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Shift the Momentum in Your Home: Hot Mess Express to Productivity Powerhouse

There are different things you can do as a work from home mom to really build momentum around your home. Honestly, these are not new ideas, but they will help you start thinking of your choices and the decisions you make. Additionally, you will also perform the work that you do very differently because of these 15 strategies. 

Your productivity at home will skyrocket once you begin implementing these momentum-building tactics. Whatever is keeping you from being unbelievably productive will start to fade away, empowering you to be more productive at home and in your work. There are always levels of being more productive. These strategies can help you no matter where you are on that spectrum. 

Productivity at Home Strategy #1: Set Clear Goals

First, in order to be productive at home, you must define what you’re working towards. If you haven’t established what you’re working towards in your home and in your work, then how will you know what you are being productive towards? Truly, you must have a direction to guide your momentum. You can start by writing down the reasons for what you do every day. You can break those things down into smaller, achievable tasks, and that can give you even more clarity moving forward. 

Productivity at Home Strategy #2: Create Dedicated Spaces

The second strategy to help boost momentum in your home is to create dedicated spaces. Specifically, let’s talk about a dedicated workspace. No longer are you just working all day long from anywhere—you work from home. Being intentional with your space is key. Set a dedicated space for you to do your work. Depending on your home, this could be one specific space or four or five solid sitting spaces where you jam out to your work.

You can also have dedicated spaces for your kids. For example, a space for homework or a lunch box station. Kids are fast learners, and they will be more productive knowing exactly where to sit to begin homework, where to find all of their supplies, and what needs to be put back in place when finished. Dedicated spaces to increase productivity at home are legit.

Productivity at Home Strategy #3: Have Established Routines 

Gain momentum around your home by having established routines. This could be three to five things that you stack together and do routinely. So these things would be done over and over and over again, but it would be okay to switch them up. Let’s make it more clear. First, decide what three to five things will be in your routine stack. Then, you’re going to train yourself to do these things every single day at a specific time each day. 

How to Routine Stack With Time Blocks

Try looking at the beginning of every single one of your five time blocks. Place a routine stack at the beginning of each. For example, before your AM block, you may have a get-ready routine, workout routine, or just a simple routine that has all of that in there. Knowing your routines, when they occur, and checking them off for the day is going to give you so much momentum throughout your day.

“Knowing your routines, when they occur, and checking them off for the day is going to give you so much momentum throughout your day.”

Productivity at Home Strategy #4: Prioritize All Tasks

The best tool to start prioritizing tasks with is my brain dump method. You will be able to really prioritize what needs to be finished with the 1-2-3 method. The 1-2-3 method is such a game changer when prioritizing at home, especially if you are hard on the list-making right now!

Productivity at Home Strategy #5: Time Blocking

If you aren’t using time blocking yet, you are in for a treat. You will gain so much momentum using this method. Specifically, I teach a five-block method. If you want access to the time-blocking workbook, you can find it inside our free Facebook community. 

Productivity at Home Strategy #6: Set Boundaries

Okay, number six is to set boundaries. So you may be thinking, what does this have to do with gaining momentum? Well, the whole reason you are stuck in an unproductive cycle is likely because you have no boundaries. This can look like your kids not doing what you ask of them,  or every single time you do something, someone undoes it behind you. When you don’t have boundaries, you may also struggle to say yes to the right things instead of all the wrong things. It’s not about knowing what to say no to. It’s about knowing what to say yes to.

How to Set Work Block Boundaries 

It’s so important that you know how to set boundaries. In my household, work blocks are serious. However, it hasn’t always been like this. There are many times the kids would knock on my office door, and the next thing you know, my work is derailed for an hour and a half. This was okay, I wasn’t super hard-nosed about it or anything. However, if I were to cross that boundary all the time with my work blocks, I would be staying up late every single night of my life. 

Explaining the boundary to kids doesn’t have to be this big complicated thing. Just a simple “I’m working in my office, and I need you to respect my space until I’m done at five o’clock.” will do the trick. Or, you can have your spouse redirect their attention from you to them in a positive way. 

Productivity at Home Strategy #7: Delegate and Outsource

This next strategy can really level up your momentum and productivity at home or in your business. Now, if you are following anyone online (influencers, coaches, etc.) and they are telling you to do all the work for your family and kids—ignore that piece of advice. In some way, trying to do it all is honorable, but it would run you ragged. Honestly, it’s also a disservice to our children by not giving them responsibilities and expectations. Guiding them, teaching them, and showing them how to meet responsibilities is super important. 

There are so many benefits when you don’t do every single thing for your kids all the time. You can actually encourage a great relationship between your husband and children by not doing everything for everyone. If moms were just constantly doing everything, our husbands would be missing out on some very special moments. This is why it is so vital to consider outsourcing things to the other people in your house.

Productivity at Home Strategy #8: Use Technology Wisely

If you want to gain momentum, it is crucial to use technology wisely. Start by deleting your social apps. The end. Now, the flip side of this would be leveraging technology in the correct way for your household. 

