Time management for parents is a key element of my post from yesterday where I talked about setting up some New Year’s Resolutions(for the new school year, that is).
My first to myself was to help my kids get organized and stay that way. Definitely easier said than done. And while I have begun to put some plans in place. The strategy really does begin with ME.
I spent the past few years feeling disorganized and overwhelmed. It seemed that I was never able to accomplish everything on my To Do list. Each day the list would get longer and I would become more and more discouraged.
And then it hit me – the truth.
I would never accomplish everything on my list – it was simply too long. There were not enough hours in the day to do every task.
What I needed was a dose of reality. If I could be realistic with my expectations for myself - I would accomplish so much more.
Time Management for Parents begins with a Simple Tool -
the Calendar
So I sat down with the single most important tool needed to get organized – my calendar. And I began a nightly routine of jotting down my schedule for the following day in painstaking detail. If my son needed to be at soccer practice by 5:00 – then my calendar noted an item at 4:30 to remind him to get ready, an item at 4:45 to leave for practice, an item at 5:00 that he had practice and notations as to what I would do during that time (run errands, go back home and fix dinner etc).
Putting such a high level of detail right on the calendar made clear to me what might be obvious to others – that an event (like soccer practice) might only be an hour long – but when all is said and done, it might require 2 hours of my time.
But How Does This Help Me Accomplish My Goal
of Getting the Kids Organized?
This little daily exercise of scheduling my time – is a huge step in helping me to get the kids organized.
The logic is this – If I am able to manage my time well – then I will have the energy to focus on the kids, their schedules, and their activities. I have previously written an article about time management for parents where I talk about setting goals, creating priorities, defining actions, and eliminating distractions. But, the fact of the matter is that in theory – everything might look great, but when it comes to making things happen – our best intentions fall apart.
Why? Because real life changes. Things come up – a simple phone call, a sick child, a computer issue – just about anything can eat up valuable time and set us off track.
By having realistic expectations of what I can accomplish daily – I will be able to set aside scheduled time to spend focusing on the kids and their work, I will also be able to make better use of my “down time” (waiting during practices, scheduling errands etc”).
My Time Management for Parents Toolbox
- ONE calendar
- ONE to do list
- a good back up plan
I will discuss how I use these tools effectively in another post.
photo by jorge-11
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