25 QUICK PRODUCTIVITY TIPS FOR PARENT-CREATIVES

In this post I give an overview of 25 productivity tips to help parent-creatives (and other busy people) achieve all the things that matter to them!

Some are well-known. Others have been re-thought or modified to better suit the parenting lifestyle.

There are many tips in this post and I haven’t delved into them in detail here. If you sign up to my free newsletter you will receive a copy of my ‘Productivity for Parent-Writers’ guide, which goes into these tips in more detail.

Some tips may work for you and others may not. I cannot stress this enough: adopt or tweak the tips and strategies that work for you, and ignore the ones that don’t.

1: COFFEE!

Self-explanatory! Not everyone likes coffee, but for me (as a parent of two light sleepers) it is the reason I can walk, talk and function.

2: SCHEDULE YOUR CREATIVE TIME... BUT GIVE YOURSELF GRACE

Hopefully this tip is self-explanatory; if something is important to you then you need to block dedicated time in your schedule. Protect that time and treat it the same way as you would a medical appointment – turn up on time, turn off your phone, and focus on the reason you’re there.

However, as hard as I try, there are days on which I can't protect my writing time from the other demands of life and self-care. It is difficult to prevent life admin and household tasks creeping in.

If a piece of life admin threatens my writing time, then I ask myself: can this be done at another time? Are any of us likely to die if the washing up doesn't get done right now? Is my car insurance about to run out? Can the food shopping wait, or are the cupboards bare? Sometimes the life admin takes priority, but this exercise helps me protect my writing time as best I can.

Whatever schedule you create, bear in mind the universally acknowledged truth that your children may come along and disrupt your routine at any time. If this happens – take a deep breath, accept it, and move on (and be kind to yourself).

WRITING ROUTINE

One way to 'switch' your brain into writing mode – especially after a long day of parenting – is to implement a writing routine.

There are some who argue that writers shouldn't get tied to a specific routine or setting, and I understand the wisdom behind this. However – and I think my autism comes into play here – I find it incredibly difficult to switch between different tasks (especially when I'm tired). I'm not the type of writer who can open up my notes app in the five minutes before a doctor's appointment and type a few sentences of my novel. If you are this type of writer, then I am in awe of you! Keep doing what works for you.

My sweet spot is at least an hour of writing time, plus laptop, plus candle, plus ambient piano music, plus drink and snack. These are the things which signal to my chaotic brain that it's 'time to write'.

YOUR SCHEDULE IS A TOOL

Your schedule is a tool to help you do the things you want do to. It is not a stick to beat yourself up with for being a human and not a machine. If your kid got up five times during the night then so did you; don't berate yourself for skipping 5am writers' club that day! Rest is important too.

You must consider your physical and psychological health. You must factor in time to eat healthy meals, to get your body moving, and to give yourself a mental break from the daily exhaustion of life with kids.

It can be tempting to examine your calendar and assign any scrap of free time to writing. However, as enjoyable as writing is, it is also work, and I wear myself out every time I forget this. Remember to schedule self-care as well as writing time.

3: MAKE FLEXIBLE AND REALISTIC GOALS

Make sure your creative goals are achievable and can be completed within a realistic timeframe.

This is a balancing act – I want to push myself and achieve my goals, but I don’t want to feel worthless if I don’t achieve them – especially if I’m sabotaged by circumstances outside my control (a given when looking after unpredictable young humans).

My goal deadlines are flexible and I don’t berate myself if I don’t achieve them. Slow progress is better than no progress!

4: WORK WHEN YOU ARE MOST CREATIVE (IF YOU CAN)

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha… cough.

The time when I’m naturally most productive (the morning) is the time when I’m feeding, dressing and entertaining my early-riser children. Even on days when they’re both out of the house: by the time I’ve dropped them off at school, childcare etc and can (finally) start work, half my creative window has passed. However, I make the most of the hours when they're out of the house; most of my work is achieved between 9.30am and 2.30pm.

