Summer is officially here which means a bit of chaos in my house and life.

It seems like there are a million things going on between work, managing the kids’ social lives and sports, trying to find an ounce of “me” time, and managing the home. It can feel overwhelming and stressful if you don’t take back some control of your time.

I have learned over the years that there are simple tips and strategies to finding more time in my day and using my time more wisely. For a lot of women, the stressful time zappers are managing the mornings, cleaning the house, doing laundry, reading email, and scheduling everyone’s lives.

 Life just seems to go at turbo speed when you have kids, but enjoy the ride and capture the crazy moments when they happen. To help you do just that, here are some strategies to enjoy more time every day and push the time zappers away: 

Manage your mornings better

How crazy are your mornings?  I’ve learned to do as much as I can the evening before, because mornings are always crazier than evenings.  Lay out clothes, pack lunches, and set the coffee maker the night before. Look at your calendar and prepare what you need for the next day. I lay out the towels and goggles for the kids’ swim practice each evening. Just prepping a little the night before will save you quite a bit of time in the morning.

Group cleaning sessions

Something my family has done for years is designate Sunday morning as cleaning day. Instead of stressing about it all week, set aside a specific time every week to do the major cleaning. Then, you can just pick up here and there throughout the week. Everyone can pitch in and participate in their specific chores, and it will get done fairly quickly. My kids strip their beds right away, do their cleaning, help make their beds with the clean sheets, and they are done for the week. Another tip is to keep wipes and Windex in every bathroom and every evening do a quick wipe down of the counters.

Don’t fall prey to the social media time-suck

Do you have any idea how much time you waste surfing social media sites and checking and re-checking your e-mail everyday? If you literally detailed every minute of the day you would be surprised how much time you waste. Be very conscious of how much time you spend on the computer. Set limits and make a commitment to check your email certain times during the day, and that is it. Just being aware of how you spend your time will wake you up to how much more time you really can find.

Leslie Gail is a Lifestyle expert and Coach who resides in Colorado with her husband and two kids. You can find out more about her here.