Time Management Tips

Time Management Tips for Improve Your Estimation Skills

Nir Dobovizki — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 12:03:00 GMT

Most people are very bad at estimating how much time something is going to take, most of the time the estimation will be wildly inaccurate and – sometimes disastrously – people usually underestimate how much time the given task is going to take.

But improving your estimation skills is actually relatively easy – just follow 3 simple tips and you can accurately estimate how long your tasks are going to take.

Small tasks are easy to estimate – large and complex projects are impossible to estimate correctly.

You can’t estimate how long a complex project is going to take, as you go over the high level details in your mind you are completely ignoring all the small details that has to be completed – and those small details are going to take time you didn’t take into account when estimating.

Always break large tasks into smaller tasks when you are estimating – this will force you to think about all the small details and will result in a more accurate estimate, a good rule of thumb is to break up any tasks that takes more than 2 days, to discover the right threshold for you just follow the next tip.

Learn from your history, track your time and compare actual time spend to your estimate

This is where the magic happens – if you compare the actual tie spent to your estimate you are probably going to find that your estimation errors are very predictable most of the time (for sufficiently small tasks), for most people thing almost always take 2-5 times the time estimated, once you learn by how much you tend to under estimate you can just compensate when estimating.

Different people work in different style and require different types of time tracking – so I can’t tell you what the right time tracking system for you is (but I do think you should look into yaTimer our time tracking product) - but I can tell you what is the wrong system – any system that requires you to fill out how long something took after the fact is flawed and shouldn’t be used.

The reason for this effect is that you didn’t think about overhead when you estimated – meeting, phone calls, e-mails, interruptions from your boss and coworkers – all those take real time and cause real delays in the work you are trying to do.

You will also learn that for large tasks the estimations and the actual time vary wildly – those are the tasks you should have broken down into smaller ones, write down your original estimate for those tasks so you remember it – if in the future you estimate a task as that long you should break it down into smaller ones.

And last but definitely not least - a small number of tasks, seemingly at random, will take significantly (and often disastrously) longer than estimated – for this we have the next tip

Have a buffer

Equipment will fail, people you depend on will be busy with other work and things you thought are a solved problem will turn out require a lot of time to solve – this is just the reality of our world.

The solution is to prepare in advance and leave time for those disasters – how much time depends on your line of work but it is usually between 10% for extremely boring and repetitive work using reliable tools to 200% on riskier projects – if you track your time long enough you can use your history to determine how much buffer you need.

And that’s it, only 3 things – none of them magical or requires special skills – and you can correctly estimate how long things are going to take, by breaking down tasks into smaller ones you are going to be more accurate on day one, tracking you time and learning from your mistakes is going to make you become more accurate as time goes by and having a buffer will protect you on those cases when you estimation is wrong.

Time Management Tips for Writing an Effective To-Do List/ Task List

Nir Dobovizki — Mon, 2 Aug 2010 10:34:00 GMT

Writing a To-Do list (also known as task list) is the single most effective thing you can do to improve your productivity, having a task list is the first step in taking control of your time and is required by just about any time management technique out there.

The trick is to organize your task list in such a way that it actually helps you get things done faster, it’s too easy to fall into the trap of creating an ineffective task list or wasting so much time working on the task list there’s no time left over for actual work.

Here are some simple rules that will help you create an effective task list:

Write down what you have to do, break down large tasks into smaller ones so all tasks take less than 2 hours (or whatever works for you, the trick is to have tasks you can complete in one "session").
Every task must be do-able, they must be something you can actually work on and complete – big abstract tasks (“get a PhD”, “improve sales”, “make a million dollars”, etc.) do not belong in your task list, figure out the first step you have to take to get to your destination and add that to your task list.
Every task must be something you can complete now, if a task requires you to do something else first that “something else” must also be on your task list – before the task that requires it.
A task that requires someone else to do something first (for example, if you need a co-worker’s input before you can start) shouldn’t be on your main task list either, write it down somewhere else so you don’t forget and add it to the task list only when you can actually start working on it.
Don't waste too much time writing your task list, it doesn't have to be complete – you can always add more tasks later. Just take the next thing you have to do and break it down into bite size tasks.
Now prioritize the tasks, don't get fancy, divide them into high, medium and low priority, do it quickly, you don't have to be accurate.
Pick one of the tasks with the highest priority, always pick from the highest priority only, never do less important work before more important work.
Now work on this task until it's done – don’t work on any other task until this one is complete (also don't read blogs or play solitaire until the task is complete, just work on that one task).
When the task is complete cross it out if your list is on paper or deleting it if your list is on the computer (or click the “mark as complete” button if you use yaTimer). Now repeat the previous three steps until the list is empty or it's time to go home.
Avoid postponing tasks, if a task should be done just do it – even if you don’t want to, on the other hand, if a task doesn’t have to done you can just remove it from your task list.
Don’t confuse managing your task list with actual productive work, adding more details than the minimum you require to finish the task or working on accurate fine grained prioritization is just an advanced form of procrastination

Following those rules won’t solve all your productivity problems – but they will really help you start taking control of your time.