When my children were small, I mutated into a deformed, exhausted night owl to get my writing done. The transformation was difficult, but (for me personally) I decided to temporarily change how I worked rather than not write at all. Obviously a different strategy might work better for you!

Your children may be the type who sleep during your natural creative window. If that is the case, then more power to you, and I hate you. Not really. But I envy you.

5: WORK AT THE EDGES OF THE DAY

You could learn to stay up late and write after your children are in bed (as I did). If your children sleep late, then it might work better for you to get up early and do your writing before they wake up. If they are good at napping (mine aren’t) then writing during nap time may work better for you.

I know from experience that if I joined the 5.00am writers’ club, then at 5.01am there would be a call of 'Mummy!' down the stairs. Then I would spend the day dealing with the double whammy of not having written anything, and having been awake since stupid-o’clock in the morning.

Whenever your child sleeps – if they sleep – then make the most of that time! Whether it's to write, rest, or take care of some life admin to free up other writing time. Which 'edge' of the day you choose to work at will largely depend on where your child falls on the arsehole-o-meter with regard to sleep. (There are multiple arsehole-o-meter categories, and many possible profiles your kid could embody.)

Whichever strategy you choose: sleep is precious and essential for your health and happiness. Don’t deprive yourself of it! Your kids are already doing that for you.

6: FLEXIBILITY

This is a pep talk for my autistic self too.

No matter how 'prepared' or 'productive' you are, multiple work sessions will be disrupted by a sick or injured child. I once did the calculations and worked out that, during the year 2022, I lost ONE THIRD of my total writing and editing time to family illness or other mishaps. I haven't yet faced that calculation for 2023 or 2024, but I know it isn't much better. And this is for a family with two relatively healthy children without additional complex needs.

If this happens then adjust your goals. Decide which tasks can be cancelled, or delayed, or adjusted. This strategy has helped me deal with hits to my available work time, and has helped me stay focused on priority tasks.

Disruption is inevitable and outside your control! You need to be kind to yourself when it happens.

7: ROCKS, PEBBLES AND SAND

This is a common metaphor in productivity advice, and is one I actually find useful in the context of parenting.

Imagine you have a large bell jar. Beside the bell jar, you have a pile of different-sized rocks, and a huge mound of sand. Your task is to fit all the rocks and all the sand inside the bell jar.

If you pour the sand in first, and try to fit the rocks on top of the sand, then they won’t fit. However, if you arrange the rocks in the bell jar first, and then pour the sand, the grains will flow around and between the rocks, and everything will fit inside.

In other words, you will be happier and more productive if you tackle the larger and more important items on your list first. For me, this means writing and editing take priority because they are the largest and most important tasks. Smaller tasks – replying to emails, writing blog posts, social media posts etc – can slot around the larger tasks. If you neglect the larger tasks in favour of smaller ones then you will not achieve as much in the areas of life that are most important to you.

Now imagine your bell jar suddenly halves in size, i.e. you become a parent. Now you can't fit everything inside like you did before. You have to choose which rocks and sand to fit into your bell jar, and again you need to tackle the larger and more important items first.

You still won’t achieve as much as you did before children, but thinking of the bell jar metaphor will help you focus on what is most important. Thus you will be more likely to achieve your goals and ambitions.

8: CHOOSE ONE THING TO ACCOMPLISH EACH DAY

Most of the time you’re doing the best you can with a half-size bell jar. Now imagine that on some days a mischievous little hand sneaks up and pushes your bell jar off your desk, smashing it to pieces (yes, I’m milking the metaphor). Now you have nothing but a pile of glass shards, and you can only carry what will fit in the palm of your hand. It is a lot easier to pick one large important stone to carry than to try and cup a handful of sand in your palm.

