Keeping all.the.things. organized as a busy mom feels crazy, am I right??!! Seriously, “mom brain” STICKS. They say it’s “just a pregnancy thing”.

Um, yeah no, I’m calling bologna on that one.

If it weren’t for pen and paper aka my planner - I would be lost. It’s my “brain on paper” so my actual brain doesn’t shut down due to all the things I’ve got going on up there.

But at this season of life, with five young children, there is a lot to manage. but more importantly, a lot to prioritize. Because yes, there’s a lot to do.

It’s also easy to let the important things go by the wayside because you’ve found yourself checking off tasks, but maybe ones that aren’t so important.

If you feel like you never get anything done, that may honestly be the case. But it also may be that you aren’t getting the right things done. The important tasks that need to be first on your to-do list.

So here’s an easy way for prioritizing your daily schedule or weekly schedule to actually get the things done you need, and want, to get done.

**don’t forget to grab the Printable Planner pages below to help you with prioritizing your weekly schedule**

One of the hardest things about being a mom, I think, is just trying to manage everything. There are responsibilities galore that include your children, your home, your job, etc. And usually, there are certain things that get done without you even having to think about it.

Like feeding your kids for instance. There is no way that my five will let me forget about that!!

It’s all those other tasks though, that can get lost in the shuffle.

Things like running to the bank, making a phone call to the dentist, or remembering to pick up something at the store. Those extra to-dos that don’t really matter in terms of surviving, ya know? But they still need to get done at some point, right?

So the first thing that is important when you are trying to get a routine down, or a schedule made for the week is to write EVERYTHING down.

All those to-dos, big and small. Whether it’s the carpool schedule you have for the week, the meal plan you need to make, errands you need to run, or even that your toilet is so past due for getting clean it’s ridiculous and should really happen soon! Write them ALL down.

Be sure to grab the Printable Task Priority and Weekly Planners below - there’s a great spot to list out all those to-dos!

The next step is the most important in the process of making that weekly schedule. This is where you will prioritize your weekly schedule.

And the way you do that is by categorizing your to-dos into one of three categories:

1- “Must-dos”

These are NON-negotiables when it comes to your week. They are things you cannot change and absolutely must do. I would include things that have a very definite time slot or appointment.

Some you may have on your list could be doctors/dentist appointments, taking/picking up kids from school, meetings, work, etc. You get it. The things you can't NOT do.

2-“Necessary-to-dos”

These are still high up as far as prioritizing your weekly schedule. They are items that really do need to get done, but they just don’t have a definitive time slot or appointment scheduled.

Things you may have on your list that would fall into this category could be going to the store, making your meal plan, going to the bank, or even work projects. All things that need to happen in a timely way, but don’t already have a chunk of time set aside.

3- Nice to-dos

This is probably pretty obvious how it will fall into prioritizing your weekly schedule. But the things you categorize as your “nice-to-do” items, will be things that do NOT have a definitive time slot or appointment and do NOT matter all that much. They are just the things that would be “nice-to-do”.

Things that would fall under this category of prioritizing your weekly schedule could be things like mopping the floors (on my list of “nice to-dos”😂), meal prep (like way in advance type meal prep), or possibly research for potential vacation. But you see what I’m saying? These are things that really won’t affect the outcome of your week. So they are just “Nice to-dos”.

If you haven’t yet, print The Task Priority Planner and Weekly Planner Printables from the Resource Library/Freebies Page. You'll need to subscribe below for instant access (it’s free) to get these worksheets. The Task Priority Planner will help you get all those to-dos prioritized for the week🙌🏻

Once you have everything prioritized, it’s time to actually schedule it in your planner.

“Must-Dos”

You are just going to start with your “Must Dos”. Those items that you’ve written in your Planner Planner “Must do” section. The things that have a specific time slot or appointment associated with them. I also think it’d be very important to write that time in to be sure you have that visible!! I also like to write these in my planner in black ink. That means it is not changeable!

**I also think it’s super fun to color-coordinate my other to-dos**

“Necessary to-do”

After you have your “Must-dos” written in, go ahead and write in your “Necessary to-dos”. The difference with these is that you have to choose a time slot you plan on starting/accomplishing the task. I know as a mom, life happens, so you have to have some flexibility, right? And even though these are “Necessary to do”, you may to still want to keep your options open. So I would suggest writing in pencil or use small sticky notes (the flag kind) on your planner. That way you can be flexible and move things around or erase and write in later.

“Nice-to-dos”

The last piece of prioritizing your weekly schedule is to add in your “Nice to-dos”. But to be completely honest about these, I would NOT write them into your planner. I feel like the addition of all the “nice-to-do” items might be visually stressful. Like you may look at your planner and start to panic at all that needs to be done. Because these things aren’t really important, like eating is, I would say to leave them off your planner.

What you can do instead, and what I do, is to write them on a small sticky note. Then place said sticky on the planner in a place that’s off to the side. So you still see those items, but they aren’t in a place of importance. Because they aren't super important, really.

You may find it surprisingly refreshing to start prioritizing your weekly schedule. Once I did, I realized how many items I made “Musts”, when they were really only “Nice To-Dos”. And once I saw that it was eye-opening and helped me with prioritizing my weekly schedule so that I could not only relieve some pressure I had placed on myself.

But also to actually get things DONE! So if you are constantly feeling behind, like you are never getting anything done, give this a try. I know, believe me I know, that being a mom is tough.

It’s more work than I ever realized it would be. And sometimes this 24-hour job can leave you feeling frazzled and unaccomplished. Don’t stress if that’s where you are, you are not alone in it.

Just keep going - you are doing amazing things!!