Better Time Management

Ah…day #5 of my “11-in-2011” challenge and you HAD to know we were going to discuss time management at some point!!

Better time management always seems to make my list of New Year’s goals each year. It’s not that I don’t follow through; in fact, I can honestly say that I manage my time better today than I ever have. But “Time Management” is still on my goals this year because I know there’s always lots of room to improve!

For example: we moved 5 days before Christmas, which made the holidays THAT much busier. So this past week, I decided not to do any work on Tuesday morning, with the intention of catching up on many much-needed household chores, a bunch of errands, and a handful of miscellaneous activities — all of which needed to be done.

However, we got a big snowfall Monday night so I decided to plow our very long driveway. And then one thing led to another and I hardly got anything accomplished…I was SO frustrated. {See, lots of room for improvement!}

Goal #5: Better Time Management.

If one of your New Year’s goals is to better manage your time, make more time for the important stuff, reduce your commitments, increase your productivity, or simply be more efficient — I think I can help!

Since we’re all very different and our time management goals are equally different, I really can’t give a “one-size-fits-all” approach to better time management {sorry}. However, I can give you a really simple 3-step approach to better time management!

1. Determine what you want from your time.

• Do you want to grow your business?
• Do you want to make more time for your family?
• Do you want more time to travel or pursue a passion?
• Do you want to make time for a specific hobby?
• Do you want to… __________________?

2. Write it down!

I always need a visual “reminder”

Photo Credit: Crafty Pod

3. Do one small thing every day.

Once you have it written down, put that paper somewhere you’ll see it every day. And every time you look at it, ask yourself if you’ve done anything that day to help make your time-management goal a reality.

Here are a few ideas to get you started:

Check your email less

Limit the time you spend on the Internet

Use a planner

Create balance {especially for busy moms}

Determine the value of your time

Develop daily and weekly routines

Practice little ways to save time

Add hours to your day

Create a Top-5 List

Take time to “Unplug and Recharge”

Another great time management resource that I’ve used is the “Tell Your Time” eBook by Amy Lynn Andrews. I have personally purchased and read this eBook — and gleaned so many helpful time management tips.

If you’re looking for a VERY inexpensive tool to help you better mange your time so you can reach your goals and make more time for what you want to do; I would highly recommend this eBook.

Also, Amy is offering Tell Your Time at a special sale price of $7 — but the sale ends today! Simply use the code “CLEANSLATE” when you check out to get the discounted price.

OK, so I just listed a ton of resources to help you better manage your time…but don’t get overwhelmed. And certainly don’t “waste” the next 4 hours reading through all of them!

Just sit back and think {really think} about what your time management goals might be. Then write it/them down, and decide on ONE small thing you can do today to move you just a little bit closer to your goal. Maybe you can set your alarm15 minutes early so your mornings aren’t so rushed. Maybe you can assign each of your kids one extra chore to free up some of your time. Maybe you can research a hobby or make plans for an trip you’ve always wanted to take.

Determine what activities are important to YOU; then figure out how you’ll make time for those activities this year.

In what areas would you like to have better time management??