The Best Multi-tasking Hacks for Busy Moms!
We’re all familiar with the term “multi-tasking” – being able to do multiple tasks at the same time. But is that really possible? And more importantly, is it even beneficial!?
If I asked you, as a busy momma, if you believe in multi-tasking, you’ll probably roll your eyes at me, like, “Duh! This is the story of my life!”
But if I asked you if you felt like you were productive in that multi-tasking – what would you say? Do you feel like you’re busy all day, but by the end of it you’ve accomplished nothing?
That was me! 100%
So I have ALWAYS struggled with time or priority management – whatever you’d prefer to call it! And when I became a mom I had like 1000 extra tasks every day or week to accomplish! So I was always busy! But, if you ask my husband, I think all he ever heard (and still hears a lot of today – i’m still learning) was “I got nothing done today!”
So I signed up for a time management and organization bootcamp recently and I got SO much insight and some great tools to help me with this area of my life.
And I wanted to share with you one of the most helpful things I learned about how to maximize on my time using multi-tasking.
What is multi-tasking?
Multi-tasking is all about doing more than one task at the same time.
So if you asked the cognitive scientists and psychologists if this is actually possible, they’ll probably tell you that you’re not REALLY doing those tasks at the same time. It’s more like you’re toggling between them.
The trick with multi-tasking is selecting which tasks you toggle between.
Multi-tasking only works when one or more of those tasks requires very little or no mental energy to accomplish. That means that you can do those tasks effectively even though you’re doing more than one thing at the same time.
Here’s a quick example: Imagine you’re watching a series or movie. This task requires some mental energy, if you want to hear the conversation, follow the story and watch the content. Can you write an email while you’re watching? Probably not very effectively, unless you switch your attention completely to the task of that email. Can you fold laundry effectively while you watch that series or movie? Yes!
What’s the difference? Writing an email and watching a movie both require quite a bit of mental energy to accomplish effectively. Whereas folding laundry is more of a motor skill that doesn’t require much if any mental energy.
What you would be doing in the first case of writing the email and watching the movie is actually called context switching.
The difference between multi-tasking and context switching
Context switching is like being a pinball in a pinball machine (remember those!?) or like hopping between all the tabs that are open on your computer.
Each context or task requires a substantial amount of mental energy and focus. When you switch between these tasks or contexts, your brain needs time to adjust and refocus on that new task. The problem with this is that it wastes a lot of time and means you’re less productive.
As moms, we context switch all day long! And mostly we can get by. But this is probably one major reason we feel so exhausted at the end of a day and why we don’t get through all we hoped to accomplish.
Is there really a benefit to multi-tasking?
As busy moms, we always have “so much to do and so little time”. We have a limited amount of time each day. And more importantly, we have a limited amount of physical, mental and emotional energy too. We need to find a way to get as much done as we can, in the time we have, without depleting our physical, mental and emotional energy completely.
So, is there a way to use multi-tasking to our advantage without it being context switching?
The answer is yes! But you have to choose your tasks carefully!
Some activities need your complete focus and attention. Others, not so much. Those tasks that’ll require your focus – don’t try to multi-task with those. The others that require little to no mental energy – multi-task with those!
10 everyday activities you can do while multi-tasking
So here are 10 ideas for multi-tasking:
- Paint your nails, color your hair, put on a face mask while you watch your favorite movie or series.
- Read a book while you supervise the kids playing outside.
- Listen to podcasts or personal development training while you exercise, drive in the car or fold laundry.
- Check and reply to emails while you’re in queues at the grocery store, bank or post office, for example.
- If you’re one those moms with kids who need you to sit with them while they fall asleep, keep track of your to do list and calendar on your phone in an app like Trello while you wait for them to fall asleep.
- Put on a movie or series while you’re doing chores – like cooking or doing dishes.
- Do garden chores or hang up washing on the line while you supervise your kiddies playing outside.
- Use your toilet time (yes, I went there, and I know if you have toddlers, even that time isn’t sacred!). Read a few pages of your book, check emails or social media, jot a few thoughts in your journal, read a devotion from your Bible app, listen to part of a podcast.
- Use a slow-cooker or instant pot to do the cooking work while you do something else. (Ok.. this tip could be more about outsourcing your tasks than multi-tasking – but hey!)
- Use the time while you’re driving in the car to record your thoughts in an audio-journal or spend time talking to God or create a verbal to do list for the day.
Make sure it works for you
The whole point of multi-tasking is to accomplish as many tasks as you can in a way that isn’t unproductive and doesn’t leave you feeling completely spent at the end of your day.
So make sure its working for you!
If you’re doing something important, make sure it’s helping you be productive. For example, answering emails while in the queue at the bank.
If you’re doing something relaxing, make sure you’re allowing yourself to enjoy it while you do something else. For example, watching that series while doing chores.
I would love to connect with you and hear all about how you multi-task to make your life easier! And I’d love to include you in this community of Mommies as we support each other and grow together to become the best moms we can be!
Please subscribe to my emailing list here and I’ll make sure I keep you in the loop on all the latest blog posts, freebies and resources!
Some other articles you might love!
