What are some time-saving tips for working moms that can help you be more efficient?
Hey, I’m a freelance mom and doing my PhD on top of that. So I get it. I’m always thinking of time-saving tips!
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Time-Saving Tip 1: Meal Prep and Freeze Them!
Meal prepping or cooking ahead and storing them in the fridge or freezer is definitely my time-saving tip for working moms. I know freezing food is something common in some Western cultures, but for Asian cultures, it’s practically a no-no!
Certain dishes taste good even when you freeze them such as:
- Soups – chicken or beef soup, tom yam
- Gravy – curry, kurma dishes
- Baked goods – muffins, cakes, casseroles
- Pasta
Foods that don’t taste so good when frozen are (so I don’t recommend freezing those):
- Fish
- Vegetables
But wait! I have frozen palak paneer that I made ahead of time and they taste really lovely!
The reason why I like to meal prep or cook ahead is that it saves time on preparing the food like cleaning the meat, cutting onions etc.
Meal prepping is also convenient because all you need to do is heat up the food in the microwave or on the stove!
When should you meal prep?
During the weekend
How do you meal prep?
This depends on the size of your family
Whatever it is, make at least 2 batches of a meal you plan to cook
For instance, I would normally but one chicken cut into 12 pieces
So what I normally do is that I would make two different dishes from chicken (I like to make chicken soup, tom yam, curry dishes).
Once you’re done cooking, make sure they cool and then store them in containers and decide to put them in the fridge or freezer (if you think you are going to eat in the next few weeks, store them in the freezer to prevent them from going bad).
Time Saving Tip 2: Buy food pastes as a cooking-short cut!
Apart from cooking ahead of time, you could buy food pastes as a time-saving tip.
There are certain pastes that I like to buy that really help me save time such as:
- Tom yam paste
- Green curry
- Rendang
- Assam pedas
Certain Asian dishes such as rendang and assam pedas are not easy to make (for me) so having these pastes really makes life much easier. It also makes the food less boring.
Time Saving Tip 3: Create a Menu Plan for the Week
Creating a menu plan for the week is another time-saving tip for working moms because you spend less time thinking about what to cook daily.
Also, when you create a menu plan for one entire week, on a weekend, for example, you would plan out the resources you have for that week. You would also determine on which days you plan to order food/take out so this also prevents you from spending too much money on buying food.
Great! Not only do you save time, but you get to save money as well.
Time Saving Tip 4: Pack your kid’s school clothes/materials every day of the week
Packing your kid’s school clothes and materials for the week would really help you save time as a working mom. This is especially true if you have kids that go to daycares or kindergarten.
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If you have kids that go to daycare, this is how you can pack their things:
Pack clothes and diapers in separate zip lock bags, one for each day
That way, you don’t have to keep changing clothes every day
You would just need to throw the used clothes into the washing machine, and put the packed clothes in the kids’ school bag
The great thing is that you save time by not having to think about what kids should wear the next day
You minimize mistakes such as forgetting to put in diapers, underwear etc
Time-Saving Tip 5: Plan what you want to wear for the week
Planning what to wear for the week doesn’t seem so exciting especially for us moms, but this is an important time-saving tip for working moms.
What you can do to plan your outfits for the week is:
- Hang your clothes in a specific closet
- Include the top and pants or skirts to go with it
- Choose a scarf as well
Time-saving Tip 6: Shop online
This is probably the most underrated time-saving tip for all moms. I think if you don’t have time to get something, or you forgot to purchase something, try to buy online.
Sometimes going to the supermarket especially during the weekends, is time-consuming. It’s not just the shopping that takes time, but the parking, driving, can really take away a chunk of your time.
Now with the rise of online shops and e-commerce, you really can find everything you need online.
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Helpful online platforms to buy groceries:
Tesco
The great thing about buying groceries online via Tesco is that you can buy both wet produce and dry goods, together with other essential items like diapers, shampoo, etc.
They also have a lot of delivery slots.
If you live in an apartment, they will even come straight to the door to get it delivered to you.
If you are worried about whether you can get all the things you intend to buy, worry not! For the things that are not available, they will return to money to your account.
At times, they will also choose a different brand or item to replace the one you want but if you don’t like it, you don’t have to accept it and your money will be returned.
Jaya Grocer
If you’re into buying premium meat like steak and other international brands that you may not be able to find in other supermarkets, you should try to shop online via Jaya Grocer.
The great thing about Jaya Grocer delivery is that you get free delivery if you purchase above RM50! That’s pretty neat.
They also allow returns and refunds so that’s pretty convenient as well.
Syarikat Tuah Bersaudara
Syarikat Tuah Bersaudara is a grocery shop based in Alam Budiman, Shah Alam, Selangor. They sell fresh produce such as chicken, ayam kampung, fish, clams, vegetables, as well as dried goods. They also provide delivery. The delivery rate is based on how far you are based from their shop as they use delivery services such as Lalamove.
I have used their services several times and I have been happy with their fresh produce, especially fish. They also have certain fillet fish such as salmon.
Shopee
Everyone living in Malaysia obviously knows Shopee. I really like buying certain things on Shopee especially things that cannot be found easily. It saves a lotttt of my time trying to travel to many places and shops, looking for something I am hoping to find.
The things that I always buy on Shopee are for instance:
- Kids’ diapers
- Kids’ lotion
- Arts and crafts for kids
- Certain foods that cannot be found easily – like wholemeal pasta, healthy snacks
Shopee not only has allowed you to save time, but it also gives you a platform to reach small businesses.
On top of that, it allows you to save money because so many people are selling on Shopee, so competition is fierce.
Time-Saving Tip 7: Wake up early, sleep early
This might sound annoying and obnoxious, but I really do find sleeping early like around 930pm and waking up before the kids find me really helps me get a head start.
Of course, this does not happen every single day.
But on many days, I do wake up before 6am. Sometimes, I’d start the laundry early. When I have the time, I’d perform solat tahajjud as I’ve read that the most successful Muslims often perform tahajjud.
Think of waking up early as the time of opportunity to give you to perform atomic habits.
Usually, after I perform tahajjud, I would do some readings or writings. Whichever I can squeeze in first.
I hope these time-saving tips for working moms will be useful for you! If you know any other tips, ideas, or life-hacks, do let me know!
