Are moms the most productive humans?

After just two months of being a mom, I’m leaning towards yes. But really, this isn’t to exclude anyone; I know there are many other circumstances in life than can have the same kind of personal demands. For me, motherhood has been the one that required me to use every productivity hack I’ve ever learned.

I had my first child on September 18, 2019 (he’s exactly two months old today!), and I didn’t want to send him to daycare or hire a nanny during his first few months of life. That means I am his primary caretaker (and my husband takes care of him, too, when he can) during business hours.

In my home office, working with one hand and holding baby boy with the other. Behind me is his bouncy chair, which he was refusing to sit in that morning.

I’ve always thought I was pretty darn focused and productive, mostly staying off social media during work hours (ha! just sayin’), checking off long task lists each day, and completing huge client projects in a matter of weeks.

But only having time for a few hours (or sometimes just one hour) to work each day has taught me what efficiency and productivity can really look like.

For transparency’s sake, I don’t feel like I’m thriving at this very moment when it comes to work, as my son is going through the 2-month sleep regression. However, I am super productive when I get a free hour here or there.

My 7 productivity hacks

So how do I make the most of my free hour or two?

1. Before starting my work, I remind myself that I only have this block of time, so if my task doesn’t get done then, it won’t get done today, which can lead to loss of revenue, the backing up of a client’s project schedule, etc.

2. I create a distraction-free environment. I close down social media and don’t look at it, even when a task becomes tedious. If you have trouble doing this, use a Pomodoro timer to focus intensely for 25 minutes and then take a 5-minute break during which you check the Twitters. But sometimes, I am doing work while baby boy is sitting beside me or on me (see above). So I realize zero distractions isn’t always possible.

3. I only work on one task at a time and block off more time to complete it than I might think I need. For example, I’ve given myself only one task during this work session, which is to write this blog post. I have an hour, and I am allotting the full hour to write it. Getting anything else done in that time is icing on the cake.

4. I write out a list of every task on my mind at the beginning of each day. This is called a brain dump, and it prevents me from worrying about remembering everything I need to do and just focus on doing.

5. If I’m having trouble completing something, I write down what’s holding me up. This helps me figure out of there is a step that I’m missing and need to go back and do before I can accomplish the task at hand. For example, do I need to make sure a sales page is set up before linking it in an email? Then I’ll make that a task to complete before the task that’s dependent upon it.

6. I cut any tasks that are not seriously important that day. I try to complete one task that is urgent and one task that is moving forward my bigger picture goals each day. As I’m checking things off, I tend to think of things I want to do and that would be great to do, but aren’t necessarily the most important or most urgent for my business at the time. When I have an entire work day to commit to my business, I would stop and do those tasks. Now. . . not so much. I put those “it would be nice to do” things on a separate, unscheduled task list on Asana and get back to them when I can.

7. I ask for help. I ask my husband to take the baby so I can work. I ask my employees to take on tasks that I would normally do. I accept offers of cooking and babysitting from friends and family. Asking for help is something I don’t think most people do enough of, so give it a try and see what someone would be more than happy to take off your plate. I bet you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

What’s next?

Share your productivity hacks in the comments!

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