Time management

I'm the first to admit, and it probably won't come as much as a surprise to any of you that I'm a fairly organised person.

In a previous life when I used to head off to work each day I would have my routines and to do lists and get through my days easily and happily (mostly), even if there were deadlines or last minute changes.

So when you finally realise that a big chunk of your life isn't organised and your time management skills in that area are pretty crap, then it can drive you a bit batty.

That area is between the hours of 9am and 3pm each day when the kids are at school and is something that I usually just flit my way through trying to fit in all the things I need to do, procrastinating on a lot of things (mostly housework) and not getting to the things I really WANT to do because I tell myself I can't start them until I've achieved some semblance of order elsewhere.

(Valentines flowers my lovely hubby surprised me with)

A few weeks ago I had another one of those light bulb moments.  It was an idea that seemed so obvious that I wondered why it has taken me so many years to work it out.

I've decided to treat my day like a work day.  Just because I'm a stay at home mum, which is something that I really, really love, doesn't mean that I can't look at it as a job.  I mean, when it comes down to it, it IS a job that you do 24/7.

So I decided to get myself organised and use my time better during the day in the hope of creating a little more order and a little less chaos.

Virtually the second I thought of this I headed straight down to the newsagent to buy a diary because I knew that was going to work best for me.  I need something visual that I can scribble in and I found the perfect sized one that I can look at one week at a time.

I'm not putting appointments in this diary but crossing out sections when I'm not home.  It won't be intricate, flash or detailed.  Most mornings I walk the dog after I take the kids to school so I'm not home until at least 10am.  So my day really doesn't start until after then.

Each week I first cross out when I won't be home and then I look at what needs doing and pencil things in.  I'm not filling my days up either so that I feel like I'm rushing around all the time.  What would be the point of being your own boss and managing your own time if you put pressure on yourself by saying that you just have to get things done.

The other day I had pencilled in just two things that were my priority for that day.  I had procrastinated on them for months and in the end it took me a little over 15 minutes and I had both jobs completed.  I then had the option of starting on one of my other jobs for the week if I felt like it or dipping into my crochet basket and working on a project I had been putting off.  (I bet you know which one I chose to do).

So now I'm finding that I'm getting more done, I'm procrastinating less and I also seem to have more time to do other things.  Oh and it's not like I sit around all day when I've finished something either.  There's still washing to be done, floors to be swept, toilets to be cleaned, grocery shopping to be done and the hundreds of other little things that are a part of home life.

I'm a lot less stressed about things because I realised that the only person who was putting pressure on me to get things done was ME.  Now I know that it's okay, that things will get done even if I don't do them right now and the bonus is that I'm a lot calmer, not as frustrated and definitely not as cranky (the kids are loving this one!).

(My new tealight lamp that sits in the middle of my table)

I'm not organised to an inch of my life and my new schedule leaves a lot of room for change and is working for me.

The best thing I can say to others is that nobody knows you or what works for you better than yourself.  Work with what you already do most days because when you really look at your life, you'll find regular routines everywhere and you probably don't even think about half of them.  

(The buds from my Valentines flowers that I can't throw away but have no idea what to do with)

Thanks for listening to me ramble.

The cyclone which was heading our way late last week ended up heading away from the coast so the torrential rain that was predicted didn't eventuate.  We stayed true to our plans of doing not much at all over the weekend and loved it.

I hope you are all having a good week.  I've already had a few changes to my schedule with hubby being home but I'm okay with that as I'm just re-arranging things in my planner. :)

xx Susan