Project Management Tips For Work and Family
You can “live slow” while still being organized
Hello, friends,
In the past month I’ve been mostly hibernating or inaccessible to Substack. I’d like to say this is because I am embracing creative, slow living but honestly it’s due to my jam-packed life and I’ve turned off most notifications on my phone.
That jam-packed life has been reduced to only the must-do commitments: work, parenting, and Sunday church/bible study. I exist for myself in the in between moments with worship music and reading fiction (like Lord of the Rings).
I work a full-time position for a nonprofit as their Marketing Coordinator. If you are a mother looking to utilize their multi-tasking skills, it’s a fitting job to look into, but lately I have felt drained.
All my creative and mental energy goes into this job. All my physical and emotional energy goes into my daughter. What is left? That might be a reflection for next time…
Before I break down some potential ways my project management skills can also help you manage the many things you have in your own life, I want to make a few things clear.
I firmly believe in dismantling the ideal mother image I once pictured as a young woman who thought mothers should be able to work full-time, parent well, and still be put together (i.e. not be losing their patience aloud or in silence every day).
Why on earth did I believe this??
Well, I couldn’t comprehend the financial pressures of having a family, or the physical and emotional sacrifices of motherhood. I didn’t know the constant struggle of wanting to work and wanting to spend all my time pouring into my child (and how you can’t really have it all without giving things up along the way).
I couldn’t understand how different seasons gave us different needs in the realm of work and motherhood. I didn’t accept that all women want support but that support looked radically different for everyone.
I also want to make it clear that these tips may not work for you. They are simply suggestions that you may enjoy (depending on your personality).
I don’t do all of these things.
I combine or embrace them depending on what personal or work project I have on my plate—some I don’t do at all.
Years ago I learned a lot about time management from the ADD/ADHD expert Edward (Ned) Hallowell, M.D when I was diagnosed at 17. As a child and teenager, I was determined to operate on a normal level.
Thankfully, as an adult I have been able to move beyond the thinking of “normality” versus neurodivergent discussion and just focus (ha) on the things that work per task or per season I’m in. My multitasking marketing job is seriously the perfect career path that God has given me. It can be consuming but maybe that’s also my personality type of loving to work, a lot.
But if your plate is too full, my best advice is to scoop some off and not get seconds.
Don’t forget to save this post for later reference.
Project Management Tips For Work and Family
The Daily Review
Do you have anxiety? I’d raise my hand to say “I do” but I’m afraid I’ll be the only one.
Work: Write down your priorities in a list, planner, or whatever tool you prefer.
I generally list a 2-3 “must-do” tasks in the morning to keep me focused when the ADD kicks in and I’m 3 coffees deep in my day.
I’m also a big fan of having a list on paper that is short and separate from the long digital lists I work through.
Family: A simple thing I do with my 3-year-old daughter is a review of the day.
I’ll vocalize what we are going to do for the day in the mornings and after school. She feels noticeably better when she can tell me the events coming up, and she’ll even make suggestions. She’s 3, so it’s not like she’s guiding the calendar here, but it’s a start for communicating with her.
Relationships: Review your daily schedules and expectations often. That may look like talking the evening before and sharing a Google Calendar.
The Kanban, Yes You Can
Work: The Kanban is a method of creating a to-do list that marks your task progress in real-time. At work, I manage at least 10 projects with various priority levels and deadlines through the Monday tool. I do not do this method in my home life, but it may work for you.
➡️Title columns “To Do”, “In Progress”, and “Done.” Your vertical columns will be the tasks themselves.
If you use post it notes, you can move them into each column as you complete them. This also works well for a dry-erase board, where you can move a check mark from box to box.
Family: Track your projects, chores, and various tasks with a 3-column system. Additional columns may include deadlines or who is assigned what task. (Lots of people do this on Pinterest if you need a visual).
Make Room For Ideas
Work: Create a designated space to write down random ideas, questions, or low priority projects.
