How To Be Productive When You Have No Time

Who doesn’t love crossing off items from a to-do list? Or better yet, finishing a to-do list altogether? For me, marking tasks or lists as “done” makes me feel free. That’s when I can truly relax and enjoy a nice meal, time with people, or my new favorite TV show.

But getting to “done” is not so easy. More often than not my to-do list is never ending, carrying over from one day to another, causing me to feel stressed out and behind.

This feeling of unproductivity increased so much more when I had a baby, to the point where I almost felt useless. Even though I had amazing family and friends to help me with my responsibilities, I missed the satisfaction that came from completing something myself. And some tasks just can’t be delegated, like working out or writing thank-you notes.

Now, to some extent, I just had to learn to accept this fact for a season. When you have a new baby—or experience any type of big change in your life (you know, for instance…hypothetically…let’s say, a GLOBAL PANDEMIC)—you simply aren’t going to be as productive as you used to be. But there are ways to maintain some levels productivity…

1. When in Doubt, Break it Out

The number one thing I recommend to new moms is to break your tasks into smaller pieces. When you have a baby, your pockets of time drastically shorten. You may have a couple hours of time, but only in 20 minute increments. You probably won’t have time to clean your whole house during a single nap, or entirely pack your family for a trip while your baby is contentedly playing. But you still need to get those things done, so how? Break it down.

Here are some examples:

Original task:	Becomes:
Clean the house	– Pick up around the house – Clean the kitchen – Clean upstairs bathrooms – Clean downstairs bathrooms – Vacuum
Pack for a trip	– Pack basic outfits & shoes – Pack lounge/workout/sleeping clothes – Pack beach stuff – Pack carry-on – Pack toiletries – Pack last-minute items (i.e. chargers, makeup, purse)
Decorate for Christmas	– Bring up boxes from the basement (yes, for me this is a whole item in and of itself…phew, it’s hard work!) – Put up outside lights – Decorate front porch – Put up tree – Put lights on tree – Put ornaments on tree – Put up indoor decorations
Do a strength workout	– Core – Legs – Arms
Write thank-you notes	– Write 3 thank-you notes per day

This approach will help you adapt tasks to smaller pockets of time and set more reasonable goals. If you truly don’t have the ability to be as productive as you want to be, you will be far happier if you accept that reality and adjust your expectations accordingly.

Lastly (but most importantly in my opinion!), smaller tasks give you the satisfaction of getting something done when you make incremental progress. Yeah, sure, it would be great to work at something for an hour, but if you only get 15 minutes done, that’s still AWESOME! And instead of beating yourself up for all of the work you didn’t get done, you should be celebrating your success.

2. Quality Over Quantity

How many times have I stayed up late trying to get things done only to be tired and unmotivated the next day, thus getting behind schedule all over again?! Too often my solution for getting more done is to spend more time doing. But I have found that 1 hour of well-rested Maggie’s time is much more valuable than 2 hours of tired Maggie’s time. (Plus, well-rested Maggie is just so much more pleasant to be around…)

The quality of our time is more important than the quantity of our time. We can, and should, embrace sleep and rest.

Even God rested on the seventh day, and he created systems for mankind to rest according to the same ratio (the Sabbath & the Jubilee years; Exodus 20:8, Leviticus 24:4-5, 8-13).

Research has shown that rest plays a valuable role in other types of work, too, which is why the Pomodoro technique is gaining popularity in the workplace, and HIIT workouts are gaining popularity in the world of fitness.

So, the bottom line is this: Do not forsake sleep or rest in pursuit of productivity, because it will likely backfire.

3. Don’t Multitask

Sooooo much research points to the fact that multitasking makes you less productive. Your mind actually flips back and forth between the two (or more) things that you’re doing, causing you to continually lose focus. So as much as you can, try to finish the task you are currently doing before starting a new one.

4. Sometimes Multitask

Okay, I hear you. Sometimes multitasking can be useful… but only in situations where one of the tasks isn’t requiring active attention (i.e. mindless activities). Some of my favorite multitasking combinations are:

• listening to podcasts or books while working out
• listening to the news while getting ready in the morning
• praying while driving (not with my eyes closed…obviously)
• going for a walk while brainstorming solutions to a problem
• catching up on social media while eating or feeding/pumping for a baby
• folding laundry while calling a friend
• painting my nails while watching TV

You know yourself best, so you can gauge what works for you. But remember, if your mind is losing focus, then you are losing your effectiveness.

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Now, off to get some stuff done!

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This post is dedicated to my dear friend who just had a very cute baby… you know who you are 😉 and you got this, girl!