Welcome to our first Working Moms Roundtable! Collin County Moms Blog recruited a great mix of mothers who work full-time, part-time, or from home, and asked them a bunch of questions on their thoughts and feelings about the mythical phrase we all love to hate and hate to love, “Work-Life Balance.” Each post will focus on a specific theme related to balance at home, at work, with our partners, with our kids, and with our coworkers. We hope you’ll enjoy and maybe even grab some tips or encouragement for yourself!

Working Mom Life Hacks

What’s your BEST at-home hack that keeps your workdays going smoother?

• “This is my one parenting hack that I have found to hold true. I go grocery shopping for the week early on Sunday morning. I meal prep two meals for us to eat at night–something that can be cooked ahead of time, and I make my daughter’s dinners out of those. Not only has this saved us money, it helps us spend time together as a family. Plus, it’s one less thing you have to do during the week by spending two hours on Sunday cooking. Cook in the morning so you don’t get burned out for cooking dinner on Sunday night. You don’t want to waste one of your pre-cooked meals for a non-work day!”–Hannah, Attorney
• “Dry shampoo.” -Whitney, Managing Editor/Digital Marketing Creative Manager
• “Prepare the night before! Get the clothes laid out, food packed or prepped, bags packed by the door. Saves me so much time and ensures I don’t forget anything!”–Madeline L., Admin Assistant/Enrollment & Development Coordinator
• “I sacrifice a lot of my weekend time to make sure the weekdays go well. I have just started doing laundry on Friday nights; I put the kids to bed, load the laundry, and catch up on some TV in the process.”–Claudia, Business & Tickets Operations Coordinator
• “I utilize the crock-pot a lot and we eat left overs for 2 nights a week. I also pack my car at night for the next morning and have the kids sleep in their school clothes for smoother mornings.”–G.S., IT 
• “Food prep! Food prep! Food prep! A FULL freezer. Online checklists (Wunderlist) to track to-do lists, groceries, accounts. etc. And…it’s ok to order in!”–Nidhi, Program Manager (Robotics Process Animation)

What’s your BEST at-work hack to ensure your nights at home go smoother?

• “Grocery delivery!”-Jennifer M., Event Planning
• “If I’m working and think of something I’ll need to do or remember later, I add it as a reminder in my Google calendar. Then I can get right back to work and don’t have the nagging feeling I’m forgetting something.”-Victoria, UX Designer
• “We keep a family calendar that my husband and I share. We put everything family-related on that through Outlook.”–D., Assistant Director
• “While at work, my husband and I email about things that need to get done around the house and make a plan to tackle it. We also make sure appointments get made, bills get paid, and talk about the family calendar. It’s easier to communicate about those mundane things while at work, to eliminate interruptions from our daughter and so that our face-to-face time is filled with a better quality conversation.”–Michelle Y., Accounting Associate
• “My at-work hack is to try and fit in walks/fitness during the day by walking around my office building or utilizing the on-site gym. This helps free up my time at night with them so I’m spending quality time with them and also clears my head when I’m stuck on a problem.”–G.S., IT
• “Pay bills online while at work! This way, I don’t have to get on a computer once I’m home.”-Crystal, Paralegal
• “Shorter lunch breaks and more focused work!”-Nidhi
• “I rely on my calendar heavily. I put every task/call/thing I have to work on in my calendar and give a time frame to each (as if it was a scheduled meeting with myself). Of course, a lot of variables happen everyday that don’t let me stick to my calendar to perfection, but I try to give myself “empty time” in the calendar to be flexible and move around tasks during the day as it goes by. I started doing this for work but now I do it for most things in my to-do list at home, too.”–Eliza, Director of Operations

What would you add as your go-to hack to keep life a bit simpler?