions while you do other work. 

6.  Block Out Schedules 

We all know the most kids thrive with a consistent schedule or routine.  It’s no surprise that most adults find a routine helpful as well!  If you create a schedule for your daily tasks, and place each task into specified time blocks, you can make sure everything is prioritized and nothing gets overlooked throughout the course of the day. You won’t spend time deciding what you should work on first, either, since you’ll have your schedule established.