Traditional productivity and career advice just doesn’t work for working moms. Productivity for working moms is an entirely different beast!
When you become a working mom, it feels like all those classic productivity tips were designed for someone with endless hours and no small humans demanding snacks every five minutes. Suddenly, the idea of carefully prioritizing tasks or finding that perfect work-life balance seems like a cruel joke. So, let’s take one of those productivity tools—the Eisenhower Matrix—give it a working mom makeover, and finally make it work for the chaos we call everyday life.
For the uninitiated, the Eisenhower Matrix is a simple decision-making tool that helps you prioritize tasks by urgency and importance. It’s a great tool in itself to use at work. But you’re not just juggling emails and meetings here—you’ve got sick kids, work deadlines, and laundry mountains. So, let’s rework this classic productivity tool to fit the life of a busy mom.
There is more information about this tool in this post about career advice that working moms should never take.
How It Works:
The Eisenhower Matrix breaks your to-do list into four quadrants:
- Do Now – Urgent and Important
- Schedule for Later – Important but Not Urgent
- Delegate – Urgent but Not Important
- Drop It – Neither Urgent Nor Important
Here’s a little infographic which shows the four quadrants visually:
Let’s translate these quadrants into a tool for productivity for working moms:
Quadrant 1: Do Now (The Mom Emergency Quadrant)
These are the tasks that need to be done ASAP and cannot wait. These typically have consequences if they don’t happen soon. Think of this quadrant as “things that will explode if left unattended.”
Examples:
- Replying to an email from your boss about a major deadline.
- Picking up a sick child from school (because, well, you can’t leave them there, right?).
- Paying that overdue bill before you get hit with late fees.
- Grabbing a snack for your toddler right now to avoid a full-scale meltdown.
What to do:
Tackle these tasks first. In the chaos of motherhood, these tend to pop up every day. But the goal is to limit how many “emergencies” you let into this quadrant by being proactive (more on that below).
Quadrant 2: Schedule for Later (The Grown-Up Stuff That Keeps You Sane)
These tasks are important for your long-term well-being but don’t need to be done immediately. This is where your big-picture life and career goals live—things that can easily get forgotten in the daily grind but will help you stay on track in the long run.
Examples:
- Planning your child’s birthday party (before it turns into an urgent crisis).
- Booking your dentist appointment (yes, it’s been two years).
- Working on that career development project that could lead to a promotion.
- Scheduling self-care time or booking a night out with friends (because your sanity is important too!).
What to do:
Put these tasks on your calendar and honor the time you set for them. This is where a working mom’s proactive mindset comes into play. These tasks keep your life and career moving forward, but they’re easy to neglect. If it’s scheduled, it’s sacred.
Quadrant 3: Delegate (AKA: Can Someone Else Do This, Please?)
Urgent but not really all that important? These are the tasks you should delegate, outsource, or pass on if possible. The problem is, as moms, we often try to do everything ourselves. But not everything requires your magic touch, and it’s time to pass some of that load.
Examples:
- Ordering groceries online instead of physically going to the store.
- Delegating household chores to your partner or older kids (they can load a dishwasher).
- Handing over a non-essential work task to a colleague or team member.
What to do:
Get creative and start delegating. You don’t need to wear all the hats all the time. By lightening this load, you’ll free up time to focus on what truly matters (and save your sanity).
Quadrant 4: Drop It (The MOM Guilt Dumping Ground)
These tasks are neither urgent nor important, and yet, somehow, they keep showing up on your to-do list. This is where you ditch the mom guilt and give yourself permission to let go of the things that simply don’t matter.
Examples:
- Perfectly folding laundry (who cares if the towels are a little wrinkled?). Even better, ditch the ironing altogether!
- Baking homemade treats for the school bake sale when store-bought will do.
- Checking every social media notification as if it’s the end of the world.
- Saying “yes” to every playdate invitation just to be polite.
What to do:
Say goodbye to these non-essentials. For the love of all that is holy, let them go! You don’t need to be perfect at everything, and this quadrant is your permission slip to simplify, delegate, or just say “no thanks.” You’ve got enough on your plate.
The Takeaway
This mom-friendly version of the Eisenhower Matrix can help you navigate the chaos of working life and family responsibilities with a bit more clarity and a lot less overwhelm. The key is to be realistic with your time and energy, and to prioritize the things that truly matter—not the things society (or your inner critic) tells you to care about.
And always remember: you’re not failing if your to-do list isn’t completely ticked off. You’re a mom, and you’re already doing the hardest job in the world.
So next time your list feels overwhelming, take a deep breath, grab a cup of tea (or wine), and break it down into these quadrants. You’ve absolutely got this!
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