You can use a Google Doc, an email draft, or a some other note storage but I recommend it’s on the cloud. Not everything needs to be done but it’s good to have these documented for later and out of your head.
Family: Give your family space to jot down their own items without immediacy.
That might be a dream-list of places to explore instead of a house project list. It could be the side bar space on your large monthly calendar or a magnetic notepad on the fridge.
Time-Blocking and Sprints
Work: You can schedule blocks of time on your calendar for deep-focus tasks or you can do smaller sprints to get something done. This might look like blocking two hours for creating a marketing campaign but then spending 5 minutes checking my email tasks throughout the day.
Family: A great little investment we made was getting a visual timer. Sometimes we set it for a five minute cleaning sprint and other times we set it for 30 minutes to show that this is a designated block for playing with toys while Mommy cooks and cleans in the kitchen.
Side note: does anyone feel like time is a hard thing to measure unless it’s visual? I often look for ways to visually break down my day to navigate overwhelm in the same way my toddler prefers time discussions.
Spend Time To Review
As the year comes to a close, you’ll see a lot of focus on end of year reflections. This practice is valuable for any time of year or season.
I don’t uphold to a strict monthly review but I do enjoy identifying when a personal rhythm has shifted. You can ask yourself questions in journaling that look like this:
What activities currently drain me?
How can I shift things around to better serve my energy or my family’s needs?
Who needs a break and how can we restructure our schedule to accommodate each other?
Please note these questions are beneficial to journal through but I encourage both adults in a relationship to do this solo and come together to talk them over, otherwise you’re just heaping the mental load on the mother’s plate.
My friend
has a wonderful resource for couples that focuses on this kind of communication but on the topic of building a legacy together.How do you navigate your schedule? What are some tools, tips, or strategies you recommend (or don’t advise)?
Other Things I Like:
Amplify Planner: it’s on the more expensive side of planners but it’s printed in the USA, super quick to get into your mailbox, and a champion for making to-do lists however you like. I took a break this year from one but I think I am going back! You can also print out their free layouts to see it’s a good fit for you before buying.
So Typical Me Planner: Printed in Europe, this planner is extremely customizable in size and layout. I used this one for the past year and had fun building it.
“This Working Life” by Lisa Leong and Monique Ross: I have this on Audible and am about to relisten to it. It’s all about treating life as an experiment and navigating work/family life during uncertain times. Might be the perfect thing for you to look into during a time like this!
I hope these prove to be fun experiments and not stressful methods you feel pressured to implement. Please let me know what works!
P.S.—while trying to edit this, I was asked sooo many nonstop questions by my daughter. Pray for me haha
oh, also gorgeous photo!!! i know you're in a difficult season with lots on your plate, but you truly look your best since I've known you (I mean this in a good way, because sometimes in hard seasons, we can't see our own beauty).
Wow! As my profession was originally an Executive Assistant this is incredible - honestly, it’s so good! If only half the people I’ve worked with were as organised as you 🙃 tbh though, many of the Chief Executives I’ve worked with and for were very organised people. It’s normally the teams under them they need access to these resources. Organisation can definitely be taught!
What I wondered though…(I am pondering the invisible mental load at the moment, for a post that may get written or may stay in my journal under “not sent letters” to…I’m not sure yet). How much of this energy, planning, organisation and level of detail and thought goes into this when it’s a heterosexual couple? My relationship with my partner is very “forward” (according to my Nan lol), but I just see it as a partnership and him being part of the family.
That said, there’s a huge and invisible list that I’m working on *all the time* and I just don’t know (yep I will generalise for a second) that men go into the level of detail required to run a home, on top of parenting. The reason I feel many systems are effective is because only one person is bringing more that 50% along to the relationship. Including my imperfectly perfect partner. (Insert guilt for writing any of this and it’s a perfect patriarchal cocktail 😩).
Really happy we connected in the comment section of another post. Once my children are settled in bed, I’m going to come back to your posts, there’s so much there I can relate to. I am super excited to have found your words on here ♥️