Business + Creative / Motherhood + Family

How to automate your life and discover 16+ hours of hidden time

June 1, 2024

Finding your Invisible Hours. How to automate your life and discover 16+ hours of hidden time Every week.

Want to create more hours in your day? Find your Invisible Hours!

The often overlooked strategy that’s a magic elixir to create more hours in your day!

You’ve probably heard a lot about automating your business. But what about automating your LIFE? This often overlooked strategy can be the magic elixir to create more hours in the day, realizing a bit more sanity, and producing more tangible results.

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1. Ask for help

Asking for help can be really hard for us modern mommas. As part of the “do-it-all, have-it-all” generation, we shy away from admitting we can’t actually do EVERYTHING and often see ourselves as failures if we have to ask for help. Fortunately, times are a changin’ thanks to the rise of the self-care movement, a new era of women’s equality, and a spotlight on the decades-old childcare crisis. Whether it’s help from your spouse, family members or community, be an advocate for what you and your family need. Remember, if you don’t ask, the answer will always be “no.”

2. Use the resources already available to you

One of the most crucial things to consider is thinking outside of the box. One of my biggest hurdles has always been lack of childcare — shocking, I’m sure! You can read more about the childcare crisis here. My husband has a demanding career, often requiring him to work weekends, I work from home while also caring for our two young children, and our closest relatives live four hours away. Because we’ve moved a lot in the last several years, making close friends whom we’d trust to watch our kiddos has been a real challenge. Childcare can be especially challenging during the summer months when kids are out of school but parents still have jobs to do.

When the traditional paid childcare, like a baby sitter, nanny or nursery school, isn’t an option, here are “12 Free — Yes FREE Childcare Ideas for Mompreneurs.” Check out the post and get your cheat sheet!

3. Stop cleaning your house

Yes, you heard me. Before you raise your eyebrows at this one, hear me out. For one, I can’t stand a cluttered, dirty house, and neither can my husband. So I get you! But, when I realized I was spending almost three hours, yes THREE hours per day cleaning, and my house still was a mess, I knew something had to give. It’s also a pet peeve of mine that I’m literally trading my salary to clean my house FOR FREE. Clearly, not the best financial plan.

If hiring a weekly cleaning service isn’t an option, here are a few budget-friendly solutions to create more hours in your day:

→ Invest in a whole house deep-clean through a cleaning service once or twice per year, or even quarterly, if you can. Having a good foundation of cleanliness will make your daily or weekly cleaning go SO much faster. For one, it forces everyone to clear clutter regularly, and you’ll find you only need to do a quick sweep with a cloth on surfaces, rather than wasting precious minutes on stubborn stains.

→ For an even more budget-friendly option, purchase automated cleaning machines. Y’all, I’m counting the days until Siri and Alexa are Star Wars-esque C-3PO-style helper bots. But until then, robots like the iRobotRoomba vacuum and iRobot BraavaJet mop will do the job. Tools like automatic cleaning cat litter boxes and electric spin scrubbers clean faster and keep surfaces clean longer. Double win!

→ Declutter! Fewer belongings, crammed storage spaces, and cluttered countertops mean less cleaning. I actually got rid of my kids’ playroom and turned it into my office! It had become a dumping ground for toys, and because it was always a mess, my kids avoided playing in it. We organized, sorted, donated, and threw away to be able to fit most of the toys in the kids’ bedrooms or closets and then put the remaining items in the attic. We swap out the bins quarterly, which thrills the kiddos! It’s like going shopping in your own house.

→ BONUS! Have you heard of the new app, “Hampr”!? This new and (magical!) on-demand laundry service brings your laundry freshly cleaned AND folded right to your front door in 24 hours or less. Yes please! I cannot wait to try it out!

4. Say “No” More (and feel fantastic about it)

As a recovering “people pleaser,” I can relate to this being a hard one! But let me tell you, saying “no” can be such a liberating experience. Being overcommitted and burned out is a massive waste of your time, awful for your productivity, health, and even your family life. Reflect on the commitments you’ve made and, if they don’t fill your cup, say no! If you volunteer or participate in community service, be sure those commitments bring you joy. Giving from a place of joy and enthusiasm is so much more meaningful than giving out of a sense of obligation. Saying “no” may mean doing less while your kids are young, but raising good humans is definitely a community service, if you ask me! Remember, life is made up of seasons, and you don’t have to do “all the things” all at once.

