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5 Things Parents Can Do to Save Time

    Life as a parent often involves spreading yourself too thin. Between school, extracurriculars, doctor’s appointments, and homework, managing a household can pull you in a million different directions. Oftentimes, you’ll probably look at your weekly to-do list and worry that there isn’t enough time to get everything done. Admittedly, we could all benefit from an extra hour or two in a day to help manage all of our responsibilities. Fortunately, with time-saving hacks, you can find ways to better manage your daily schedule. Here are 5 things parents can do to create this extra time.

    Make use of a delivery service

    How many times have you found yourself out of essential supplies when you need them the most? Say you’re in the middle of cooking dinner when your youngest suddenly has a full diaper and you realize you’re fresh out. What do you do? One option would be to stop cooking dinner, load everyone into the car, and make a trip to the grocery store to replenish your stock. Or, you could make life easy and have those same diapers, and any other necessary items brought to you via a baby supplies delivery service, saving you from making that emergency trip to the store. Making use of a delivery service can be an easy way to reduce time running errands, save gas, and allow you to focus on other important tasks. 

    Multitask when feasible

    The ability to multitask, especially with babies and toddlers, can be a great way to save time. However, if you’re a parent of a particularly busy toddler, you understand the stress of taking your eyes off of them for even a second. An easy solution for this is to use a GoPod in moments of need. The GoPod Travel Activity Seat is a great tool to keep your child from getting into trouble while you finish up some laundry, cleaning, cooking, or other much-needed tasks. Best of all, it is easily transportable, so you can take it with you to any sports practices, games, picnics, or other social gatherings, which will make keeping an eye on your youngest a lot easier.

    Create an effective meal plan

    Once you start meal planning, you’ll quickly realize that it’s not only an amazing way to save time, but also money. Scheduling out your meals weekly can also help you avoid asking this dreaded last-minute question: “What do we want for dinner tonight?”. By planning out your meals at the beginning of every week, you can easily create a shopping list, so that you can limit the number of times you need to go to the store during the week. Additionally, by keeping track of your dinners on a calendar, you can add variation to your meals, helping to avoid monotony in your meal rotations. Lastly, by prepping certain meals ahead of time, such as pre-chopping veggies, you can shorten the day-of meal prep time as well. Read about some meal planning strategies to help you get started with your own schedule!

    Plan ahead of time

    Every Sunday you should sit down with your family and figure out what the week ahead will look like. Note any important deadlines and appointments, and make sure everyone understands where and when they need to be somewhere. If you like putting pen to paper, making use of a notepad or calendar can be an effective way to keep track of all of these dates. Otherwise, check out this list of helpful calendar apps, as a way to stay organized. If you have older kids with phones, using an app can be a great way to sync everybody’s calendars, so that you’re all on the same page. By carefully planning out your week, you’ll be better prepared for busier days and can better manage your daily tasks.

    Prep the night before

    At night, it can be easy to put off certain tasks until the morning. Especially if it’s been a long day, you’ll probably find yourself saying you’ll make the kids’ lunches in the morning instead of at night. Or, that you’ll worry about finishing the last load of laundry tomorrow. More times than not, you should encourage yourself to prepare as much as you can before you go to bed. This rule can and should be applied to everyone in the household, including yourself! Make school lunches, lay out outfits, pack up backpacks, and do anything else that might get lost in the hustle and bustle of the morning. Including your kids in this process (and other chores) is also a great way to teach responsibility, organization skills, and teamwork. Trust us, this will save you plenty of time and sanity each and every day.

    When raising a family, time is precious. Use the above tips to help organize your days and control some of the madness that comes with being a parent and ultimately save time. Good luck!

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