When Ava was first born, she slept just about all day. You all know that newborns sleep a ton but at that point, all I wanted to do was snuggle and hold her and stare at her all day long. So that prevented me from getting anything done.

And then she got into a normal napping and sleeping schedule and I still never got work done. Blogs on The Overwhelmed Bride were scarce (I used to publish a blog every single day) and I couldn't figure out why I felt like I never had time for anything. The house was clean, the laundry was done and she was napping, and I still just didn't get anything done.

As this summer rolled around, I joined a mom's Bible study at our church and with a couple of mommy friends, we started a mommy-kid play date once a week.

Just so you know the background on this, I never put on clothes. I wear my pajamas all day long, my hair up in a messy bun, and no makeup...ever. But of course with these weekly events starting, I needed to look a little more put together than I was used to.

The first week rolled around and I got dressed and put on makeup TWO DAYS IN A ROW.

Record!

Each day I would get home around 11:30am and although half of my day was already gone, I would get so much work done. Like way more work than the days when I had the entire day to work!

And I finally figured out the key to being productive...

...getting dressed and looking my best!

Whether you are a stay at home mom or a working mom, I seriously think this is key in having productive motherhood days, whether that means getting out of the house to go to the park, going grocery shopping, vacuuming the house or anything else you have on your to do list. Even if you don't have time for makeup, just put on some clothes or quickly slide on some mascara (I mean, it only takes a minute).

And not only that, it makes me feel great, puts me in a great mood, and makes my husband happy too!

So try it out and let me know if it work for you!