You never know when these days are going to happen. For this reason, I like to start each day with one important thing which I have to get done no matter what. It can be large or it can be small. But I know that I cannot finish that day without – at the bare minimum – completing that one task. If the day goes belly-up and nothing else gets done, then it’s irritating but at least I did that one thing.

9: TACKLE ONE TASK AT A TIME

Wherever possible I have dedicated slots for family time and dedicated slots for writing and editing. If I’m trying to do work when I’m with my children then I feel guilty – and they interrupt every thirty seconds anyway.

This rule also applies to your task list. If you focus on one thing at a time until that thing is completed then you are more likely to finish tasks than if you jump around your task list.

10: LISTS... BUT NOT THE WAY YOU THINK

Lists are extremely helpful for some of us. For others they are overwhelming.

I'm somewhere in-between. I find lists useful for long-term project planning, marketing, and business goals, but I find daily to-do lists stressful. I plan quarters, months and weeks rather than specific days, because as a parent I find that system more flexible and more resilient to sudden events wrecking my plans (have I mentioned how often this happens?)

I have two other types of list which do wonders for both my productivity and my mental health.

TO-DON'T LIST: Mental checklist of activities I rarely or never participate in. For example, it is pointless to keep my house immaculate because I have two young kids!

DONE LIST: I don’t put everything from all parts of my life on here – though you certainly can – but I make sure at the end of each day to list all the things I achieved, especially those things which are gradually building my writing and editing career. I find this way more motivational than looking at a partially completed to-do list and feeling bad about myself because I didn’t tick every item.

11: MAKE THE MOST OF BONUS TIME

As tough as parenting is, there are occasional pockets of time in which you can get an unexpected and temporary reprieve. They are so appreciated!

What you do with the bonus time depends on how you like to work. I generally need at least an hour so I can get immersed in my story, and if that hour comes out of the blue then I find it harder to turn my mind to writing. Instead I take care of other tasks and responsibilities which are clogging up my brain and energy, so that I can have a larger block of writing time in the evening (or whenever I’m next writing).

You could even use your bonus time to *whispers* have a rest. The horror! But rest and self-care are vital, and if that hour gives you time for a power-nap, or reading, or drinking a coffee that is actually hot, then do it! Self-care is not wasted time!

However, be intentional with it. Decide how you will best use the time. If you decide it is in your best interests to spend that hour on Instagram then great, go for it. But don’t decide to do one thing and instead spend your hour mindlessly doom-scrolling (not that I’ve ever fallen into this trap. Cough).

12: SET TIME LIMITS

Tasks grow to fill the time allotted to them. When starting a task, set a time when you aim to have it completed. Make it realistic, but don’t give yourself too much wiggle room – otherwise it may take longer than you actually need.

13: PERFECT IS THE ENEMY OF GOOD

Once a task or piece of work is 80% ‘perfect’ then the amount of time and effort required to get that piece of work close to 100% increases steeply the longer you spend on it.

If the item is a novel, or a commissioned piece of work, then you obviously want to spend time on it and get it as good as you can make it.

However, there comes a point when spending more and more time on a piece of work will get you steeply diminishing returns. If you’re a parent your time is more limited, so be mindful of where you spend it.

14: USE REWARDS

I encourage recording and rewarding all your achievements. I work hard for my family, my business and my writing, so if I want a bar of chocolate when I achieve something then I’ll have a guilt-free bar of chocolate!

15: REGULAR 'RESETS'

I carry out a major reset around every four months. This involves a big-picture assessment of my writing and editing business, my goals, and how things have been going over the previous few months. I identify which strategies are working for me, and which ones aren't. I overhaul my goals, and assess where I would like to be in four months' time. I (roughly) plan my time over the coming four months, and choose the date on which the major reset will start. Major resets are also useful after disruptive life events, or if your schedule is about to change (e.g. new job, child starting school etc).

Minor resets are for when I'm having a bad day or a bad week (for whatever reason). They help me stay flexible during unexpected obstacles or life events. I go easy on myself, and allow myself to start again fresh the following day, or the following week.

