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10 Strategies to
Create More Time in Your Day
Lisa Jay
Time management
seems to be an issue in almost everyone's lives as there never seems to
be enough time in the day to complete all of the day to day tasks.
Whether you are a stay at home parent, a work at home parent or you work
outside of the home, I am sure that you could use a few more hours in
your day.
Here are several time management tips that will help you to use those
few precious hours that you do have wisely:
1. Get organized! - I can't stress this enough. This is the first thing
that absolutely needs to be done to improve your time management skills.
Think about all of the time that is wasted looking for things; looking
for papers, phone numbers, supplies.....your desk top.
· Use the first 15 minutes of your morning to organize your work area.
· Go over your "To Do" list and organize the things needed to accomplish
them.
2. Identify your most productive time
You may be a morning person or an evening person. I do all of my most
difficult tasks when I am fresh in the morning.
Use your child's nap time or one hour of "TV time" for your kids to do
your most difficult tasks.
3. Make your "To Do" list the night before -
Know what you will accomplish the next day. That way, you start out with
a goal in mind first thing in the morning rather than wandering around
aimlessly.
Divide your "To Do" list into several page; one list for things to do
tomorrow, this week, and one for things to do this month. As you
accomplish these goals, cross them off. I write my monthly goals on my
calendar.
4. Find more time in the day –
Need an extra hour
in the day? Get up an hour early and have your first cup of coffee or
tea sitting at the computer going through your e-mails, answering your
e-mails and posting to forums. I call these my "day wasters".
5. Schedule it and
stick with it
Write one thing that you will accomplish on each day of the week on your
calendar. For instance, I file every Monday, do my on-line banking every
Wednesday, update my web site on Friday.
6. Avoid the big
"day wasters" -
Forums, TV, surfing the web, and talking on the telephone are all huge
"day waters" if not used properly. These are all great things, when used
in moderation, but can become very addicting and you can seriously lose
hours and hours of your day with all of them. Limit your "day
wasters" to the morning hour of your day. This is a huge time management
tip!
7. Household chores and house cleaning -
Clean one thing every day. Clean the kitchen one day, vacuum one day,
clean the bathrooms one day..... Wash one load of cloths every day.
Load the washer the night before. Start the load of cloths washing as
you head to the coffee pot first thing in the morning. Dry the load
while you are doing your other household chores, then hang and put it
away. One load is so much more manageable than three!
Make your bed and
do the dishes before you "go to work". Tidy the night before so that you
wake up to a neat house and are ready to start working.
8. Do double duty -
Do you sit in the carpool line for half an hour? Read your longer
e-mails, or newsletters that you have printed out from your computer.
Read your mail that you saved for this time.
Do you have a small child? Try to schedule time for work and time for
play. I work most of the morning, fix lunch and then we head outside. We
play for a while and then I sit outside while our daughter swings or
rides her bike and use this time to read, study or draft ideas for my
newsletter, jewelry or website
.
Have your smaller children do their daily reading while you are cooking.
I have my 1st grade daughter sit on the kitchen counter and read to me
while I am cooking. I can hear her read, and can help her with any words
that she is having problems with.
Have your child do their homework while you are cleaning up the dinner
dishes. This way you are already in the kitchen and can help if your
child needs it.
9. Learn to "Just Say No!" - I have run into the problem of people
(hubby is my biggest diversion!) assuming that since I am a stay at home
mom, I don't do anything all day but read or sit on the couch with my
bag of potato chips and watch TV. I am often asked to run errands, watch
someone's kids or volunteer. If I have a full week I simply tell them
that my week is overbooked as it is and I can not do it.
10. Avoid interruptions -
Let the answering machine pick up your phone calls.
Do your call backs while you are sitting outside with your kids or
sitting in your car in the carpool line. Double duty!
Turn e-mail off. Only check your e-mail in the morning, at lunch and at
the end of your day. E-mail is a major interruption.
If you are trying to work at home, explain to family and friends that
you have work to do and will not be available between the hours of 8-4
but would love to hear from them after that. You choose your hours.
By following a few of these simple time management suggestions, you
should have another hour or two of time in your day to run your business
or to just spend it enjoying your family.
About
the Author
Lisa Jay is a freelance writer and the jewelry designer behind Lantana
Designwear. You can visit her websites at
www.LantanaDesignwear.com
and
www.JewelryMakingHQ.com
Be sure to sign up for her newsletter at
www.LantanaDesignwear.com/signup_newsletter to receive
information on jewelry, fashion and womens issues.
Source:
ArticleTrader.com
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