Things Guaranteed to Make a Mom’s Life Easier

Things to make Moms life easier

If you are looking for things to make Moms life easier as a busy mom, here are some ideas for things you can do to go from stressed to less stressed in a short period of time.  

We all know that Moms are expected to still do all of the things whether you work outside of the home or not. I’m going to list some of the things that have helped me the most as a Mom of three daughters.  

This Mom advice is good for a first time mom or any stage mom, because we can all use any help we can get.  

Mom Advice for First Time Moms or Any Stage Mom

Systems aren’t exciting by themselves, but when you use these things to make your life easier as a Mom, they can be exciting!  The ability to cross things off your to-do list at the end of the day is the holy grail for many busy Moms. 

So, how do you get from here (no systems or none that are working for you) to there (systems that actually make your life easier)?

Begin by thinking about what takes the most amount of your time around the house.  For me and most Moms, it seems that meals take the most time.  

That makes sense when you think about all the work that goes into putting dinner on the table.  

Meal Planning – An Example of Things to Make Moms Life Easier

Here are all the steps you have when putting a meal on the table:

(1) You have to plan the meals

(2) Shop for the meals

(3) Put the items away after grocery shopping

(4) Come up with a plan to use it all so you aren’t being wasteful

(5) And then at the busiest time of the day (dinner time) somehow assemble all the ingredients into a meal your family will actually eat

(6) Which leads to cleaning up after it.

It is enough to make you tired just looking at all of the things you need to do.  

Therefore, the first of our things to make a Moms life easier tips is going to be how you can create a plan for getting those meals on the table – number 1 on the list.  

At the end of this article, you will see other time saving tips and ideas for other systems to make your life easier (like laundry, cleaning, etc.).  

But, we will start with the biggest time suck of all – meals.

First Step – Figure Out Your Obligations for the Week

Start by looking at the things you know are going to occur in the coming week.  You can write down all the obligations you have for the week by day in your preferred planning tool or smart devices (written, planner or iPhone, etc.). 

Just make sure that you reference any online calendar like Google calendar or Outlook and your school and work calendars.  Try to make it part of your daily routine to note any meetings, appointments, practices, games, outings, etc. that you might forget to include otherwise.

Once you have all of the information on hand, you are ready to create your plan for the week.  In this example, it may sound really dull to pre-plan your meals for the week, but it will save you time and money in the long run.

And being able to know what is for dinner will make your life less stressful too. 

Second Step – Break Your Plan Down Into Steps

You can use these steps as a great way to make sure you aren’t forgetting any of the important things you need to do:

(1) Choose one day out of the week to plan for the whole week, like Sunday for Meal Planning. 

(2) Break the week down by day and specify what you want to have each day of the week – definitely plan your dinners, and don’t forget to add meal ideas for lunch and breakfast.  

It is a good idea to use a tool like Emeals to help you plan your meals for the week and they give you a shopping list for all the items in the week – saving you the time to create the list.

(3) Take the list of meals you will need and break it down further into the ingredients you will need for your shopping list.

Compare this list of ingredients with what you have on hand already in your pantry, fridge, and freezer.

(4) Now, take this list of ingredients you still need to buy at the grocery store.  One easy way to save time and money is to shop online with your grocery list on an app for Walmart, Kroger, or whatever you use. 

(5) You need to decide to either have the items delivered or pick them up at the store.  You can also go old school and actually go to the store and shop for them (but, this takes more time).

(6) Once you have the items back home, you now have a week’s work of meals preplanned and pre-bought.  

Mini-Break Time and Congrats! Pat yourself on the back

Congrats!  You have eliminated the hardest work of figuring out what to eat each day, which saves you time, energy and stress.  Because hearing “What’s for dinner?” when you have no idea is very stressful.

When all eyes are on you for dinner at the end of a long day, it can make the best day go bad quickly. In addition, eating out every day is not healthy for you, your family, or your wallet.

You have also saved yourself the time and money of going to purchase the food daily if you went the fast food route. All you need to do now is cook it.

Third Step- Combine the Dates and Steps Into Your Schedule

When it comes to the time to plan meals, you would take the list of meals you have for the week and write them in your weekly calendar as one big list of meals you will pick from for each day below.

You are going to reference the appointments and obligations you wrote down in step one, so you know what makes sense or not

For example, you don’t want to plan an elaborate meal for the evening you have a swim meet or ball game you have to be at because you won’t have the time to make it.   You would be better off to pick something that can be made ahead or comes together really quickly.  

Fourth Step – Lay Out Your Plan and Plan for the Week

Using the meal plan as our example again, slot the meals into the best time slot – trying to alternate so you don’t have the same thing back to back. 

For example, you could lay your meal ideas like this:

• Monday – Soups (Chili, for example)
• Tuesday – Casseroles (i.e. Chicken Enchiladas)
• Wednesday – One Pot Meal (Stir-Fry)
• Thursday – Pasta (Cheese Tortellini)
• Friday – Out
• Saturday – Family Favorite (Meatloaf)
• Sunday – Leftovers 

You can plan one evening to be take out or something fast and easy on the weekend. I like to have Friday as my evening to grab pizza or whatever, so I know I don’t have to cook that day. 

Remember, you can also have a leftovers night or even a leftover buffet!  Or you can use your leftovers for lunches, which is another easy way to make your money go farther.

