Between school reminders, dinner plans and the constant mental checklist of family life, modern motherhood often feels like everything happening at once – but for many mums, it’s small pockets of technology that are quietly helping them stay on top of it all.
For Phoebe Smith, it’s not about a fully digital lifestyle, but about using the right tools at the right time.
“The WhatsApp group we have at school has been a bit of a lifeline,” she says. “There’s so much coming through emails and apps, it’s easy to miss things – then someone reminds you it’s Crazy Sock Day and you’ve completely forgotten.”
While she still prefers to shop in person and keep things fairly traditional at home, Phoebe says tech steps in where it actually helps – not where it complicates things.
“I’m constantly getting ideas off Instagram for meals,” she says. “It’s great for inspiration during the week when you’re trying to think of what to cook. Obviously online banking is an important one and keeping track of things when you have time to process it all is a big thing.”
Routine, she says, is what keeps everything steady in a busy household. “If we don’t stick to a routine, everything else falls over a bit,” she explains. “If we do, the kids sleep better and the week just runs smoother.”
A shared family calendar – used alongside a physical one at home – helps keep everyone aligned, providing the spaces between various events and moments to take a beat.
“We send each other requests and it just drops into the diary,” she says. “It’s how we manage pick-ups, sports and events and make sure everything runs on time.”
Her phone, she admits, has become the centre of most daily tasks, like it has for most modern families to stay connected to the world.
“I use it for everything really – banking, news, fitness tracking, music,” she says. “If I’ve got a spare moment, I’ll just get things done on my phone.”
Even small moments of downtime often turn into productivity.
“I’ll be in bed at night and realise I’ve forgotten to book gym classes,” she says. “So I’ll just do it there and then. Or it’s a quiet moment for me to catch up with my news subscriptions.” Still, Phoebe is aware of the balancing act that comes with always being connected, which sometimes comes in the form of a subtle yet important shift.
“You don’t always want your kids seeing you on your phone all the time,” she says. “But it does help with day-to-day functioning.
“It’s not about doing more … It’s about having things organised enough that you can actually breathe a bit in between.”
Jeff Woodhouse, Executive General Manager of Mobile and Computer Technology at Harvey Norman says being organised is a priority for mums – it reduces household stress “That’s often what’s at play and can be a real strain for some who feel like things are getting away from them.”
Be coach, not a ref’: Experts speak on addressing screen time
Screen time is a modern parenting reality, but for many families, it’s also a daily juggle between sanity, safety and simply getting through the day.
Experts say the first step is rethinking the way we even talk about it. “There’s junk food, there’s health food, there’s benign foods … screen time can be an amalgamation,” explains Kathy Modecki, a Distinguished Professor at the University of Western Australia.
“Part of it is thinking about what they (children) are actually doing online … you get really different risks and opportunities depending on that.”
Leading the research into the social media ban for kids, Professor Modecki admits not all screen time is created equal — and trying to police every minute often isn’t the answer.
“Be a coach, not a referee … building communication and trust will go a million miles further,” she says.
That message resonates in Jacqui Layley’s household, where devices are a constant presence when the grandkids come over.
“Oh God, yeah, absolutely … it was more that kids could entertain themselves,” she says of raising her own children. “Now I find this generation needs to be entertained.”
With five grandchildren ranging in age, she sees just how quickly screens can take over but combats the tech by keeping them active.
“When I’ve got the older ones, they’ve got their phone on them constantly so it can become a battle when they want to get on to their devices,” she says. “I took them to the forest to do a tree climb … try to keep them as active as possible without being stuck in the house.”
But Ms Layley’s also quick to acknowledge the benefits, particularly when it comes to safety.
“It’s great because you’ve got that technology to keep in touch … you’ve got your FaceTime and all that.
“That’s why phones are allowed – with rules … they can’t download anything without permission … it’s all about keeping an eye on them and blocking what’s risky.”
Professor Modecki says boundaries work best when paired with trust. “If a kid wants to get around things … there are all these workarounds,” she says. “What we want is understanding and trust.”
Tcch to make Mum’s day