15 Life Changing Tips For Working From Home Mothers

Where are all my working from home mothers at?! Whether you run a business, have part time work, work a corporate job or just want to get stuff done while your kids around, this article is for you.

As a full time corporate employee, business owner and mom of 3 under 4 years old, I’ve learned some tricks for getting stuff done while managing the chaos.

These are my top tips for prioritizing, accomplishing and having meaningful interactions with your kids during the day. A mother about 10 years ahead of me always says, there’s enough hours in the day to get done what you need to get done and I fully embrace that approach.

This post is all about working from home mothers.

Top Tips For Working From Home Mothers

1. Get up before your kids

When I was pregnant with my third child, my friend told me something that blew my mind. She said the third kid forces you to be different. Wake up before your kids and do something for yourself. So I started waking up between 5:30am and 6am to fill my own cup.

I get up and have a quiet time where I read the Bible and journal. I drink coffee and set my mind on good things. Then I do a brain dump of everything taking up space in my head. Once the dump is done, I ruthlessly prioritize tasks for the day.

2. Have your morning routine on auto-pilot

My kids have a red light green light that tells them when to come out of their room and the baby isn’t up until I get her up. We chose to sleep train which makes this all possible with 3 kids, 4 years old and younger.

We tend to make the same breakfast during the week to keep the routine simple. The kids know that after breakfast they go and get their clothes on, brush teeth and do hair. I obviously still need to assist the younger ones in this area but since they know what to expect, they get themselves there and participate easily.

3. Get kids to childcare

Childcare drop off is next. My older two go to preschool 5 days a week and the baby has a nanny that comes into our house 2 mornings a week. I get everyone where they need to go and come home for a productive morning.

The mornings I don’t have childcare, I set the baby up with toys in my office to play with and plan on a snack time after an hour and then a walk another hour after that. I’ll take a call while I’m on the walk to keep working my brain dump list and get my tasks done for the day.

4. Have a productive morning until lunch

If you have childcare, this could be going to meetings or getting focused work time. I put my phones on do not disturb and knock out my brain dump tasks one by one. Then I always pick the needle moving tasks or schedule all my meetings while I have childcare.

You’ve got to be intentional to not waste time and not give myself “breaks” knowing that I am paying a pretty penny for this alone time in childcare and relationship time with my kids.

Now if I have no childcare, this is where we will be going somewhere to get kids wiggles out. Or my favorite is places I can get some work done and they can play safely. But the goal with this time is connection and getting tired to eat a good lunch and take a great nap.

5. Stop and eat lunch with your kids

If I’m working from home with the baby, I take a break at lunch time and eat with her. This is great time to be intentional at playing and connecting with her before she goes down for nap and I get another couple of hours in of work.

If all the kids are home, this is the highlight of my day. We laugh and play and talk about our morning. Then it’s lights out for a solid afternoon rest.

6. Put babies down for a nap

Once all the babies are done eating, we go down for naps. Even the 4 years old still naps and I am soaking it up as a busy working mom!

When he’s older, I plan to implement quiet time and let him listen to books on tape or play quietly with an activity. It’s a great time for everyone to rest and reset.

7. Get stuff done!

Go to your brain dump, pick the needle movers and get them done 1 by 1. This is the next stretch of focused work time and so valuable. Do not do anything you can do while the kids are awake! Focus and go.

8. Do screen time after nap to elongate your afternoon

I always opt for screen time to be a tool. We do a show after nap in the afternoon to allow me to elongate my work time. The kids get a snack and show and slowly wake up.

It’s great for them and me to transition into afternoon time altogether and helps me wrap up my work day.

9. Send the kids outside

If weather permits, I send the kids outside for some play time. If I just have the baby we may do some time in the swing but I usually take a work call or make calls during this time. I always have a running list of people I need to call during this time because not everyone will answer when I need them too.

10. Prep dinner and do a house pick up with your kids

After outside time, we do a house reset and I prep dinner. Now, my kids are little so not everything gets picked up or put away perfectly, but I don’t care. It’s good practice for them to learn to participate in household chores and they will get better.

Personally, I do this as an exercise for them to learn a little responsibility and I use the real clean up time for when they are in bed and out of the way.

11. Pick up from school

If it’s a school day, we do school pick up at this time!

12. Dinner and evening routine

When we get home we do the dinner and evening routine. Dad gets home from work and we love our time together. My work phone is put away and other business things are put on the back burner.

I love this time of day and focus on play, play, play with my kids and it is the most filling for all of us.

13. After bed, close out your day

Once all the kids are down for the nights, I close out my day. I’ll check work things one more time or business related things. If there’s anything I can clear out fast or that’s urgent, I’ll address quickly.

14. Reset the house

My husband and I reset the house, do dishes, clean up and prep anything for the next day. Some nights, this is only 5-10 minutes because we are so tired and don’t have any energy left.

But it always feels so nice to have a clean house for the next morning.

15. Relax, read and sleep

I love this part of the evening and think it’s important to have something to look forward to every day!

What other tips do you have for working from home mothers? Let me know in the comments below!

This post was all about working from home mothers.