Utilizing Google Calendar

Google Calendar is the perfect tool for your home. It’s part of the hybrid method that I teach inside of my home management system. The hybrid method utilizes a paper planner and Google calendar because, well….it’s 2023.  There are times when we don’t need to be running around town with a paper planner in hand. Mainly because it’s not shareable. Having your calendar accessible to other people is essential, and the automations are endless. 

Incorporating Meistertask

The best technology you can leverage for your business is Meistertask. Meistertask is a task management software program that’s very much like Asana or a Trello board. So many people who do use Meistertask find it super easy to navigate. It becomes even easier once you organize your work into daily, weekly, and monthly categories. On top of that, creating content, event, and project categories will make you unstoppable!

Productivity at Home Strategy #9: Batching Tasks

To get ultra productivity at home, begin batching your tasks. You can do this inside of your home and business time blocks. Look for tasks that you can strategically batch in the correct time block to which they belong. Additionally, you can do this by looking at your to-do list and figuring out what you can group together. 

For example, instead of listing errands on your list 45 times in one week, put them all together at once and save some serious time. Or, instead of doing bits and pieces of meal prep haphazardly, break up your meal prep between two days. The same goes for your business if you’re running your own business or if you are working for someone else.  If you have a whole list of tasks they need to get done, start batching things together.  Batching can help you become more efficient and increase productivity at home.

Productivity at Home Strategy #10: Self-Care 

Making time for self-care is going actually to help you gain momentum around the home as well.  Working out is a great form of self-care that you can insert into this category. Also, getting up and getting ready each morning is also a form of self-care. Simply not being in your pajamas all day can really boost your productivity. You don’t have always to do your makeup or your hair, but really focus on what self-care might look like for you.

Self-care can truly be magical. There is a transformation that happens inside of you when you dedicate even just 15 minutes of your 12 to 16-hour day to yourself. Make sure that you’re focused on whatever your hobbies, interests, personal growth, or something that is engaging for you. It can even be reading a book or doing your nails. Self-care is one of the foundational parts of the home management system because those things are sustainable. They allow you to create time to pour into yourself and your hobbies.

Productivity at Home Strategy #11: Flexibility

One of the best ways that you can gain momentum in your home is to become more flexible. Unless you are on the opposite side of the spectrum. If you’re too flexible, let’s just bring it into the happy middle. What I mean by flexibility is when a curveball gets thrown into your fancy plans, just roll with it. It’s going to be okay. There are times we have so much going on that our plans need to change. It’s important to be able to improvise, adapt, and overcome. 

If you have trouble committing to things because of this very reason, keep trying to put plans in place. Build some resilience inside yourself whenever things don’t go according to plan. It’s life, and life happens. Find your sweet spot and be flexible. 

Productivity at Home Strategy #12: Create Time for Yourself

This is different than self-care. Creating time for yourself goes beyond squeezing in self-care. When you are crafting your time blocks, really think about how you can create time for yourself. This may mean restructuring your time block a bit. I just restructured all of my time blocks in order to extend my AM block. I really wanted to get to the gym every day, not just two or three days. Adjusting may feel hard, but creating time for yourself will empower you to gain so much momentum.

Productivity at Home Strategy #13: Connect With Others

This one is so important. You have to push yourself to get out of your isolation barrier. Yep, it can be tough. You’re a mom; everyone’s kids take turns being sick, it takes too long to connect, and the list can go on and on. You have to push past all fo those reasons. 

If you’re a super social person, you might not have this issue. Whether it be our online community, stroller groups, or anything that keeps you social and connecting.¸So many negative things can happen when we live in isolation. Opening up and sharing allows us to see that we aren’t so incredibly different, we don’t have things backward, we don’t have all things wrong, and our lives aren’t as terrible as we think they are. 

Productivity at Home Strategy #14: Re-Evaluate

One way to make sure you keep momentum is to go back and re-evaluate periodically.  Assess your routines and look at where your productivity may be lacking. Assessing different areas can help you collect data and give you valuable insight into what to change. Without re-evaluating, there is really no way to grow. You need it to continue to grow and power your productivity at home.

Productivity at Home Strategy #15: Celebrate Achievements

So this one is definitely not the easiest to do out of the list. For so many of us, it’s actually the hardest. Other people in your house may get excited about your achievements, but sometimes they don’t fully understand the significance. You have to celebrate for you! This is another reason why you should be connecting with other moms. They understand so much. 

You should still share those meaningful achievements with the people you love most–big or small. Give yourself a pat on the back, eat the scoop of ice cream, or savor the dark chocolate with sea salt. Celebrating yourself will leave you feeling encouraged, which continues the momentum. 

Release the Unproductive and Fine Tune the Strategies that Spark Momentum

Striking the perfect balance of momentum-building strategies is challenging. It also takes time, fine-tuning, and adjustment. Remember to have patience and stay focused on what you are trying to accomplish. Have the willpower to realize the rat race you’re stuck in and be strategic about how to get out of it. Use this list as inspiration to build productivity at home and spark the momentum you so desperately need!