I get a lot of questions on how I stay organized as a work at home mom and what planner I use to keep track of it all.

The answer:  Planning and writing every single thing down in  my Purposeful Planner!

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” – Aristotle

How I  stay Organized as a Work at Home Mom

Getting Started

To stay organized, I use a combo of time blocking and straight scheduling.

Planning my day actually starts on Sunday. That’s the day that I essentially plan my week.

I use a method by Amiyrah Martin where I sit down with a timer for 30 minutes. Then I basically brain dump everything I think I have to do that week.

Afterward, I fine-tune it by looking at my calendar for any posts due, any activities for my son and any other important appointments or events.

Next, I meal plan and make a grocery list.

So how does my Purposeful Planner fit in to help me to stay organized day to day? Let’s break it down!

Top 3

I have a morning routine which means I wake up early every morning to meditate, exercise, have me-time and eat breakfast.  Usually, I am done by 8 am.Then, I start the day with my top 3. Remember that long list that I made on Sunday?

As a part of my Evening Routine, every evening, I go to my long list and pick 3 things that are my priority the next day.  I know that I am most productive in the morning, before 1, so I tend to do my most important things first thing.

My schedule:

If you notice. I write in everything, even lunch.

Because if I don’t, I spend valuable time deciding what’s for lunch or even worse, not eating at all because I don’t have time.

Depending on the day, I either pick Pookah up at 1 and continue to loosely work up until 4 pm.

Or I work until 4 pm( finishing up my top 3, answering emails, sending invoices) and then pick up Pookah.

Then I’m done and it’s time for homework, dinner, and downtime.

I even have my bedtime penciled in.

Braindump

I use this just like it says. It’s a place to dump ideas or things that come up that I can’t get to that day but want to remember.

Retail therapy:

This is where I put random things I need to pick up or need for dinner that I somehow forgot to get.

Menu:

Remember that I meal plan on Sundays. As part of my evening routine, I write down what we are having for Dinner here and what I will fix Pookah for lunch. That way, I know if I need to take out any meat to unthaw or head to the grocery store to pick up any last minute things.

I know this may look very rigid to some of you. But having this schedule laid out in detail like this actually allows me to be more flexible. Because I know for sure, every day, what I have to do and what I can juggle in case of emergency. If Pookha’s school calls me to tell me he is sick, I can regroup because I know what’s supposed to happen that day.

So that is how I stay organized as a work at home mom! Questions?