16: SCREEN TIME IS OK (SHHH!)

Can we all (please!) stop demonising parents who allow their kids screen time? The existence of TV, tablets and gaming are the reason I can get ANYTHING done. If I need to sit my energetic children in front of Bluey to give me the time and space to make food for them, then that’s what I’ll do!

The key thing – as with many of these tips – is to be intentional. I make sure my children are consuming content that is educational as well as entertaining, and I make sure to use it strategically (e.g., when I have housework or life admin to do).

If you’re the type of writer who can dip in and out of a project, writing 50 words here, 50 words there, in between other things, then this strategy could also buy you extra writing time.

17: GET YOUR KID(S) INVOLVED

This depends on the ages and personalities of your children. However, it might be possible to get them involved with your creative work, or at least make them aware of what you're trying to achieve.

Let them know when your writing times are, and when you will be free to play with them again. Find a notebook and a pen so they can 'join in'. I've even taken my oldest son on a couple of 'mini writing retreats'; we take notebooks and pens to a cafe and work on our projects! Don't get me wrong; the interruptions are constant, and I'm not expecting a big word count. But we have a lot of fun!

18: IT DOESN'T MATTER IF THE HOUSE IS MESSY (SHHH!)

On my bookshelf there is a plaque from a German Christmas market.

Roughly translated, the statement on it reads: ‘Our house is clean enough to be healthy, and dirty enough to be happy’. I try to remember this whenever I’m feeling stressed about the state of the house.

In an ideal world, my house would be sparkling and immaculate because I hate dirt and mess. However, I’ve had no choice but to let my standards slide because I would have lost my sanity otherwise. I could (in theory) stay up for hours each night cleaning and tidying, but I’d never do any writing and I’d be miserable. I have to accept a certain level of dirt, mess and chaos to stay healthy and happy.

Give yourself permission to prioritise your personal ambitions and dreams over the state of the house. No one ever got a literary award for a gleaming kitchen.

19: OUTSOURCE (IF YOU CAN) AND SIMPLIFY

This depends on your personal resources and finances. Some suggestions include:

• Hire someone to clean the house.

• Make regular formal or informal childcare arrangements to give yourself time and space to work on your projects.

• Do your shopping online (especially food shopping).

• Cook food in batches.

• Batch tasks, e.g. cleaning, laundry etc.

• Set aside an hour for tidying and do as much as you can in that time (highest priority first).

• You don’t have to reply to messages straightaway.

• Gift cards are fine for gifts: can people please stop being snobby about gift cards?

• Instead of writing and sending Christmas cards, donate the money to a charity. The charity, the environment, and your sanity will thank you.

20: ORGANISE YOUR WORKSPACE

This depends on your at-home arrangement. I’m extremely lucky to have a room which is my dedicated office space. It is separate from the chaos in the rest of the house, and is the one part of the house which I always keep tidy and uncluttered.

Even if your writing space is a shared space, I recommend having a dedicated writing area which can quickly and easily be tidied or transformed into what you need.

I find it helpful to work in coffee shops some of the time. The change in scenery sparks my creativity, I’m less likely to be interrupted by arguments over toy dinosaurs, and paying for a coffee increases my motivation to make the best use of that time! Of course, the usefulness of this tip depends on your personal circumstances.

21: MANAGE INTERRUPTIONS

Hahahahahahahahaha.

Yes, I know. I’m rewording this to: do whatever you can to manage interruptions.

I realise I’m in the privileged position of having my own office space which I can disappear into when working. The temptation of family members to interrupt if you’re in a shared working space is even more difficult to deal with. However, there are things you can do to try and reduce the likelihood of being interrupted.

If you have older children, you can explain that you are writing, and let them know when you do not wish to be disturbed. My older son is partly able to understand this –at least until he decides he needs a snack. Make it clear to your family what time you intend to stop, and what time they are allowed to interrupt you.

