3 Steps to Becoming a Highly Productive Wife and Mother

I have numerous interests in life, and many of them require a significant amount of time.

I happen to have that when I need it.

Of course, if you’re insane like me and your only life goal is to be the most efficient version of yourself, it’s a lot simpler.

But it doesn’t have to be so difficult if you aren’t.

I’m often asked for a tip on how I manage to write, teach, and operate a small coffee shop while still caring for my husband, two children, and our house.

And I do it all myself, including the cleaning and cooking.

If you’re startled, you could profit from my experience.

Here are my three methods for squeezing many hours out of your day every day!

These may seem daunting at first, but believe me: if you stick with it for a month, they will become second nature to you.

Note: I will NOT cover motivation here.

To train yourself to be more productive, you must have tremendous motivation.

I’ll attempt to publish a personal motivation guide later, but for now, the simplest method to be more motivated is to imagine all of the things you’ll be able to do when you have more free time.

Take, for example, Insider’s list of 36 things to do.

Step 1: Plan and limit your work

1. Make a list of the chores you intend to do today. Plan how much time you will devote to them.
2. Prioritize your tasks: There are 2-3 more critical tasks. You will complete them today. The remaining tasks are optional.
3. Work quickly and avoid adding more duties as you go. For example, if you intended to make three dishes in an hour but opted to cook four instead, you can only do so in that one hour. Respect your time.
4. Learn to say no. Stop when your timer runs out. You have other wonderful things to do.

Step 2: Plan and limit your cooking time

1. Prepare a menu. Examine your refrigerator and pantry, then plan your menu for the next week (rather than the current week) and write a list of everything you need to purchase, including snacks. You’ll be able to purchase anything you need this way.
2. Make a list of the bare minimum of components that you must have on hand, up to ten. Make sure you always have things on hand. Put down salt, oil, sugar, pepper, rice, pasta, potatoes, onions, and carrots, for example. You will not go hungry if you have them.
3. Allow for improvisation. If you discover that an ingredient has been consumed or that you forgot to get it, don’t worry and rush to the shop; instead, attempt to make the meal without it or consider what else you can cook with what you have left.
4. Consider the following action steps:

   Wash everything that has to be washed at the same time.
   Set and forget anything that does not need your observation (start the rice boiling, the toaster oven program, and so on).
   If possible, combine identical activities from other recipes (for example, you may saute onions for soup and roast).

In other words, aim to carry out your plans more efficiently.

5. Teach yourself how to create and store batches in advance. Instead of preparing one dish of meatballs or roasted vegetables, prepare two and freeze one. Ziploc bags may be used to prepare and freeze meats, vegetables, dough, and a variety of other items. Pro tip: mark the bag with what it is (you’d think it would be obvious, but it isn’t very often) and the cooking date.

Step 3: Optimize your cleaning

1. Organize your possessions:

   Sort everything in your home into categories.
   Choose a storage location for each category.
   Fill every storage space with items from that category.
   Take what’s left and throw it away. Ruthlessly.

2. Make the most of your available space. Choose one strategy to organizing your environment; happily, there are numerous, such as KonMari. Keep items where you use them.
3. Plan the following tasks:

   Every day
   Every week
   Every month

   Decide how much time you will spend on each of them. Complete the tasks for the day and add 1-2 things from the once-a-week and once-a-month lists every day. If you see that your house is not clean enough or that you are spending more time than you expected, make adjustments.

4. Invest in equipment. Dishwashers, vacuum cleaners, toaster ovens, and other appliances should be seen as assets that will make your life simpler. Choose to invest a little more money in order to save a lot more time.

That’s all there is to it. Next time, I’ll attempt to discuss motivation.

Love you all! Stay safe.

G.