I remember when my son was born— the level of stress, anxiety and disorganization that had shortly ensued (yes, postpartum depression played a part). The planner and organized person in me had to find new processes and routines in an attempt to cope in my new world of motherhood. Truth be told, many conventional time management principles had to be tossed out of the window. Motherhood caused me to reestablish the rules. It forced me to get my life if I wanted to do a relatively decent job at life’s balancing act. Because trying to balance career, entrepreneurship, family and all else is no damn joke. So here’s what I’ve learned during the process.

1. Remove the Clutter. You have to remove the people, places and things that are undeserving of your time and bring zero value to your life. This will free up much time allowing you to spend your time and energy on the things that matters the most. Removing the clutter out of my life has got to be one of the best things that I could have done.

2. Batch Tasks. Refrain from answering every email and phone call in real-time as they occur. Instead, allocate a designated time throughout the day to work on specific tasks. Like read emails first thing in the morning and return phone calls at the end of the business day. Batching your tasks eliminates the need to multitask and cuts potential distractions.

3. No Multitasking. This has been a false concept for such a long time. Multitasking does not equate to efficiency or effectiveness. In fact, it creates chaos. Doing multiple things at the same time seems like a great time-saving idea, but studies prove that this approach isn’t effective. Nope. Not at all. Instead you’re left spinning wheels, chasing tails and creating more work due to lack of focus.