This conversation was sponsored by Smucker’s Uncrustables. and I received product samples for review purposes.  All opinions are 100% my own.  

Can we talk about how busy we are, as moms?  Moms are busy.  Really busy!  I’m one of them!

I’m a busy mom with 7 kids.  I homeschool them. I run an online business.  And, somehow I have to keep up with the chores, too.  It seems that I have more things to do than I have time to complete.  I want to be supermom, but sometimes I don’t feel like I’ve got it in me.  But, I want to be unstoppable.

So how do I keep up with it all?  Well, it can be lots and lots of hard work, but here’s my best tips to help me keep my family going, even when I don’t have the time to do everything.  By following the ideas on this list, my life naturally flows more smoothly.  When I accomplish them, I really do feel like supermom!

10 Life Hacks that Make me Feel Like SuperMom

 

 

Keep a Basket of Activities for Smaller Kids – This can be freezer bags filled with activities that you’ve printed out and/or put together at a previous date (busy bag activities) or it can just be toys that you rotate in and out.  Whatever you decide, choose something that does not require a lot of adult help while they’re using the basket.  The point here is to keep your smaller kids entertained while you and your older kids are busy with other tasks.

Do the Most Important Things First – I recommend making a list each morning of the 3 most important things to get done.  I know you may have more than 3 things to do, but if you choose the 3 most important, you’ll be so happy if you get those done.  If you get them done and still have time for more, make a list of 3 more things and work through those.

Make a Master List – AKA a Brain Dump – This is a technique I started about a year ago and it has been very effective.  A brain dump is exactly what it sounds like.  You will be literally dumping those tasks that you store in your brain down onto a piece of paper.  If I get everything that I know I need to do onto paper, I don’t have to store it in my brain.  I can write it out and get it out of my head.  Then, when I have some extra time, I can go to this list and pick one thing at a time to accomplish.  I don’t have to worry that I’ve forgotten anything.  If you try this technique, you’ll be amazed at how fast the things on your list get checked off.  Sometimes, you just need some extra focus in order to get everything you need to do done.

Delegate Chores – I would never keep up if I didn’t delegate the chores.  Even small children can be taught to do small tasks around the house.  For me, my older kids are assigned a day for the dishes.  It is their responsibility to keep the kitchen clean on their specific day.  The rest of the chores are split up, age appropriately, between all of the family as well.

Use Your Slow Cooker – One of my favorite sanity savers is to use my slow cooker for dinner time.  Of course, you can use it for other meal times, too, but I find dinner to be my favorite, as it can cook all day while I’m busy with other tasks.  When I use my slow cooker for dinner, my evenings flow and I’m not spending my extra time in the kitchen.

Wash, Dry and Put Away at Least One Load of Laundry a Day – When we do this, we seem to stay mostly caught up with the laundry.  But when we don’t, we get so far behind it takes us weeks to catch up.

Set up a Loose Schedule – I have set up our schedule in Google Calendar.  I’ve assigned each child a color and we have a time that each person is supposed to be doing something.  We don’t follow it strictly, but it does give us a general guideline to follow.  This helps us stay on track each day and not to get off on wild goose trails.

When You’re Behind, Set Your Timer for 15 Minutes – On those days where I just can’t seem to get going or when I’m feeling way behind, I will use my timer to help motivate me.  I tell myself that it’s only 15 minutes and I work like a supermom to get as much done as possible in that time period.  There’s so many things you can do for only 15 minutes.

Lay Out Clothes the Night Before – When I know I’m going to have to go somewhere the next morning, I always find the things I’m going to need to wear or take with me.  That way, when I get up the next morning, all I have to do is get myself ready.  It’s so frustrating trying to find something when you’re about to be late.

Keep Easy to Grab Snacks Available for When You’re on the Go – Tuesdays and Thursdays are my busy days.  My kids have karate and other activities on those days and I feel like we go, go, go.  If we don’t bring along convenience foods on these nights, we won’t eat until 9:00 p.m..

This little guy is one of my kids who gets hangry.  Have you heard the term yet?  So hungry that you’re angry.  Yeah, that’s him.  We can’t have him getting hangry.  So…we feed him in the car.  We will bring along things like cheese sticks, fruit and Smucker’s® Uncrustables® to keep him going.

We love Smucker’s® Uncrustables®.  They are easy to grab, because they’re individually wrapped.  All you have to do is keep them in the freezer until you’re ready to have one.  When you’re ready to eat it, you pull it out of the freezer and it thaws in just a couple of minutes.  It’s super easy to send in the car with your kids (or husband) when you’re in a pinch.

 

 

Giveaway

Did you know the 2016 Summer Olympics start on Friday, August 5th?  Smucker’s® Uncrustables® are proudly sponsoring the Olympics this year.  These Olympians that are competing definitely seem unstoppable and I want to be just like that, but in my job of parenting instead.  That’s why I use the above tools to keep me going!

Would you like the chance to win an assortment of Olympics branded Smucker’s® product worth $25?  You can enter by commenting on this blog post with your favorite Busy Mom Life Hack that you use in every day life and/or tweeting the hashtag #Unstoppable and tagging @Sidetrack_Sarah and @Uncrustables.  A winner will be chosen at random on August 11th.