Today I’m going to reveal the top 5 things I see women wasting their time on and productivity hacks you can use to regain that time back in your day. This first one I’m sure comes as no surprise.

I know you knew that was coming. We’ve talked about this so many times because it really is a problem!  If you just look at this one you could at least get an hour back in your day.

The best way to determine if you are spending too much time on your phone is to turn on your screen time. I often delete apps off my phone. Even when running an online business you can get by without these apps. There are third party apps such as Plan that can plan your stories and Facebook and Instagram posts. Delete the apps on weekends and when you’re not working. Also, using different focus modes on your phone can help slow down your use of messaging.

These apps are strategically designed to become addictive to your brain. I first realized this was a problem when I began to delete apps off my phone and started mindlessly tapping my phone. These things are causing problems for your brain and your children’s brains. Every time you go to grab your phone when you are bored at the stop light, during a commercial break, or in the grocery line you are doing a huge detriment to your brain. 

The other part of this is the news. 1000% of the time I do not watch the news. If you want to read an article or two sure go ahead but I want you to really look at the amount of time you spend consuming “news” off of Facebook. I want you to look at how much of that information is constructively helping you reach the goals you know you were called to achieve right now. I want to challenge you to look at if it truly is helping or if it is hurting you.

How much time have you wasted this week not being prepared? Let’s get granular with this. Start by looking at one specific time. You need to get in the weeds with this to pull out the inefficiencies. This might start to look insignificant but when you pull several 3-5 minutes out of your day that’s a whole 15 minutes. 

In my life, I started looking at the small things in our morning routine like how many times I go up and down the stairs or where we place the girl’s backpacks. 

When you go to plan out your week look at all your errands and structure your week around that. You can use the time when you are waiting for your kid to get out of soccer to make appointments and phone calls. Be very strategic instead of reactionary. We want to wring out every drop of water into that bucket, every minute of our day, and eventually fill up that whole bucket with water.

To help you be more prepared you can use all my resources. My podcast, the blog, the 5 block method, the Fundamental Needs workbook, and my free workshop will all help you with this. Pick one that you think will be best for you. Our Facebook group can also support you with this. Alright, onto number 3.

Just get up and do the thing. Do the dishes, tackle that pile of laundry. Either you have some fears you need to overcome or you are in this cycle and you just don’t want to do it. You’re overwhelmed, overworked, or just simply sick and tired of doing the dishes. You’re tired of being of being tired.

Well, nothing is going to change and you’re going to be tired forever if you don’t get a home management plan in place. I have my own home management system that will get you a home management plan in place that works in just four weeks. It’s flexible and is made to help you be successful as a work-from-home mom.

One of the biggest reasons you are lacking the time you need is because you just keep putting things off. This is happening because you are so overwhelmed you don’t even know where to begin. I get it but just stinkin’ start somewhere.

Having good systems in place will help you get through this but another simple productivity hack is just setting a timer. Put 15 minutes on to do the dishes. They might not get all done but at least it’s not two heaping piles spilling over. You will be so happy you just got up and went to work. This next one kind of plays into this one.

I know this might sound contradictory to what I just said but this is not for those who are struggling with procrastination. I’m talking about those of you who are hap hazardously cleaning and tidying. There is a better way to go about cleaning your house. It doesn’t have to be complicated. Doing laundry at different times of the day on different days of the week is not working. Waiting to do things until they need to be done is so counterproductive. You end up wasting so much time.

If you have more than one bathroom in your house you should absolutely be cleaning them during the same one-hour chunk of time. Kid A gets toilets, Kid B gets vanities, Kid C gets floors, and Kid D gets tubs. Just apply that concept to everything you have to get done in your house. Group things together, make it make sense, and make it efficient. No idea where to begin? Just use my home management system.

The real productivity hack behind this is not doing things after it needs to be done. You’ve got to be preventive. To do that you need to step back and look at things in your house and group them together in a way that is most efficient. It might be going to the grocery store, mowing the lawn, or organizing kids’ clothes. You have to be systematic about it. Start in one place with one system and move forward from there. That’s number 4 now onto the last time waster.

How much time are you wasting every single day and every single week on conflict? Whether that be conflict with your spouse or kids or conflict with yourself. We are going to jump right into the productivity hacks to stop all this conflict.

Conflict with yourself is the stuff that will pull you down and keep you down for a long time. Thoughts you are having in your head that are in direct conflict with what you are trying to achieve need to go away. You can’t have defeating thoughts about your body, your potential, your abilities, your growth, about your lack-of. You cannot do it, it will waste your time.

If you struggle with anxiety and depression it will spiral you out of control. From that moment when you have those negative thoughts you are going to lose your ability to preform at your best. I can’t be the best wife or mom I need to be when I’m mentally and emotionally down on myself. Just stop wasting time on those thoughts. That alone will free up so much time for the opportunity to get more done.

A productivity hack for conflict with our kids is positive parenting. I have an incredible podcast episode on this with an amazing teacher Ralphie Jacobs. It’s such a game changer. I don’t think a lot of parents understand that you don’t have to get into a disagreement with your children. You can work civilly side by side with your kids to find something that works for both of you. You can still be the disciplinarian and authority but you can do it in a positive manner. We waste so little time on this in our house.

To help with conflict with your spouse start by focusing on the outcome of what you want that day to be. There was a season in our marriage where we went through a lot of conflict. Time is such a motivating factor for me because it is so precious. I had to look at how I wanted my morning routine to be. If I was about to engage in conflict with Blaine and I was in my morning routine, I knew I was going to ruin my morning routine and probably every other time block in my day if I engaged.

I stay focused on what I want to accomplish in each time block and ask myself if that conflict is going to help me accomplish that. Maybe engaging in conflict for you looks like retreating and you do need to have a conversation in that time block so you don’t blow up at your spouse five days from now. It all depend on your personality. The important part is that you get into the nitty gritty of the 5 block method because that is the anchor for everything that you are doing with your time.

The number one time saving hack for all of these things really are your time blocks. If time blocking is new to you, please go download my free workbook. Go back and look at these five time wasters and commit to one of my productivity hacks so that you can gain back time in your day. Here are the top 5 time wasters again.

1. Phone
2. Not being prepared
3. Procrastination or avoidance
4. Random house work
5. Conflict

Figure out which one you want to focus on right now. Make a choice to make one small positive change. I can’t wait to hear all about it inside the Facebook group! Join the free group and share with me over there! If you think you are ready to dive into even more, come find out more details on the Systemize Your Life Academy where you can go from overwhelmed to confident in just four weeks. I’m so glad you joined me and I hope to see you over in the Facebook group!