Simple Simplifiers For Career Moms

From the outside, career moms might think this looks a little anal. But I assure you it has more to do with a heady mix of desperation and survival.

If you have read leadership or productivity books, you may have noticed this concept of cognitive energy. Most people have certain times of the day when they have peak performance (morning people versus evening people etc.). But regardless we only have so much brain energy in a given day, and it can drain quickly, especially if you are simultaneously juggling school and sports schedules, preparing for the next management meeting, and triaging emails.

There are days (most really) that I squander most/all my good brain power I could be using to make the best decisions, read and actually absorb the content, or do some proactive planning that could prevent the mad dash as a looming deadline approaches. If this sounds a bit like you, you are not alone.

I recently had an important customer meeting and every day I “blocked out time” to prepare but I got so swept up in the near term and what felt like immediate items, I wound up totally against the wire. That just created even more stress and got me asking. Is there a better way?

Simple Hacks For Career Moms

To completely turn the tide and lead proactive productive days even 50 percent of the time, well, that can’t be conveyed in a humble blog post. However, there may be some super-simple things you can do to conserve that precious brain power.

For example, do you go to certain places often? Mall/grocery store/ office? Would it give you that one-minute extra brain energy if you parked in the same space every time so you don’t have to think about it?

Everyone is different and I wouldn’t suggest anything that doesn’t work with your life. However, you might consider, over the next week or so, just noticing opportunities where you have repetitive tasks like going to the gym every Tuesday evening. Or if there is clutter in your way like your make-up drawer or bag that has three lipsticks you don’t like or never use? Get rid of the others the three you’re not using.

Here are a few of my super simple hacks that might inspire ones of your own:

Personal Hacks

Eat one of two breakfasts – either an egg or oatmeal. Reduces thinking time.
Keep the same bedtime each night.
Park the same parking spot or area every time I go to the gym. When I get there I use the same locker number every time so I am not wandering the halls trying to remember where my locker is.

Hacks For The Kids

Buy a bunch of birthday cards (or even gifts) at once so you don’t have to make it an errand every time.
Delegate kids to pack or check their bags each day. I have a list of items printed out that they need to review before walking out the door. This one has saved me big time – no more extra trips to the school to deliver forgotten items.

Hacks For Work

This takes a bit of time upfront but pays off dividends. I input key prioritized tasks for the week in my calendar to reduce the number of times I have to make the decision ” What do I need to work on right now?”
Set up a cadence of reporting to management so I always have an update ready and if asked, I am not scrambling. Keep in mind, if you need to delegate some tasks so you are always ready, build that time in.
Create steering teams/ governance for key programs to ensure they are moving forward and I am getting help and alignment along the way (again reduce surprises as much as possible).

Wrapping Up

Those are the simple hacks that have made my life so much easier. Don’t forget to make it a point to notice opportunities where you have repetitive tasks and see how you can simplify them with a hack that is best suited to your needs.

If you have a simple simplifier, share it with us in the comments below. And before you go, please share this post with other career moms. After all, we’re all in this together!

Happy simplifying!