Welcome to Day 3 of 31 Days of Mom Mojo – Tackling Time Management.
“I wish I had more time.”
Be honest, how many times have you said that? Do you say it weekly, daily or several times a day? That’s a red flag indicating that you are either not using any time management strategies or the ones you are using are not working for you.
Either way, time is ticking away and you are running to catch up. At some point, you just can’t run any faster, work any longer or stay up any later. You have to get control of how you use your time each day.
We can keep complaining about our ‘lack of time’ or be proactive in steps to use our time more wisely. (Sound familiar??)
So how to you think of time? Is time something to spend or something to invest?
If you see time as something to spend, then you will most likely do well as spending a lot of it with very little to show. You may want to save time instead of spend it, which often means that we rush through tasks in order to get more done, though we find that what we actually accomplish may not truly be what our end goal was.
If you prefer to invest your time, then you are more choosey about what you will do with your time. By thinking of how to invest time instead of how to spend it, you give time use a greater long-term value.
Looking for the long – term value in the daily decisions you make regarding how you withdraw from your “time” account means making the right choices. We all have the same amount of time – each and every day.
Time moves forward, you can’t save it to use later. That’s why you need a plan each day on where to invest your time for maximum advantage.
“Time is what we want most, but what we use worst.” William Penn
When I work with a mom and we begin to really take a hard look at how their time is used during the day, we find at least two to three hours each day that end up being wasted.
When you need more money, you can borrow or charge it. But when you need more time, you have to work within the 24-hour limit. Print two schedules with 24 hours or 24 lines on each page. Start with how you currently use your time.
Begin by chronicaling the time you use during the day and the tasks you complete. Don’t edit- be realistic! Don’t fill it in ahead of time, really do this as you go through your day. You need to see where your time really goes.
Are you surprised? Do you see blocks of time that you forget about – waiting in the car pool line, hanging out on Facebook or ? Are you comfortable with what you discovered? After completing the actual time log, use that information to design how you would like to invest your time.
You may not be able to convert to your ideal day immediately, but by having this plan, you can begin to make the changes needed to turn your ideal day plan into your every day plan. When you think of time as an asset to invest in, then you become more likely to follow your ideal day plan and respect your time.
You need to think of time as the precious commodity that it is. It is about making hard choices with the time you have available – which often bring up the topic of priorities. Are you spending your time where it truly matters most to you?
We’ll talk about priorities tomorrow!
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