A lot of people have asked me how I get any work done. It’s true, I did publish 5 eBooks before my son turned 3, as well as Remineralize Your Body Now! when he was only 2, and I launched The Nourished Village only a few weeks from my due date with baby Nicholas, while parenting Franklin nearly full time, freezing gallons of soup for after the birth, and doing everything else.

So what are my tricks? Here’s a Top 5.

1. Focus. If you’re focused, you can do a LOT. For example, let’s say that brushing your teeth before bed is super important. Well, it’s likely you’ll find time to do it every night. Your mind will be so focused on it that it will happen 99% of the time, maybe even 100%. Brushing teeth is only 3 minutes, but you can do a lot in 3 minutes. You can empty the entire dishwasher. You can put laundry in the washing machine. You can do sit ups. You just have to really want to.

Think: What do you really want to do? Write it down. When can you make it happen?

2. Get me-time. If you can do a lot in 3 minutes, image 1 hour. At first, I couldn’t fathom spending an hour away from my son. But then I realized… How is he ever going to bond with his dad? Get used to other people? Or even develop skills to play on his own? So, when he was a little older (maybe 18 months), we scheduled “daddy & son” mornings, every Saturday morning. Yes, it takes away from family time, but you know what, there’s Saturday afternoon, there’s Sunday, there’s evenings after work, etc. If someone you trust takes your child for an hour or two, you can prep green juice for 3 days, you can write part of a book, you can scrub your body, take a bath, wash your hair, and style it. You choose.

Think: How can you get some alone time? Do you already have alone time, but you spend it doing something you don’t enjoy? How can you change that?

3. Have a to-do list. It’s easy to think “I should do this” but it’s harder to remember to do it, especially if you’re the mom of small children and your mind is always busy. Every night, or every morning if I forget (hah!), I make a to-do list for the day. Yesterday, I wanted to clean the fridge, change a pediatrician appointment, contact a mom about playdates, upload a recipe and a craft project to Nourished Village, and take my dad to the airport. I had it all done by 8:30 am. As soon as I was done with something, I would look at my list for something else to do.

Think: What needs to really get done? Write it down. Set deadlines for yourself.

4. Don’t waste time with social media etc. The most successful people I know don’t start their day with non-important things like Facebook. There’s always time for that later on, because you can read a Facebook feed in 2 minutes, on your feet, while stirring soup. You can’t write a newsletter like that, though 😉 Which is why it’s barely 7 am and I’m writing you this while everyone sleeps (busy day yesterday!) and I haven’t had breakfast yet (I can have breakfast when my family wakes up).

Think: Are you wasting time on non-important (to you!) things you could do later?

5. Don’t feel stressed. Easy to say, you might think! Still, stress will keep you from being your best. We’re all feeling stressed sometimes. But you have to realize that stress is not often from things we can’t control it comes from within. If you’re stressed, you’re much less efficient. Remember… Your child might have done two identical things on different days. Yet, one day, you laughed at it, and one day you got mad. The difference? Your state of mind.

Think: What is stressing you out and keeping you from being the best you can be? How can you change that?

I hope these tips will be helpful to you. Let me know if you try some of them!

Are you tired of being the mom who “does it all?” Do you long for a Village to help you out, listen when things are tough, and cheer for you every step of the way? Bring the Joy Back in Parenting, Nourish Your Soul by Connecting with Other Like-Minded Moms, and Nourish Your Body With Our Expertly Created Meal Plans! Find out more at The Nourished Village – A Nurturing Community for Moms and their Families.