Obviously, we think you should use yaTimer - our easy to use time tracking software, it has a very nice task list display, adding and rearranging tasks is quick and easy – and you can also track how much time you actually spend on each task.

Time Management Tips for Graphic Designers

Nir Dobovizki — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 21:03:00 GMT

One of the biggest problems that graphic designers face is effective time management. You've probably often found that a project takes you much longer to complete than you thought it should. If you want to get ahead in your career and make more money, it is essential to learn how to use time management tools. As a graphic designer, you are a creative person, and one drawback of creative people is that they are generally not as aware of time as the average person. It's not about working harder or longer, it's about learning how to use the time you've already got much more efficiently. Here are a few time management techniques.

Make a List

The most successful people in business always work from a list. Every weekend, you should create a list of the things you need to do during the upcoming week, and every evening you should make a list of the things you need to do the next day. When you make a list, it programs your unconscious mind to allocate your time automatically so that you complete the list. Work on one item at a time to completion, and check it off your list.

Work in Blocks of Time

Another time management strategy is to work on one single thing for an uninterrupted block of time. One of the most powerful features of the human mind is its ability to fully focus on one thing. If you are continually switching around and working on different tasks, you don't get to tap into this power. Every time you are distracted, it takes the mind about 20 minutes to get itself back on track. Aim to work on one thing for 90 minutes at a time. Then take a 10 or 15 minute break, and then work on something else for another 90 minute block.

Manufacture Pressure

Have you ever noticed that when you are faced with an impending deadline, your productivity suddenly shoots through the roof? What if you could work that productively all the time? The key is to manufacture artificial deadlines for yourself. Always maintain a sense of urgency with your work and you'll get more done in a few weeks than most people get done in a year. The length of a job is dependent upon the amount of time allocated to it.

Train Yourself Like a Dog

This may sound unappealing, but it works. When you want to train your dog, you reward him with a treat for good behavior and a punishment for bad behavior. Training your dog is a lot like training your unconscious habits. Reward yourself with a treat, such as a coffee break or a cookie, every time you complete a project or a task. This will encourage you to complete your tasks quicker because you unconsciously want to get the treat.

Any one of these techniques can easily boost your productivity by at least 25%-50%. If you combine all of them, you'll soon find yourself among the most successful and highly paid graphic designers in the country.

Time Management Tips for Sales People

Nir Dobovizki — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 20:59:00 GMT

Any successful salesperson knows that time is money, but there never seems to be enough hours in a day or days in a week. Sales people can quite easily be burned out by hectic schedules with little to no free time, so it is necessary for individuals to learn how to increase productivity. Whether a salesperson's goal is to achieve more sales in the same amount of working hours or achieve the same level of sales in fewer hours, using the following time management tips can help make the effort a success.

It is incredibly easy to get caught up in the non-revenue generating activities that are an important part of any sales job, but the simple fact of the matter is that these tasks can overwhelm an individual. Nobody enjoys spending countless hours doing paperwork and doing so often makes a person feel as if they are working very hard. The sad truth, however, is that checking email and handling other small jobs is time consuming and almost never results in any sales. Checking voice mail is certainly very important, but doing it during prime business hours is a common mistake that many sales people make. A schedule should be developed that places busy work in very specific times of the day, such as before nine o'clock in the morning. Many individuals find it acceptable to place a message on their answering machine that advises clients that all calls will be returned either in the late afternoon or early the next morning.

After a salesperson has determined that the prime parts of their day should be spend meeting with clients, it is important to develop a plan that deals with scheduling. Individuals that can only prospect for or drive new sales during a 5 hour window every day should be careful not to set an appointment in the middle. Lunch meetings, for example, often take quite a bit of time and could potentially render the rest of the day unproductive. Sales people must devise a schedule that is designed to work around all potential obstacles and maximize efficiency.

