Welcome to Day 5 of 31 Days of Mom Mojo – Tackling Time Management.
Do you sometimes feel stuck and unable to take action? It is more common than you may think, especially with overwhelmed and overworked moms!
To get what you want out of life you can’t sit around wishing for it to happen, which is often where we find ourselves. We also wish that someone else will do it for us – which does nothing either!
Some people are born doers. Some people are born thinkers. Some think about doing and never get anything done. It can be a bad habit to find yourself in – always thinking about working out, finishing a project or finding a different way to parent.
Action people are usually people who are organized and seem to know exactly how to proceed from one project to another seamlessly and without effort. You probably know someone who falls into that category – you envy them and their ability to get things accomplished.
.“It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things.” Leonardo Da Vinci
Others flounder in a world of disorganization, haplessly moving one piece of paper to another location without knowing why, or studying their next move, but never doing anything. At the end of the day, the doers typically have more energy than at the beginning as they feed on taking action. I know for me, when I can look at a day where I accomplished items that I set my mind to, I feel like a million bucks!
The flounders at the end of the day are still floundering and can’t understand why nothing has been accomplished and they feel exhausted. They step back to assess their day’s accomplishments and deceive themselves into believing progress is being made, when in reality little or nothing has been done – or worse, they realize that they got NOTHING done. Yes, I’ve been there many times too!
For these people, organization is an essential key. Whether it’s for your home or your family, make a to-do list and prioritize it. Put the most important ones at the top and each time you complete a goal or project scratch it off and feel the satisfaction. Don’t mark it off until it’s done. No cheating or rationalizing.
When you complete a few tasks on the list, reward yourself.
Even if you don’t quite complete the list in one day, go ahead and celebrate your victories. This gives you something to look forward to and gives you incentive to accomplish more. Again, be honest with yourself and only accept reward when deserved. I enjoy taking a few minutes to get on facebook or read a few pages of my favorite book when I know I’ve crossed off a few tasks.
Another plan of action states that you can waste too much time making lists.
This is precisely why moms have had so much success using The Confident Mom Weekly Household Planner managing their home. The list is already done for you! No wasting time thinking about what needs done, just refer to the list and mark off what you can.
For other lists, experts suggest you sit quietly, clear your mind of all other things and concentrate on your task or goal at hand. See yourself doing the project in vivid detail. Whatever the job entails imagine yourself doing each and every step. You can do this with small projects as well as larger ones, like organizing the garage or cleaning out your closet.
When you focus your energy on one thing you can feel energized and that energy will push you into action.
So now, take action! It could be just a small part of your overall project but let yourself be compelled to action. This energy and excitement will dissipate, so do as much as you can before it leaves your body.
Mankind has been blessed with the free will of making decisions. These decisions can enrich our life or cause it to take a turn for the worse. Not a day goes by that we don’t make dozens, even hundreds of decisions, most without even thinking. This is where knowing your priorities, which we talked about yesterday will help when making decisions regarding your time.
The decisions we make, whether major or minor, affect our lives to no small degree. Some of us approach decision making with reluctance and dread being afraid of the consequences. Sure, almost any decision we make could involve conflict and dissatisfaction. Yet, we must take control and make the decision and accept the outcome, good or bad. It is when you are paralyzed that you get nothing done. The firm set way to succeed is to pick something and proceed instead of allowing yourself to get stuck.
Start small, decide to make a change and take an action step.
If you haven’t done any of the activities I’ve shared yet in the 31 Days Series, what are you waiting for? Don’t be the person who ‘reads’ about taking action and making changes. Put what you are reading here into action. Find the holes in the system you are currently running under and decide what needs to change.
Become a person that takes action!
What is your action step today?
