It is not always easy to find time as a working mom. Here we tell you how to reclaim your time with the Seven-Hour Challenge! I created this challenge to help me be more purposeful in how I spend my time.
The Seven-Hour Challenge
The Seven-Hour Challenge is for you to find seven hours a week to free up for yourself.
Begin this challenge by taking five minutes to reflect on this question:
What would you do if you had one extra hour a day to yourself?
Write down your ideas. You may have several!
Many people say they would exercise more, volunteer, spend more time with family, friends, or kids, work on a side project, or (maybe being more truthful) get in an extra hour of work.
Keep this list handy because not only is it very possible to find an extra hour a day for yourself, it is actually easier than you think! (…even without getting up earlier—which is the advice I typically give!).
Welcome to the challenge! Now let’s talk about how to find seven hours a week.
How to Find Time as a Working Mom: The Seven-Hour Challenge
Here are the steps to find time as a working mom and gain at least seven hours a week.
First, track your time.
Look at everything you do in a week. I recommend you download the Toggl app on your phone (or browser) and track literally everything you do for one full week. It could be taking the kids to school, grocery shopping, working, sleeping, etc.
What you will likely find after doing this Toggl experiment is that some things take much longer than you may think to get done. Others (the tasks you dread) may not actually take as long as you think!
Second, decide what to get off your plate.
After you have analyzed your time, you can decide what you do not want to spend your time on.
Here is the process for doing this.
Make a list with three columns.
- First, tasks you would like to not do (laundry, grocery shopping, chauffeuring kids around, anyone?)
- How much time the task takes you (literally write the number of minutes it takes!)
- How you could move this task off your plate (be creative! Can you pay to move it off your plate? Can you get someone in your immediate or extended family to help? Can you simply NOT do something?)
An example might look like this:
- Grocery shopping – 2 hours – Get Shipt app so groceries can be delivered
- Laundry – 3 hours – hire help
- Kids lunches – 1 hour – hire help
- Dishes – 1 hour – delegate to kids
- Doctor appointment – 1 hour – ask to help
- Soccer practice/games – 3 hours – cancel (or get mom to help once a week)
A few things I discovered when I started analyzing my time:
First, my husband was happy to take on some of my tasks once I asked him to.
I had him schedule a pediatrician appointment and run a few errands. It was not a big deal. I have just never asked! We carry the invisible burden, often proudly (because we are supermoms after all!), but it is time to share this burden with others!
Second, my kids are willing to do a lot for a dollar or two!
My kids are younger but I can still get their help with taking out the trash or cleaning up in the living room, especially if I bribe them with a few dollars. This is a way to find time as a working mom not only presently but also to build a framework for finding more time in the future!
Third, not everything you do needs to be done.
For example, we were so busy this fall that we decided to not do soccer. My kids love soccer but they love a lot of things and we could not do everything. The fastest way to do something is to not do it!
As you get in the habit of thinking critically about how you spend your time, you may find other creative ways to save time. For example, you may combine two tasks. I listen to one of my weekly CEO webinars and do strength training at the same time. I get two things over with at once and I save an hour in the process!
Make sure you calculate the minutes. If you are not tracking the time you are saving, this will not work, and things will end up on your plate!
Are you having trouble with the Seven-Hour Challenge?
Some working moms have trouble with this exercise. It is not easy to find time as a working mom!
If you are in that boat, here are three things I would consider doing.
1. First, calculate the value of your time.
I initially did this as a work exercise. I calculated my salary divided by the number of hours I work. Let’s say you divide your salary by the number of hours you work and you get $300/hour. If you would not pay someone $300/hour to do a task that is on your plate, it is not worth your time to do it either.
You can also do this in your home life (even though you are obviously not paid!). Yes, it may cost $25/hour to get someone to fold your laundry for you. But is an extra hour to exercise, go on a walk, volunteer, or see a friend worth $25? In most cases, it is an easy “yes!” Heck, if you make the equivalent of $300/hour at work, it is also worth it to use this extra hour to work!
It is harder to put a “value” on time, which is why people have trouble paying others to help them. Your time is actually invaluable though because while you can always make more money, you can never get your time back.
2. Second, recognize the Continuity Bias.
Get over the idea that because you’ve done something in the past, you should continue to do it in the future. Women are prone to thinking this because we don’t want others to think we are not carrying our own weight!
I’ll give you an example. I used to do specific sales calls at work. I continued to do them because I didn’t want to be seen as “giving up” my own work, being “lazy”, or not being a team player. As soon as I recognized this was the only thing holding me back from delegating this task, I quickly delegated it to my team. Instead of my team being surprised, they told me they were wondering why I had kept doing that task! They were actually surprised it took me so long to delegate it.
Remember, if you are growing at work, you should shed about 20% of your job description every year (and take on higher-level tasks that align with your strengths…see the next point). Delegating your tasks is not a sign of weakness. It is a sign of growth.
3. Third, consider your strengths.
Reflect on these questions:
What are you really good at? What do you enjoy?
What are you not that good at? What do you not enjoy?
Examples:
As an example, one thing I do every day is walk my kids to school. This takes 40 minutes a day (to walk there and back). I could easily drive them, have my husband take them, or have them walk with the neighbors. But I like this time with my kids. And I like the fresh air and exercise that we all get. So this stays on my plate.
At work, I am good at conceptualizing projects and plans—and less good at following through with them. So I often prioritize making the project and initiating it and allowing others to execute.
As another example, I do not enjoy taking my kids to soccer. So this season, we canceled it. Next season, I’ll line up my mom, dad, and others to assist in taking them to practice and games. (And I’ll stick to helping out with baseball, which I enjoy!)
There are a lot of ways for working moms to find more time in their day and their week. You just have to commit to tracking what you currently do, thinking creatively about how to get things off your plate, and then allowing others to help!
I hope you find the Seven-Hour Challenge helpful as you look to spend your time in a meaningful way!
