While growing up, I always saw my mom running around the house with hundreds of tasks each day and I asked her one question every time “How do you manage all this so efficiently?” She always answered this question with a big smile saying, “It’s easy and you learn it with time.”

I understand this now as I am married and have to manage all the house chores and office work. Now I can relate to the situation and trust me when I say, it is Not an Easy Job. I recently met a very beautiful lady at a dinner party through a friend and we got chatty. She is married for 4 years now and before marriage she worked as a teacher for Pre-primary school. When I asked her what she is doing currently she said, I am JUST a housewife now. This ‘Just’ hit me and I asked her is it that easy to become a housewife?

Earlier when people lived in joint families, responsibilities were more but the tasks were divided amongst all the ladies of the house. In this age, women face endless challenges every day. One major reason for this is the concept of nuclear families. So, it becomes important for every woman to manage time and responsibilities efficiently. A homemaker works daily for 14-16 hours. She has to be very good at management. In this process of managing the house, children, husband and social life, a women forgets to spend quality ‘Me Time’.

Let’s look into how just in 5 simple steps we can manage time, get the maximum work accomplished , spend good quality ‘Me Time’ and still manage to look beautiful as always.

• Be organized:

If you tell yourself, you’ll remember all the tasks you are surely going to forget at least 40% of it. Our mind has a filter system. It forgets a lot of things and leaves us in a mess. To avoid this mess make a monthly and weekly task list more like a Planner. Well, I bet you don’t want to miss the important deadlines every time. Sparing 15 minutes every day at tea time can help you organize a day and make the most of it. Write down all the tasks on hand, bill payments, grocery shopping, PTA meetings, exercise and 30 minutes daily to pamper yourself. Allot time for each task. You’ll see wonderful results. Your day will look more managed and you’ll be able to squeeze out extra time weekly for yourself.

• Fulfill personal goals:

Create personal goals each week. This should be inspirational. Doing this will keep you motivated to work and manage your house in a better way. Fulfilling personal goals boosts your energy, gives you motivation and makes your day worthwhile. Personal goals can be anything that makes you happy such as taking up a new hobby, organizing dinner parties, spending a vacation with your husband or just spending a day out with your friends.

• Quality ‘Me Time’:

I see a lot of women forget their priorities in the process of living up to someone else’s expectations. Yes, with marriage comes a lot of expectation and responsibility. But it is important to take out 1 hour daily to do something for you. I generally spare half hour daily to read a novel or go out for a coffee or a drive, because this peaceful time makes me happy. It rejuvenates me. For this quality time you don’t have to answer anyone or let go of priorities. Just organize the whole day and you will find time for yourself.

• Appreciate YOU:

Get this straight: you are not JUST a housewife. You are a homemaker who manages the house efficiently so that the whole family runs smoothly, so that children can have a better routine and thus a better life, so that your in-laws can live in a beautiful home with comfort, so that the family can have a healthy and nutritious meal and much more. Do you call this an easy job? Well, you are wrong. Appreciate your work and the efforts you put into it. You are The Domestic Goddess.

• Use the right quality tools:

Women today are amalgamation of old and new traditions. They are smart, confident and know their work and responsibilities really well. They know how to walk with time. They are tech savvy and this is a benefit. Today you get many tools in form of mobile applications to manage your work. To name a few Toggl Time Tracker, Timesheet –Time tracker, Time management by Caynax and Evernote. Use the right tool for you to manage your home efficiently. You can also download Planner formats and make your own.

It generally happens that we cannot track where time flies. I would say make most of every minute you have and do it without stress. Homemaking is in reality the most important work in the world and you justify the important work with the efforts you put in.

Be organized. Be efficient. Stay beautiful.