While it is important for sales people to have a handle on the needs of their clients, some service issues could be delegated to other individuals with the ability to serve customers. Paperwork can often be completed by administrative staff. Any way that can free up additional sales time for a salesperson should be taken advantage of.

Few individuals really have a solid understanding of how their day is spent and what tasks required certain amounts of time. Because it is so easy to get side tracked while working, most sales people find it necessary to track their time in an attempt to increase productivity. Sales can be an excellent career, but individuals without adequate time management and multi-tasking skills will find it difficult to stay motivated and enjoy their time away from the job. Honing these techniques can help a salesperson enjoy the benefits of their hard work and reflect on the improved results.

Time Management Tips for System Administrators

Nir Dobovizki — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 13:45:00 GMT

System administration is a unique job, there are almost no other jobs that require you to handle a constant stream of so many requests (all of them urgent, obviously) from so many people all the time while still working on long term projects, it’s no wonder system administrators often feel like they are drowning in work.

Lucky for us, there are some simple techniques that can help.

Serialize

You can’t do two things at once, sysadmin work requires concentration and attention to details – you need to do things once at a time.

Write a to-do list - you can use a PDA or a small notebook – and carry that list with you all the time, whenever someone needs something form you write it down – and continue with whatever you were doing, when you’re done take the next highest priority item from the to-do list and work on that.

You may think people want you to work on their problems immediately and will be offended by the task list approach but the truth is that people just want you to acknowledge their problem and take responsibility over it – this can easily be accomplished by making a show of writing it down in your to-do list.

Prioritize

The task list approach will only work if you can prioritize and you know when something does require immediate action, don’t leave a major outage unhandled because you are busy tweaking server performance or doing some standard maintenance.

Schedule

There are a lot of reoccurring standard maintenance jobs – from handling backup tapes to installing server patches, schedule them in advance, use a calendar (again PDA or paper) and write down all the reoccurring work, also add to this calendar all meeting and everything that can be scheduled in advance.

Now use the calendar, carry it with you all the time and stick to the schedule, this will help you both know where you have to be and avoid, or at least delay, useless meetings (because you can tell – and show - people your schedule is full).

Don’t Work Insane Hours

Many researches show that effectiveness of people who work for more than about 40 hours a week degrades quickly, 8 hours a day for 5 days a week is about the maximum a human can work, working more for a short time can be productive but after a little while you become tired and make more mistakes resulting in lower productivity.

Studies show that after around 2 month a team working 8 hour days and a team working 12 hour days accomplished the same amount of work – and the 8 hour team could continue working while the 12 hour team was completely burned out.

Personal Life is Not an Optional Feature

I stole that headline from the book Time Management for System Administrators, if you are a sysadmin and you care about your sanity go buy it now

Time Management Tips for Self Employed Professionals

Nir Dobovizki — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 09:15:00 GMT

Being your own boss is an exciting and liberating option for employment. One of the biggest responsibilities and also a common pitfall in self-employment is managing your own time. This is no small task and needs to be taken seriously to keep you successful and productive. Maintaining the balance between your work and personal time is a special challenge.

Below, we offer several strategies to manage your time more efficiently when you are self-employed.

GET IT IN WRITING

Think of your time management strategy like a work contract with yourself. Before you start a project, write down all the details of the work required. Estimate your work time for each stage and map it out using project planner software or a weekly planner. Break large projects down into small units of work to make time estimation easier and more accurate. Ensure that the deadlines you contract are reasonable.

Be vigilant about scheduling vacation and personal time as well as work time. When you are self-employed, it is easy to let your professional duties encroach on your personal time. Scheduling personal events ensures that family and friends are not displaced by your career. It also ensures that you have the necessary breaks to fend off burnout.

Schedule a planning and review session once a week. Use this session to review your past week’s performance and update the coming week’s schedule. Adjust project timelines where needed. Gather all the papers, bills, invoices and other materials you will need for the coming week and keep them in a dedicated location.

TRACK YOUR TIME

Keep an accurate account of the actual time you spend working on each project. This can be accomplished using a simple kitchen timer or a stopwatch and a spreadsheet to make notes but it’s easier and more effective to use time tracking software. Upon completing a work period, note the time spent and add a short summary of the work accomplished. This is important for two reasons. It will assist in estimating the time you will need for similar work in the future, and it is invaluable when billing clients, in particular if you are employed based on an hourly rate.

DO IT IN ADVANCE OR BY REMOTE CONTROL

Consider which tasks can be performed in advance or remotely. For example, most banking can be conducted and bills paid online, saving considerable time. Needed supplies can be purchased in advance and in bulk, saving the extra time and expense of last-minute purchases prior to a deadline.

