Taking control of the limited time you have By Maria Bailey, working mother of four If you are like most working mothers, you put a full day in at the office and going home means starting your next shift of work. The rewards may be greater for the latter but regardless it's difficult to focus on the gratification of motherhood when a two year old is toughing at your leg wanting to be picked up and your 2nd grader is imitating a dying solider complaining of hunger like he hasn't eaten since last December. I don't need to describe it to you. I'm sure visions of your own come to mind. You don't need me to pile the challenges of my four children on top. But just think, if you only get through dinner hour, you can, well, begin all the household chores you haven't crossed off the "to do" list. It's sad to think that your sense of accomplishment when you finally go to bed will be if you finally finished the laundry or purged the newborn sized clothes out of your toddler's closet. I must admit, it's never really as bad to others as it seems to me. No one else seems to see the dust I see each time I walk by the bookshelves. To the rest of the world, I'm doing it all. Besides who cares if my towels aren't folded in three-folds when I'm signing a million dollar account with a new client. I've got it together. If I stopped long enough to reflect, I'd probably admit that I'm doing okay at the balancing act but it's not from lack of following some specific rules I keep in my head on a daily basis. Here are my secret mantras to doing it all: 1) Never leave a room empty handed There's always something you can put away in its spot, which might be on your way to the kitchen or bedroom. 2) Consolidate frequently used items, even if they belong to multiple people In our house we have a soccer uniform draw. Girls or boys it doesn't matter. Every Saturday morning we know where our uniforms can be found. And the drawer changes seasonally as the sporting seasons change. 3) Pick your battles Decide what you can live with and what you can't bear to see. For me, it's a dirty floor and towel not folded to my standards that will drive me crazy. I have learned to tolerate shoes thrown into the bottom of the closet. You can't control everything and you'll create more stress for yourself than it's worth. 4) Always have a bag packed ready to go Whether it's off to church, the park or a quick trip to the grocery store, keep a bag stocked and ready to go. I call mine the weekend bag and it's loaded with diaper wipes, snack size zip locs with cheerios and pretzels, one diaper, small pack of crayons for waiting rooms and a juice box. 5) Always double the recipe When your cooking spaghetti sauce, soup or stuffed pork chops, always make enough to freeze half. You'll be happy you did the next time you come home too late to cook. 6) Never heat the oven for just one meal If you have the oven on and hot to cook a pan of lasagna, why not stick a turkey breast in too. The family can pick on the meat for lunch or dinner. 7) Combine housework with family fun Turn on some Disney tunes while doing housework and get creative. The broom and vacuum can become great dance partners for you and your kids. And waxing furniture becomes a great twist and shout folly for the whole family.