5. Embrace curbside, grocery delivery and meal services

If I could name just one thing that has made my life SO much easier, it would have to be curbside groceries! Not only can I now shop while in bed with my pj’s on and in half the time it used to take, but I don’t have to work around anyone else’s schedule to do it. Take this automated thinking to the next level and create more time by getting anything you can delivered or prepared for you. I’m a big fan of Hello Fresh for busy weeknights filled with after school activities. Over the years, they’ve really improved the selection and portions of meals to accommodate families. With everything pre-measured and portioned out, cooking is a breeze and a lot more budget friendly than ordering take-out. Because they frequently offer coupons, we got three, chef quality, four-person dinners for only $45! Did I mention their recipes are DELISH! Their Firecracker Meatballs have become a staple at our house.

Bonus: Hello Fresh has partnered with multiple charities to help fight hunger and food insecurity. Their Beyond the Box program offers “Meals with Meaning…providing customized recipes to food insecure individuals. Each kit contains HelloFresh ingredients and step-by-step recipe cards to make wholesome (and delicious) meals.” They deliver meals right to peoples’ doorsteps.”

6. Create a schedule “anchor”

Schedules can look very different depending on each individual household’s needs. The key is finding out what works for you and your family. Even when your babies are really young and it’s especially hard to have any set schedule, choose at least one point in the day that acts as your “anchor.” I learned this lesson when my second baby was born. Because my older child was in elementary school, my youngest had to wake up without fail at 2:45 so we could do carpool. This in turn forced me to put him down for his nap at a set time every day. Of course, not every day was like clock work, but it kept us organized and meant the kids slept better — meaning even MORE time.

7. Focus on your “Golden Goal”

Make ONE goal your top priority. Ugh! Raise your hand if this is a hard one. Definitely me! I love having multiple projects going on at once, and my busy brain is constantly flowing with new ideas. It’s so tempting to try to develop them all at once. From purchasing endless online courses to new product and content ideas, you’ll end up being pulled in a million directions at once and likely never see anything through. That doesn’t mean you can’t work on all those other projects, just be sure one goal, your “golden goal,” as I like to call it, stays front and center in your focus and time until it’s complete.

8. See social media for what it is - a time suck!

Listen, I get it. Social media is part of life and business these days. It has its place in building a successful business and in sharing important life moments. But if you’re spending hours and hours scrolling social media (you know who you are) take a minute to assess whether or not it’s positively affecting your everyday life. If the answer is no, trade that time for something that uplifts you.

If you’re using social media to market your business it can be an especially sneaky rascal! From imposter syndrome to infuriating algorithms it’s temping to justify spending hours of your time creating the “perfect” feed in hopes of finding that mythical unicorn, “overnight success.” Here’s how I advice my clients to approach social media; unless your business is specifically focused around social media, such as teaching it, being a legit influencer, or targeting a market that truly lives on the platform you are using, then I guarantee you, you’re spending too much time on social media.

Here’s the million dollar golden nugget:

I literally wish I would have paid someone to tell me this when I started out! It would have saved me probably thousands of dollars, hours of time and a lot of stress. Wait for it . . . According to WebFx, experts in revenue-generating digital marketing solutions, state that, across industries, social media on average only converts at a rate of LESS THAN 1%. Y’allll! LESS than ONE percent! A conversion rate that is considered “good” is about 10%. Okay, whattttt?!? Yep. Take a minute to let that sink in. For comparison, conversion channels like organic SEO searches rank in at 10-16%! And according to Hubspot, SEO drives 1000%+ more traffic than organic social media. My friends, the numbers say it all. In most cases, your primary online marketing focus should not be social media if want to convert to sales, make money, and ultimately end up with a business poised for growth and success.

So then you might ask, where should I focus my efforts? And why use social media at all? These questions have simple + smart + savvy™ answers! Interested?

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