TAKE ADVANTAGE OF YOUR PEAK HOURS

Being self-employed often means that you can take advantage of non-traditional hours to complete your tasks. For example, if you are a night-owl, you can choose to schedule your project work for late-night hours and use the daytime hours for personal time or to complete tasks that are dependent on traditional business hours. Early-birds might complete their projects before most traditionally-employed people have had their first cup of coffee, leaving more conventional business hours free for errands. If your business involves travel, off-season and nighttime travel is not only quicker and less congested but less expensive as well.

Being self-employed can be fun, profitable and easy when you advantage of these tips to improve your time management skills and maintain the balance between personal and professional aspects of your life.

Time Management Tips for Teachers

Nir Dobovizki — Tue, 9 Feb 2010 15:01:00 GMT

Being a teacher is an extremely rewarding career, but also a demanding, exhausting profession. Finding time to complete lesson plans, grade papers, deal with administrative duties and still have a few moments for your family and friends can seem like a never-ending battle.

We would like to share some simple strategies to make time management a “no-brainer”.

BE REALISTIC ABOUT TIME DEMANDS

The key to better time management is to use a mobile organizer device or a day planner to set out your schedule. Include holidays, work hours, in-services, family events, appointments and special occasions. Make sure you allot ample time for extra-curricular work such as lesson planning and paper grading. Accurately estimating the time required for certain tasks is often difficult and some find it helpful to time the actual activities using a timer device or software timer to make future estimations easier. Accurately estimating the time you need to complete your tasks will keep your stress levels down and make your work more effective.

PLAN IN ADVANCE

One of the biggest assets to your time management is the nature of school as a scheduled activity. This allows you to plan in advance. Planning your lessons well in advance will eliminate the last-minute rush. Commit two hours of your time on Sunday evening to look at the week ahead. Take this time to collect all the materials you will need for the upcoming week and place them in a special location. You can delegate filing boxes like these for each day of the week to keep materials and lesson plans separate and easy to find on the required day.

Your employer will also appreciate your efforts to plan ahead, especially if you are able to give advance notice about scheduling personal time off.

JOIN FORCES WITH YOUR COLLEGUES

Make the most of the time you invest in lesson planning and material preparation by planning projects together with other teachers. You can plan to use the same digital presentations, or art materials for several different classes. Sharing lesson plans and resources can easily be done on the internet using online storage spaces like these.

SCHEDULE TIME FOR PLAY

To avoid burn-out, make sure you schedule time for family, friends and your own interests. Making time for yourself is imperative to remaining psychologically and physically fit to deal with the heavy demands of teaching.

Planning your work in advance and completing it within the realistic schedule you have set for yourself will enable you to take advantage of school vacation time, returning refreshed and energized after a well-deserved break.

By following these simple guidelines for time management, you can turn your job as a school teacher into an organized, rewarding, long-lasting career.

Time Management Tips for Effective e-mail

Nir Dobovizki — Tue, 2 Feb 2010 14:19:00 GMT

We all get an amazing amount of e-mail, customers, co-workers, business associates, friends and family all send us messages day and night – and that’s before we consider all the automated message we get from every service we ever used and - of course – spam, it's easy to see why people often feel like they are drowning in e-mail, you can even spend entire work days just answering messages.

But fortunately your can regain control of your mail box with just a few simple techniques.

Slow Down

People love conversations, its human nature, so it shouldn't surprise anyone that people tend to reply to e-mail messages.

The faster you reply to messages in your inbox the faster you'll get replies to your replies, also, if you send messages faster you'll have time to send more messages – and get more replies you have to read and reply to, you just can't win by being faster.

On the other hand, if you slow down you'll write less messages, that's automatically equals less replies in your inbox, also, if you spend a little extra time thinking about you messages there's always a chance you won't miss some crucial detail and the recipient of your message won't have a reason to reply and ask you about it.

Get Rid Of SPAM

I think it's unacceptable to miss e-mail from customers – so I won't use any spam filter that doesn't let me review the spam message for filtering mistakes, fortunately for me, there are some great spam filters out there who fit with my uncompromising worldview that saving me from spam is not an excuse for bad customer service.

I use the free [SpamBayes] (http://spambayes.sourceforge.net/) myself, it's a filter that learns based on your e-mail – so it's completely inaccurate out of the box – but after about a week of training it becomes amazingly accurate, SpamBayes divides incoming mail into three groups: good messages go into my inbox, Spam goes into the junk mail folder and messages the filter isn't sure about go in a "junk suspect" folder.