Again, like with most of parenting life, some level of interruption is unavoidable. Do the best you can, and try not to be angry with your family (or yourself) if things don’t work out the way you’d like.

22: SAY NO

If you’re being asked to take on something new, consider first of all whether it aligns with your goals and priorities. Secondly, ask yourself whether or not you genuinely can make time for it – and be honest!

The more demands and restrictions you already have on your time and energy, the stricter you have to be in saying no to things which do not align with your goals and priorities. There are things I would love to do – make a podcast, make beautiful Instagram reels, collaborate with other authors etc – but I just don’t have the time or energy at this point in my life.

23: BE INTENTIONAL WITH SOCIAL MEDIA

This is a double-edged sword because, as ‘serious’ creatives, we need to maintain a social media presence to reach and interact with our audience. Like with anything else, this time is important: but it needs to be scheduled and intentional. If I open Threads I set a time limit and tell myself I will come off again at XX time. If I have a quiet (ha!) slot of time in between childcare, school runs, and meal prep then I try to carry a book or my Kindle around instead of my phone, so that I’m less tempted to open social media in these moments.

If your phone is distracting then (if possible) move it away from you while you work.

24: KNOW YOURSELF

Even though I love being a writer, some days it is difficult to sit down at the computer and get started. And that is when I'm relatively well. Add autism, migraines, menstruation, regular family illnesses etc to the mix, and writing can feel almost impossible.

Hopefully, most of us have been around long enough to know the difference between when we're procrastinating (use caution because some procrastination is useful) and when we're genuinely too tired / unwell. Examine the reasons you're feeling that way – and be honest!

Look at the context as well. Is there a growing pile of life admin weighing on your mind? Have you written 2000 words a day for the last five days and your brain fells like a wrung-out sponge? Has it been a few weeks since you last wrote, and you're out of the habit?

You know yourself better than anyone!

TECHNIQUE: I'LL ONLY DO X

Tell yourself that you will only do [insert small task], and then you can stop and read / watch Netflix / whatever will help you rest. You open your laptop, and you do the one thing you said you were going to do.

Usually, one of two things happens. Either you find yourself adding more words, researching something else, planning the next scene etc, and you look up and an hour has passed. Or you do the one thing, close the laptop, and enjoy some rest. Either way, you're further along than when you started, and it may be that your brain really did need that rest!

Regardless of which techniques you use to get your arse in the chair... remember why you're doing this difficult thing: especially when it feels hard.

25: LOOK AFTER YOURSELF

This is the most important one!

It can be tempting to run at your projects full-pace to get loads of things done as quickly as possible. I fall into this trap too!

This tip is more about taking a long-term view of things. How will your business succeed if you burn yourself out after months of attacking it at full speed? How will you write and publish books for years to come if you trigger or worsen a long-term health condition because you aren’t sleeping, exercising, or eating healthily? How will you enjoy a long career in a creative pursuit if you’re crippled by depression and anxiety because you never allow yourself any rest or space for reflection?

IN CONCLUSION

If you take nothing else from this post, then I hope you allow time for self-care, show yourself kindness and grace, and make time for the things that matter most to you. If you do not feed and nurture your creativity with self-care then it will wither and die. However, if you look after yourself and work intelligently to achieve your creative goals, then your creative passion will grow and transform into something beautiful!

BEFORE YOU GO...

What do you think of the productivity tips? Have they helped or hindered you? Are there any other tips that have helped you? Please join in the discussion (contact details below).

Please feel free to comment on the article and/or contact me if you have any questions!

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Disclaimer: generative AI

I do not use generative AI to produce or inform my blog, my images, or my fiction. All of my content is generated by the chaotic firing of my own (human) brain! (I have access to some images through my Wix subscription). I do not consent to the use of my content, images, or fiction to train generative AI models. Please contact me to discuss permission and compensation if you wish to use my content in this way.