A few months back I sent an email out to all of my subscribers asking: “What is your biggest struggle right now?”
Over and over I heard:
- I am overloaded
- I’m so busy
- I have too many things to do and not enough time
- I’m overwhelmed
Can you relate?
I’ve been there before and know it’s a place I’ll visit again.
Today I want to share some practical time savers I use and love.
When I find something that’s able to save me time cooking, cleaning, or working on ministry projects I am all-in!
I hope there will be something on the list that you find helpful.
Some are free – yeah! And others you may want to place on your birthday or Christmas list.
PSA: Please note that there are affiliate links below. If you chose to make a purchase, I may receive a small commission that helps to cover the costs of this site. Your support is appreciated. Thanks!
Now on to the time savers!
11 Time Savers for Women’s Ministry Leaders
1. Instant Pot
The Instant Pot is an electric pressure cooker that allows you to prep meals faster! I love, love, love my Instant Pot. Ya’all I have made moist, delicious chicken in basically 30 minutes. I cooked corn on the cob in 3 and made mashed potatoes in 8. Seriously. This has transformed our mealtime. It is currently one of my most favorite things! If you have a favorite Instant Pot recipe, I’d love for you to share it in the comments below!
2. ButcherBox
ButcherBox delivers 100% grass-fed beef, free range organic chicken and heritage breed pork directly to your door. We’ve been very pleased with the boxes we’ve received so far! You can choose a box that is curated or custom. Try something new or get exactly what you want. You can order your box here.
3. HootSuite
I use the free version regularly for this site. HootSuite allows you to distribute announcements through multiple social media sites all at one time. No logging in and out of each one! If your women’s ministry uses social media to communicate to your ladies this would be a huge help and time saver!
4. PicMonkey
PicMonkey allows you to easily create graphics and images for women’s ministry events. I have the paid version because I like to use several of the “royale” features. As much as I use it, it’s worth it. Every image you’ve seen me post on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, or Twitter was created with PicMonkey.
5. Kindle
About a year and a half ago I switched from using a Kindle Fire to a Paperwhite Kindle. I love that my Kindle allows me to read my Bible and other books on the go – taking advantage of small pockets of time. The Paperwhite Kindle is much easier to read outdoors. And you’re probably aware that books are cheaper on the Kindle than in paperback form – plus you don’t have to wait for the mailman!
6. Study Bible
A few years back I was gifted this HCSB Study Bible. For a while I was doing the electronic Bible thing but I found I was really missing turning pages and digging into the notes in my study Bible. I love that I don’t have to stop to pull out a resource book or Google. As we embark on a new way of doing bible study with our women this fall, my study Bible will be getting a work out!
7. Pinterest
I have Pinterest installed on my toolbar so I can save ideas as I come across them. It’s so much easier than spending hours searching on Google for it! I have secret boards for ideas I don’t want to share publicly. I’ve created shared boards for our women’s ministry team planning. I’ve pinned hundreds, if not thousands, of recipes, home ideas, holiday decorating tips, etc. I’ve got both a personal and a business account on Pinterest. I love that you can search Pinterest and just see the things you’ve pinned. Huge time saver!
8. iDrive
My husband set us up an account for our personal use, but I find I’m using it often to send documents and photos to team members. When we went to Panama we were able to share a link with all of our 600+ photos with the whole group. We’ve set it to automatically sync our computers every day ensuring if something crashes we’re not sunk! After losing some photos on an external hard drive years ago, I rely on iDrive to keep copies of our photos safe too. I also have it installed on my phone so I can upload photos and videos when we’re traveling. I’ll never have to run out of space on my phone.
9. Checklists
I am a serious list maker. Lists keep me on task. If I don’t write it down, chances are I’ll forget. I don’t head to the store without printing out my grocery list (based on the week’s current sales ad). I’ve got lists for all kinds of women’s ministry tasks, for packing, for blogging, etc. I recently shared this video by Becky Higgins about list making in my monthly subscribers-only newsletter. I really like this new way of tackling my weekly to-do list.
10. Roomba
Yes, this is a splurge. My dear hubby got this for either my birthday or Christmas, I don’t remember which, and it was a deal at the time. Confession, I have a messy house. Seriously. I can organize and plan an event, but my house is never visitor-ready. If you’re going to stop by, can you at least give me an hour to run like a maniac through the house hiding stuff? So this fancy little robot vacuum has been awesome on the floors, rugs, and carpet in our house. I’m always shocked when I empty it. It finds dust and hair I didn’t know was on our floors. It saves me hours of cleaning. It’s a win-win-win in my book!
11. Amazon Prime
We’ve found the annual membership fee more than pays for itself between the money we save and the time we save. Just last week I realized I was about out of black ink for our printer. Rather than take an hour to run to the store (and pay 4 times more) I hopped onto Amazon and with our Prime membership it was here in two days with free shipping. Sometimes I find items ship even faster! Whether it’s for our own needs or ministry needs, I head to Amazon first before I head to the store or mall. We’re also enjoying the free movies and free music you can stream. Rather than taking the time to run to our nearest Redbox, I hop online. If you don’t have a Prime account, you can try it for 30 days for FREE – just click this link: Try Amazon Prime 30-Day Free Trial
. Happy shopping!
May God give each one of us wisdom to make the best use of the time He has given us!
You may also want to read:
10 Tips for Surviving a Crazy Ministry Week
One year ago: Fall Table Talk Cards (Free Printable)
Two years ago: Does your ministry need a Facebook group?
Three years ago: Publicity Checklist
Cyndee–are you using “smile amazon”? Several years ago my sister-in-law told us about it. When you sign up (with your prime membership) a % of your purchase price (I think it’s 5%) will be donated to a charitable organization of your choice. We chose an organization family members have been involved in through the years that does church building construction. We live in a small Texas town, 50 miles from any real shopping so amazon prime has been a wonderful time, gas and aggravation saver! Also with regard to time saving, I recently was given the quickest cake recipe I’ve ever used….and you may already have… 1 cake mix, 1 inst. pudding mix and 1 1/2 c. of milk–that’s all. No mixer–just stir it up! Spread in a greased sheet cake pan, top with whatever kind of chips or nuts happen to go with and bake for 1/2 hour at 350 degrees. Cool and it’s ready to go! It’s somewhere between a cake and a brownie consistency and truly delicious and moist. I’m doing it for the fourth time in a week—taking several to feed our youth group this evening. We embarked on a women’s outreach ministry through our church four years ago with five other team members and are getting ready to start our next series of six events for this fall/spring. Am enjoying your Women’s Ministry Toolbox e-mails. I can surely identify with the time crunch and appreciate the input.
Sharla, I’ve linked with Samaritan’s Purse on Smile Amazon, but I am bad about remembering to use it. Thank you for the reminder! That is an excellent tip! And I cannot wait to try that cake recipe! Sounds like something my boys will love. And I’m always looking for quick and easy goodies for our Youth at church. 🙂 I would love for you to share about your women’s outreach ministry if you have the time! It may be just the thing another leader needs to hear. So glad you are here!
Wow. That was a surprisingly helpful “read”!!! I thought I was going to find the same time management tips people usually share! Thanks!
Thanks Barb! 🙂 I’m so glad you found it helpful!