Practical strategies for ExecMoms.

We’re practical women. And as much as we love an in-depth dissertation about sourdough starters, there’s a finite number of hours to accomplish a long list of tasks at home. As mom’s, many of us have mastered a few tips and tricks that make our homes run smoother, and simplify our lives.

Here’s some of our tried and true practical strategies for managing your home while being a working mom:

Laundry

I love doing laundry. To me, there’s something so satisfying about cleaning my family’s clothes as a way to care for them. But in a house with 5 people (3 of which create an unreasonable number of dirty garments), laundry has become a chore that I do because I have to. It’s hard to find a moment hands-free to sort, turn things inside out, hang items to dry, and fuss over a task that I just need to be done.

Here are a few things I do to simplify the process:

• Each night I put in one load of laundry before bed, almost without exception. Some nights the load is completely full. Others it’s just a crib sheet and two towels. But each day I make progress.

• Each morning, one of the first things I do is switch the wash over to the dryer. Ideally I have an opportunity later in the day to fold and put away the drying. But if I don’t, it’s still clean and not sitting wet in the wash for an extended time.

• Buy Shout Colour Catchers. At first, I wasn’t sold on the idea of these. They’re not cheap, and I’m not generally someone that believes more things are needed to simplify your life. But these are worth the hype. They allow you to put ANYTHING in a load without sorting. Brand new pink sweater? In it goes with your favourite white jeans, and spaghetti-soaked tea towel. It’s basically a miracle. This allows me to do just one load of laundry each day. Everything that got dirty that day goes in the washer that night, and you never need to stress about catching up.

Want more laundry hacks? Allie Cazazza has an amazing article and podcast episode dedicated entirely to laundry. You can find it here: https://alliecasazza.com/blog/how-to-simplify-your-laundry/

Food prep vs meal prep

I’m not a great cook. It’s something I might enjoy doing if I had the time, but most nights I'm eager just to get my family fed, and move onto the next thing. I struggle to come up with ideas, healthy options, and recipes my picky eaters will consume.

But perhaps the biggest pain point for me is meal flexibility. When my kids come home they often ask for something specific that evening. I feel defeated when I’ve put all this effort into meal planning, only to hear “I hate that”.

Then I learned about food prepping instead of meal prepping.

With food prep, you do the prep work in advance such as cutting, chopping, or cooking. You could slice your veggies, boil some rice, and cook your meat for the week. The night of, you decide what you want to make with the ingredients you’ve already prepared. So maybe Monday you decide to make a stir fry! Your rice is cooked, your veggies are chopped, and your chicken is ready to serve. You literally just throw it into the frying pan to heat it up and you’re ready to eat. Those same ingredients could also be turned into tacos, a casserole, or veggie and meat board.

Use business strategies to run your home

In my work life I often find it easy to identify a business solution. Workload is too heavy? Hire another team member. Difficulty finding time to get something done? Allow dedicated time in your calendar to complete that lingering task.

But for some reason, I have a huge emotional block about using these same strategies in my home. Can’t stand the thought of cleaning your kitchen again? Hire someone to clean your high traffic areas each week! Grocery shopping make you want to cry alone in your bathroom? Grocery delivery is where it’s at!

Delegating, hiring out, and allowing others to help are tools we don’t even think twice about in our work environment. Cut yourself some slack and allow this to be the case at home too!

Prioritizing rest

You don’t get to be an executive without having some serious work ethic and hussle. Hard work is at the core of who we are, and is an important character trait we’re trying to foster in our children. But rest is not only essential to maintaining your drive, it’s also productive. Ask yourself, what do you need to be doing right now? If rest is what you’re craving, take it! A break allows your mind and body to recharge, giving you the ability to be more productive later on.

Have other practical strategies for working moms? Let us know what helps you through your long to-do list!

- Leigh