Learning to Manage Time
Working from home – no matter what the job – can be difficult. It is too easy and convenient to say “I’ll do it tomorrow” and tomorrow so rarely shows up. Instead you end up getting farther and farther behind until it is just easier to quit. Now that I think about it, this is true for all aspects of life and not just for the work at home parent.
The question is how do I avoid getting to that place of being so far behind that it looks like I’m ahead – where the deadlines for this week have blended with last week? In the end it all comes down to just doing what I know I need to do – but here are a few tips to help the process along.
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1. Do it now – instead of walking past the shoes in the floor just stop and pick them up. Doing things along the way will help reduce the amount of items that pile up around you.
2. Invest in TiVo or DVR or some other recording system – you will be able to record all of those shows and movies that try to dictate your life and watch them on your own schedule (plus you have the added bonus of being able to skip all the commercials).
3. Write it down – it is easy to overload a schedule when you aren’t keeping up with what you are piling on. Invest in a day planner that allows you to write out all of the different appointments, commitments and activities for you AND your family. Seeing it in writing will help you spread out your plans in a way that you can actually manage.
4. Plan ahead – expect to get behind and plan ahead for it. Have easy fix meals in the freezer that you can pull our (or that your husband or older children can manage).
5. Skip it – instead of trying to catch up on everything that you need to do, skip those things that you can let go. The world will not end if you skip washing the sheets one week.
Time is fleeting – anyone that tries to work from home knows just how true this statement really is. The best advice is to Just Do It, but for the times when you are human there are some things that you can do to help manage your time so that you make the most of what you have without feeling overwhelmed along the way.
Be blessed,