Fifth Step – Post the Plan for Anyone Who Needs It

If your family only cares that they get to eat, then you don’t need to post if for them. If you have family members helping you make the dinners, then you can share it with them on the family calendar.

Sixth Step – Implement Your Plan

Of course, try to make it easy on yourself wherever you can. If you are going to cook every night, you have the food, you have the plan, now you just need to implement.

Using our meal plan example, let’s assume you chose some easy 30 minute meals. Look at your calendar for the day and book time prior to when you want to eat to prep the meal and let it cook.

The best things to make life as a Mom easier (Kitchen Gadgets and Tools)

Here are some great time-saving tips and kitchen gadgets to save you valuable time as a busy working Mom while cooking meals:

• Instant Pot or Pressure Cooker – this tool can save you tons of cooking time.  By pressure cooking your food, you can cut the overall cooking time by half or more.
• Air Fryer – Allows you to quickly get food on the table, preheats quickly and you can just do a small amount at a time as well.
• Crock Pot or Slow Cooker – This one of my favorite practical busy mom gifts.  You can find an article here on a crock pot can be the best thing when you are gone all day.  You just prep the food in the early morning and let it cook all day.  
• Food Processor – Saves you tons of time when you have to chop up vegetables for a dish
• Rice Cooker – You can set this one to work and have one less thing on the stove to monitor
• The Ultimate Meal Planner – This meal planner lets you plan your family meals in one spot.

Seventh Step – Set Your Environment Up for Success 

Try to have the items and ingredients you need out and available when you are ready to cook. Also, make sure the dishes you need are clean.

If you can get in the habit now of doing your dishes every night, you will thank yourself later when you have a clean slate the next day. 

As you cook, also go ahead and put things away you are done with and rinse/pre-load the dishwasher. Your goal when you are done is to just have the items on the stove/oven. 

When everyone is done eating, dishes go in the dishwasher or get washed. 

In this way, you are ready for the next day. You can then put away and package any leftovers for another meal or lunches.

Eighth Step – Make This Plan Even More Effective 

Use a habit tracker or calendar to keep track of what you made/cross it off. Any meals you have made, you can check off and circle the ones you didn’t use.

If you previously ate out all the time, estimate how much you would have spent versus what you actually spent on meals this way. 

Any money saved can be saved or you can also spend some and save some – whatever feels the most like a reward to you. 

Some people are motivated by money saved in the bank, some people want new shoes – it is totally up to you.

Final Step in the Things to Make Moms Life Easier

The best Mom tip is to include your family members and don’t forget you can also take some of the drudgery out of cooking by:

(1) Enlisting help – family, teens, spouse, etc. 

(2) Adding something you like to do while making the meals– listen to music, podcasts, watch TV, talk on the phone, etc.  – to make the time fly by

After you do this for a while, you will now have a system of meal planning for your family that will virtually be on autopilot taking the majority of this work off your shoulders.

And again, Emeals is my favorite thing to make your job even easier by using a meal planning service (if you desire). 

Also, note that this is real life and things happen.  So, realize there will be days when your plan/system may not work, just try again the next day.  Eventually, you will get there.

Now -Apply these Mom Hacks to Any Tasks in Your House

You can apply this same process to any system you want to implement to make your life easier.    This same process can be used on other things to make Moms life easier.  

To get your ideas flowing on where else you can implement systems in your house, think about takes the second most amount of time after meals.

Is it laundry, cleaning or something else? 

In general, you want to think of your home as a separate entity.  What are the systems and routines you could use to help you run your household with ease?

How much time could you save by implementing these things that make your life easier?  Why wouldn’t you want to do so?  

You want to make sure you create a system that is easy and something you enjoy by building in the rewards in the last step.  And, you want to create a system that has a daily schedule that won’t ruin your day.

Seriously, choose routines and habits that support you and your household – not one that you won’t use or doesn’t work for you.

Here are some ideas for other areas where systems can be applied to make your Mom life easier:

• Cleaning
• Laundry
• Budgeting
• Projects for the house
• Clothing for the family using capsule wardrobes

Are you interested in learning more about ways to make a busy Mom’s life easier?  Check out the additional blog post articles below on more things to make Moms life easier.

Because at the end of the day being able to save yourself time, means more time you can spend doing the things you love – whatever that may be.  Whether you want to spend quality time with your family and friends or devote time to some well deserved self-care, just know you are worth it.  Enjoy!

Even More Things to Make Moms Life Easier that You Can Use:

Meal Planning – How to Use a Slow Cooker to Make Meal Time Trouble-Free, 5 Easy and Delicious Chicken Dinners for Busy Weeknights, Easy Meals, How do I Meal Plan and Why? 

Budgets – How to Manage Your Cash Flow (No More Bounced Checks), Are your Finances a Mess?, Freedom from Financial Worry

Household Management Systems – Easy Ways of Household Management for Mom, How to Manage the Chaos – Organization Helps 
Capsule Wardrobes – Capsule Wardrobes – 6 Reasons to Try One Today, Easy Fashion

Goal Setting – How to Manage Your Time, How to Achieve Your Goals – A Step by Step Guide
Routines – Back to School for Moms (Routines and Me Time), Summer Activities for Kids that Keep Mom Sane 

Flylady.net – If you haven’t heard of the FlyLady, you need to check out her site.  She has a treasure trove of great information for you!

What are your favorite mom hacks to make life easier or ways to make life easier for Mom?  How do you get more done around the house so you can relax?  Share in the comments below!