How to Be a Successful Stay at Home Mom: 9 Essential Habits

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As a stay at home mom, you have no boss or job description. Unlike a “real job”, you don’t get evaluated each year to find out how you are doing. But you can still be a successful stay at home mom with some simple habits.

When I transitioned from working full time to staying home with my baby, I had no idea what to do with myself.

Some days I would stay in my pajamas or work out clothes ALL. DAY. LONG.

Then about an hour before my husband would get home, I’d quickly start a load of laundry, decide on something for dinner, and finally get a shower.

Can you relate to my story?

You’re not alone. I hear from other stay at home moms on a regular basis who struggle with this too. They don’t know how to balance motherhood while keeping up with the household responsibilities. Let alone getting a shower every day!

After 8 years of being a stay at home mom, I’ve learned simple habits that make all the difference in how my days and weeks go.

This time that we are stay at home moms is such a small blip in time. Let’s make it count and learn how to thrive!

How to Be a Successful Stay at Home Mom

1. Follow a morning routine.

If you want to have a productive day, it starts with following a morning routine. This is a basic plan of action steps that you do every single morning.

My morning routine includes the following:

  • read the Bible
  • get a shower and dressed
  • eat breakfast with the kids
  • get kids ready for the day
  • quick clean up in the kitchen
  • throw a load of laundry in the wash

2. Wake up before your kids.

As a stay at home mom, you don’t have to wake up at a certain time. You could get out of bed whenever the kids wake up, but this is a bad habit. 

Believe me. I know from experience!

I used to lie in bed until my son woke up. Then I tried to squeeze in even more sleep by bringing him in bed with me. But I was never able to actually get more sleep.

When my son was 18 months old, I finally started getting up before him. Doing this helped me become a better mom because I had time to myself instead of jumping right into “mommy mode”.

If you’ve never gotten up before your kids, start with just 10 minutes earlier. You can gradually add more time as you get used to waking up earlier.

3. Follow an evening routine.

Once you have a morning routine in place, it’s time to plan out a simple evening routine. Your evening doesn’t have to be complicated.

Your evening routine is a plan of tasks to do each night that will set yourself up for a successful morning.

Here are a few evening routine ideas:

  • clean up the kitchen after dinner
  • set out clothes for the next day
  • pack school and work lunches
  • have a plan for breakfast
  • go to bed early

4. Follow a daily schedule.

How you start and end your day are the most important ways to ensure success as a stay at home mom. And some days, that is really all you’ll be able to do.

But if you can, create a flexible daily schedule too.

It will take a little time to figure out the best schedule for you, but your whole family will thrive when your day is structured and focused.

When you get intentional with your days, you’ll accomplish more and still have time to rest or maybe even start a hobby!

Not every day will run exactly as planned, but following a flexible schedule provides stability even on days when not everything goes smoothly.

5. Make a plan for the week.

As you begin each week, carve out some quiet time to plan ahead for specific things you’ll be doing in the week ahead.

I like to do this on Sunday afternoon when the house is quiet. But when my husband worked on the weekends, I would do my weekly planning on Fridays. Pick a day that makes sense to your schedule.

I love using a weekly planner (affiliate link), but you could simply use a piece of paper too!

Make a plan for the following:

  • weekly cleaning tasks
  • meal plan
  • appointments
  • self care
  • fun with the kids
  • to-do lists

6. Focus on one thing at a time.

You may think multi-task helps you get more done. But what often happens is you take longer to accomplish tasks and don’t do them well.

You feel like you are doing two things at one time, but the truth is you’re probably much faster when your focus is completely on the task at hand.

7. Create a meal planning system.

An important homemaking task is meals. Your family has to eat, yet it may be a struggle to figure out what to serve at every meal.

I like to use a master list of family favorite meals to refer to whenever I meal plan. These are the meals that my family enjoys on a regular basis. Here is a list of over 125 different dinner ideas!

I use the master meal list to create a weekly meal plan. But you should do create a meal planning system that works for you and that you will stick with.

8. Enjoy the time with your children.

One of the most important reasons you are a stay at home mom is your kids. Yet it’s easy to rush through the daily, mundane moments with them.

I encourage you to make connections with your kids during those mundane tasks.

When you change a diaper, get them dressed, or help them brush their teeth, those are all opportunities to make an intentional connection with your children.

Here are some ways you can enjoy the time you have with your kids each day.

  • Eat a meal with them.
  • Read a book together.
  • Go on a walk together.
  • Sing them a song to them.
  • Color a picture together.

9. Limit distractions.

When it comes to spending time with your kids, the problem isn’t always that you don’t have enough time. Sometimes you are distracted.

Your attention goes from one thing to the next and you may have a hard time focusing on the little people right in front of you.

Identify what it is your biggest distraction and challenge yourself to go without it for a period of time each day. Maybe your distraction is your phone, the television, or a social media app.

Carve out some time during the day (morning, afternoon, ect) where you stay away from that distraction and instead do the things that make you feel like a successful stay at home mom.

There is no perfect mom. Success depends on what your definition of success is. I encourage you to write a list of things you believe would make you successful. Then start incorporating those things into your every day.

For me, success is balancing motherhood and homemaking tasks with joy while still practcing self care.

The above list of habits helps me to those things. I hope it does for you too.

If you’ve never signed up for my free Balanced Mom Checklist, be sure to sign up today.

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