School is back in session and I'm finding that I do have more time. But sometimes it's hard to manage that extra time. I bet you might feel the same way. I'm going to share this incredible interview with Melodie Bishop on work at home moms survival tips and hacks to work and live more joyfully and abundantly.

Work at Home Mom Survival Tips and Hacks to Work and Live More Joyfully and Abundantly

I know a lot of listeners are working from home right now. No matter what your work life looks like right now, Melodie Bishop from Abundant Mom Life has worked and lived through it and has great tips and hacks for everyone. 

“So I have kind of held most of the mom hats. I've been a working mom, I was a former music teacher. I've also been a small business mom; I had my own voice studio. And I've been a stay at home mom in between jobs. Then I decided to be a work from home mom in the online business space. So I've kind of been able to pivot and navigate through those many different seasons of mom life.”

“It can be a little bit nerve racking when you have to manage the rest of your life around your mom life. You manage work life, you manage home life, you manage all the appointments, you have to manage your business, whether you're working out of the home or you're working in the home. It's a lot. I found that a lot of the people on my team were also stay at home moms or moms who were building a business but had a job outside of the home. But they wanted to bring in some extra income for their family. They were really struggling, just like I was in the beginning of my business,  to find a way to manage it all. Finding a way to have harmony with making sure that they don't have that mom guilt. You have mom guilt when you're spending time in your business or you're at work, that you're not spending time with your family. And then when you're spending time with your family, you have all those things going through your mind that oh, I need to do this for work or the house needs to be vacuumed or I've got a pile of laundry that needs to be washed. So I found that they were struggling and I was beginning to figure out a way to kind of create a method that was working for me.”

Time Blocking

Time blocking is a productivity technique for personal time management where a period of time is divided into smaller segments or blocks for specific tasks or to-dos. It integrates the function of a calendar with that of a to-do list. Maybe you’ve tried it. Melodie and I have both tried time blocking. And while it works for a lot of people, it can be hard to integrate it into a hectic and constantly changing family life. 

“It's really hard to fit yourself into those teeny tiny little time management blocks and block out your whole day. And then when you stare at that, usually what happens is you get overwhelmed and the confused mind says no, and instead of trying to make progress, you end up getting frustrated and you give up or you beat yourself up because you didn't get to all of those things that you wrote down that really was unrealistic in the first place.”

“So instead of time blocking, I started doing what I like to call, and what others refer to as focus blocking.” 

Find your Non-Negotiables

These are the focus blocks that you need to get done everyday. Melodie’s blocks are Faith, Family, Work and Self Care. 

“So these are blocks that you block out. They could be big chunks, they could be small chunks, they could be spread throughout the day. It just really depends on what your schedule looks like. But the idea is you can move them around as seasons change. So during school, when the kids are at school, your blocks are going to look differently than when they're home for summer break… So every single day, at the end of the day, you want to make sure that you are getting all those non-negotiable blocks in and then anything else that you do that day is just gravy, but those blacks have to be the priority in your day.”

Swap and Subtract

• Stop saying yes- Not all the time. But realize, your plate can only hold so much. As moms, we want to say yes to everyone and everything. We are nurturers and givers. But don’t say yes to something if it doesn't fit well into your current season of life. Sometimes a good yes is not the right yes for you right now. That’s ok. You can always add it in later when the time is right. It’s much easier to change a no to a yes than the other way around. 

• Delegate- Have a family meeting with a list of what needs to get done and ask our family what they are willing to do and delegate to them. Hire someone to clean your house once a month or sign up for a meal delivery service. 

• Automate- We are living in the tech age. There are ways to automate your life like paying bills and creating meal plans and shopping lists. Let technology work for you and take those things off your plate. 

3-5 things

Now that you’ve cleared your plate, find the 3-5 tasks that are your non-negotiables. These are the things that you will block and get done every single day. It will really get you set up into a healthy prioritizing habit.

Pay attention to your time

Now that you’ve prioritized, pay attention to how long each task takes you compared to how much time you blocked for it. This will really help you in the long run when you’re trying to figure out where everything fits in your schedule.

Batching, Habit Stacking and Smart Multitasking

• Get in the zone- “Maybe every week, say Tuesday, I'm going to do all the laundry. And that'll be my laundry day because I have a little bit more time to do the laundry, fold it, put away, iron. And we call that theme blocking and batching. And the cool thing about theme blocking and batching is not only does it help you to get a good understanding of your week and the free time that you have available and what you can slide into those days, what will fit better on those days. But you can also get in the zone and when you get in the zone, you can get so much more done when you are focused on a certain task or a collection of similar tasks at the same time. You're going to be able to figure out what days you can do certain tasks and batch them together on certain days. It also saves you time with whatever setup or preparation that you need to do for those tasks. 

• What else could I get done right now that won’t distract me from my main task? This is what smart multitasking or habit stacking is all about. 

“What else can I do at the same time, so I'm getting two, or maybe three small habitual tasks done at the same time, instead of just one task during this time? For example, when I'm cooking, I'm often making the kids lunches for the next couple days. Maybe I can throw in a load of laundry, like do the towels or something like that, because my kitchen is next to the laundry room. can wipe down the tables or the counters while I'm waiting for that pasta water to boil. So the next time that you are cooking, or doing the laundry, or folding the laundry or doing any of those many habitual tasks that we do day in and day out, ask yourself, what else can I be doing right now and get more than one thing done.”

Paper planner or digital?

Melodie uses a simple paper planner and supplements with apps like Trello.

Personally, I use the Full Focus Planner, the Cozi family planner, Google Calendar, and MeisterTask. 

Focus Boards

With program management apps and website like Trello and Meistertask, you can create focus boars. Each non-negotiable category can have it’s own focus board with all the tasks that need to get done in that category. So when it’s time to focus on family or work, each category has a board that you can pull out to know exactly what you can spend time on to get those non-negotables done. This method works great for kids too and teaches them healthy habits and time management in a simple way. 

I hope you found this episode helpful and are ready to tackle your crazy, neverending to do list with a little less crazy. You can find Melodie Bishop and all of her helpful tips and tricks in her podcast Abundant MomLife for Network Marketers Podcast, grab the 'Activate Your Abundance' Freebie, or join her awesome community on Facebook, Abundant Mom Life for Network Marketers.