As a working mother, I wear a lot of hats. Time management is a tool that everyone needs to learn. The importance of time management can help to make a hectic day a more tolerable one. For example here are the things listed that I do during the five day work week:
4:30 a.m. rise and shine!
5:00 a.m. out the door to take my daughter to the bus stop (she goes to a magnet school that is across town)
6:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. work
3:00 p.m.- 4:00 p.m. pick up all my children from three different facilities
4:30 p.m. -8:00 p.m. 30 min work out, cook, help with homework
9:00-10:00 p.m. work on the Internet projects.
Time management if very important for me because my time is very tight. Things need to get done and unfortunately I have not left any breathing room for things. I think that when you press yourself too thin you have problems. I think that everyone (even people that don’t have such time constrains that I have in my daily life) so use time management techniques to make their lives easier to deal with. Here are some time management tips that I would like to share that help me keep my mind and work on track.
First I make lists. Making a list of your daily activities are very good time management technique. Whether you have to go to the store to go to an appointment, making a list saves time and gives you the opportunity to check off things when you are done so you don’t feel so overwhelmed. I know it helps me because I like to see my lists get shorter during the day. It gives me a feeling of accomplishment.
The second thing I believe is important to time management it also keeping a calendar. I have all different kinds of calendars. Instead of having one calendar to add ALL of the activities that I do, I actually have three calendars for important things that I do (personal, fitness, work goals). For example I have a calendar next to my treadmill to track my time and how many miles (I can’t believe I walk two miles a day and counting).
The third thing that I use to time management is wearing a watch. I know that sounds kind of weird and seems that is should be a simple tool but sometimes you can lose track of time. For example, I love talking to my family and friends ( and I usually save that for the weekend) but sometimes there are somethings that happen during the day we may want to talk about. I have the gift of gab and can get side tracked on talking when other things like helping with homework that might be important to do. So I will either keep a clock or watch in front of me and give myself 30 minutes to an hour to either IM, talk on the phone and/or email.
I believe that learning time management skills are important to and can help with the stress of the day.