Not many people are as productive as mums are, even if you were not overly productive before, once you become a mum you learn to be super productive due to the high number of tasks you have to complete daily just to keep the family taken care of while on top, you then have your work obligations.  Here are 10 productivity tips that might help work from home mum to stay on their desired daily schedule.

1. Set a schedule.

Good time management starts with scheduling. Set in advance hours you plan to work in your calendar and tasks you plan to complete daily. Use shared google calendar if you collaborate with partners or clients so your colleagues know your availability in advance. Tr to schedule and tackle your most demanding tasks, those that require the most focus and silence when you are most productive, focused and rested.

2. Get up before kids do.

Pick up to 5 tasks you want to do in the morning (ex.working out, cleaning the kitchen, doing emails, etc.) write them up and keep them on the fridge as a reminder until it becomes a habit you do automatically. My morning routine is waking up at 6am, getting dressed and making healthy breakfast for Anabela and myself milk for Arija, making the bed with Bela, taking our dog out for a walk and dropping Bela to the school bus.

3. Create a to-do list for each day.

Putting things you want to accomplish in your life or in your day on a paper makes it real, physical and it creates satisfaction and if you will even physically helps your body produce serotonin as you complete tasks you set for yourself to do.

4. Use tools efficiently.

Identify time wasters and try to automate as much as you can using technology and outsourcing services. For example, in Barcelona we have grocery delivery service application like Deliberry, prepared food delivery service from restaurants app - Deliveroo and courier app Glovo which delivers whatever fits on a motorcycle, like baby food from the pharmacy when it rains or you already put your kids to sleep and don't want to leave the house or some product samples to your client.

5. Follow a regular nap or rest time routine.

Routine created stability for your kids and kids feel safe and are not nervous when they know what is coming next in a day. Kids go through a lot of transitions as they grow, getting out of diapers, starting kindergarten or school, having routine and constant schedule smooths these transitions. Having a routine doesn't mean it has to be boring, you can be creative with activities you do with kids while staying on the daily schedule they know.

6. Establish a regular house cleaning routine & delegate them.

Recruit all members of the household to do age-appropriate tasks or if it makes sense for your family and your family budget, hire regular cleaning help. For most homes cleaning help 2-3 times per week for a couple of hours per day might be a huge time saver for a working mum. This makes sense especially if you earn double or more per hour then what you pay for housecleaning.

7. Hire a babysitter or organize playdates.

In Croatia, most people use the grandparents or family members for childcare help while in Western Europe that is not really the case. Luckily, now there is an app for that! :) Most people have a regular babysitter or a cleaner they got through a recommendation from friends or family. In Barcelona, we also have Nannyfy app which offers babysitter profiles from your neighborhood with ratings for each nanny, mostly students or women who babysit as a side job which comes super handy when you need urgent childcare. Playdates, done reciprocally, with school friends can be a free time slot in a day while kids play at their friend's house to do some extra work.

8. Break bad habits that kill your productivity.

We all know what I am talking about here. Check your screen time on your mobile. I am sure it happens often that you are cooking, get an email, next thing you know you are scrolling through Instagram for 15min and your bolognese sauce has burned. Turn off notifications as a first step and dedicate time on your to do list for emails. Multitask only when you absolutely have to, as it has been proven that multitasking slows us down by 40%. Clean out the clutter in your home office during the weekend and make sure there is absolutely nothing that on the work surface that takes your focus from your work. Finally, perfectionism slows you down and disables you to start or hit 'send' thus disabling you to get things done or even to start them. Done is better than perfect!

“Productivity is no longer about how efficiently you work. Productivity is about how much you accomplish.” Chris Bailey

9. Take advantage of the evening hours.

I was never a morning person but I had to become one to make my day longer to be able to do all I have to with 2 kids and preserve my sanity. However, I still do my best work in the evening. It is an absolute must for me to have 2-3 hrs per evening to do the creative part of my work that requires more focus and working without pressure or to much stress.

10. Network professionally and personally.

Working from home might reduce opportunities from networking so you can join mumpreneur or women entrepreneur facebook groups in your city or networking organizations (like Girls Gone International, Costa Women or Lean In etc.), workshops, and events to have opportunity to pitch your business to new people, pick their brain about how to improve your services and potentially acquire new clients and friends. As a mum, you are probably anyways meeting parents in parks and on birthdays so you can use these opportunities to meet new friends or create your own power mum circle of like-minded parents or mums.

She has a power to move the mountains,  she has a power to be the heroine of her life, the power to lead others and the power to create, to create love, to create life. I want my daughter to know it and I want her to live it. This is why I try to walk the walk and talk the talk on importance of human rights, human right of women to be treated by society as equal human beings to men.

It is absolutely incredible to me that in today's day and age we have to walk the streets to ask the governments for legal protection from domestic violence and abuse to ask to stop discrimination on workplace just because our bodies are different or because we are the gender who have the possibility and the choice to bring children to life which should be protected and rewarded by the society and not discriminated against.

WOMEN'S DAY.

 International Women's Day is a global celebration of women's social, political, and cultural achievements from the past and present, while pushing for progress for future generations and gender equality.

"When SHE raises, we all raise."

WHO IS A FEMINIST?

Feminist is not an angry women with mustache who hates man as those who are dismissing feminism would like you to think. A feminist IS a good human being, male or female who understands the importance of equality of women and men in society, home and workplace and aims to achieve it by modeling this equality in own everyday life and by standing up and speaking up to fight for this equality.