How I increased productivity as an unfocused WAHM

I remember when I first became a stay at home mom, I thought my house would be so clean and organized. I thought I would have amazing meals on the table every night and life would be near perfect. I may have imagined rainbows and unicorns too. Then… reality set in. It was beautiful and magical, just not clean and sparkly like I envisioned.

Fast forward several years to when my kids went to school full time, I became a work at home mom and I had the similar utopian unrealistic dreams.

In reality, I found myself binge watching Netflix or cleaning out closets.

My business wasn’t growing and I knew something had to change.

That something was me!

I had to get serious about my goals, what I wanted my life to look like and what I specifically needed to do to achieve that.

Here are few things that I did that helped me…

1. Write out my why. Why am I in business? Why is it important? How will accomplishing my goals help my clients? How will this help my family? Really dig down here, don’t just say “it will make a difference”. Get specific!

2. Brain dump! Just write everything out. Whatever is on your mind get it out of your head. I have discovered I am very unsettled when my mind is constantly trying to juggle everything I’m thinking about or worried about. By getting the junk out and down on paper my brain can actually solve the problems I’m facing!

3. Get ready for the day. It is so tempting to set the alarm 5 minutes before the kids get up, throw on an old sweatshirt and yoga pants, put my hair in a ponytail and call it good. But, I have started getting up earlier so I can shower, do my hair, get dressed and have my quiet time before my kids get out of bed. This means I am ready for work as soon as the kids are on the bus and makes me less likely to lay on the couch binge watching Gilmore Girls.

4. A work spot. I realized I was constantly moving my computer, tablet, sketch pad and planner from one spot to another depending on what area was clean or where I felt like working. {As a result of one of my brain dumps, see #2} I carved out a small area so I can “go” to work everyday. I arrive at my desk with my coffee in hand and everything is all set up just waiting for me to work my magic!

I have discovered an added bonus to this work spot! My family doesn’t interrupt as much. They now recognize I am working and they are more likely to take care of things on their own or wait until I finish my work for the day.

5. Business Hours. I set up specific hours that I work. This gives me parameters to work within but also gives me boundaries between work and family time. I am making a concentrated effort to put work away when my family is home so I can focus on them. Because I am limiting my work time I am less likely to procrastinate… I only have so many hours per week to work on my tasks.

Since implementing these 5 things, my productivity is up and I am much more settled!

I don’t think these little things are really big game changers. For me, it was about changing my mind set. I realized I wasn’t really thinking of my work as a business, I was treating it more like a hobby.

I also had to accept reality. I am only one person with limited time and resources. I needed to be realistic with what I can do and achieve in a day. My choices have consequences! I needed to realize that spending time on one thing meant something else would be left undone and I needed to be ok with the choices I made.

Because I believe in you, I want you to have this print as a gift.

So what about you… what has helped your productivity? I would love to learn a few things from you!