I review the junk suspect folder only once a day and the junk mail folder every two to three days, those almost never contain good messages and I can review all new messages in those folders in less than a minute – so this reduces the spam problem from unmanageable to negligible.

The important thing is to use a good spam filter and to not review junk messages too often.

I've used SpamBayes as an example because that's what I use, there are other excellent spam filters, if you have a good spam filter please recommend it in the comments below

Set Aside Specific Times for e-mail

People don't really need your replies right away, they want you to reply right away and your quick replies are valuable for them, mostly because it's faster and easier to send you a quick message then do any research themselves – but they don’t need it (in other words, they want you to do their work for them but they will do it themselves if you won't do it quickly enough).

Trust me, if there's an emergency and someone truly needs you right away they will just pick up the phone.

Add that to the simple fact that it's faster, easier and less stressful to answer all messages at once then as a constant unending stream of interruptions lasting the entire day and this technique becomes obvious.

Set aside specific times to read and answer e-mail, only two and three times a day at the same time, choose those times so that the day's e-mail divides about equally between the e-mail checks.

The best times to check e-mail are when you arrive at the office, right before you leave or before/after lunch, that way it's less likely that those times will arrive in the middle of, and interfere with, other work.

Depending on your work environment you may want to set an auto-responder that will tell people when you answer e-mail and how to reach you in case of emergency – or you can just let them figure it out for themselves.

A nice bonus is that when people figure out it takes you hours to respond they will be less likely to ask you questions they can answer themselves with a little research.

Don't Leave Messages for Later

You should read every e-mail just once, if you need to reply do so immediately, if it requires more work copy it to your to-do list (you do have one, right?) if you should do something at a later date make a note on your calendar – never use your inbox as your to-do list.

After you read a message you can delete it, archive it, tag it or copy it to some folder – the important thing is that you should never look at it again, except if you specifically search for it, obviously.

As a side note, if you use Microsoft Outlook the free version of xobni will add excellent search and history views to Outlook so you'll always find old messages easily when looking for them.

Clear Your Inbox

At some point you will get a message you need to reply to but not right now, it’s a only a quick reply so it’s not really worth an entry in your to do list – so you leave it in your inbox to be handled later.

Before you know what happened your inbox is an unmanageable collection of new mail, old mail you already answered and message you should handle later.

The only way to avoid this is to keep your inbox empty at all cost, read a message once and then move it out of inbox.

It's Ok to Not Read Everything

If people send you jokes that you suspect aren't funny, links to amusing videos on YouTube that usually don't amuse you or, and this is the important part, work related document for things you are currently not working on – just ignore it.

Yes, ignore it, don't waste your time on irrelevant stuff, it's very fast and easy to add an e-mail address to the CC line, on the other hand it's extremely time consuming to read everything someone thought you may someday find interesting.

Mark it as read, tag it or move it to some folder if you like and forget about it, if you do need it in the future use search to find it (Gmail obviously has great built in search, Xobni -mentioned above – will give you search capabilities if you use Outlook, if you know of a search plug-in for other e-mail programs please tell us about them in the comments below).

Anything That Is Older Than A Month Was Probably Taken Care Of By Now

All those rules and techniques are fine and good, but what to do if you have tens or hundreds of unread messages in your inbox right now? How can you turn this situation around without spending entire days reading old e-mails?

The answer – Just move everything into an “Archive” folder and forget about it.

The exact time frame depends on your line of work, but if someone sent you a message, didn't get a reply for more than a month and didn't find a way to shout at you for not answering – then either it wasn't that important or he solved the problem without you.

Just read the last two to four weeks of messages and ignore anything earlier.

For the message you do need to handle it’s easier if you sort (or even better group) your messages by sender – this will place entire conversations together.

Stop being a Slave to your e-mail

If you follow the simple techniques outlined above you will drastically reduce the amount of e-mail you have to handle every day, even more drastically reduce the amount of time spent reading and answering e-mail and most important, get rid of the stress and sense of helplessness that most people feel because of e-mail.

Time Management Tips for Working From Home

Nir Dobovizki — Tue, 2 Feb 2010 12:01:00 GMT

If you are among the growing number of people enjoying the benefits of working from home, you are also likely to be struggling with time management. Working from home allows you the freedom to set your own schedule, but comes with the heavy responsibility of managing your time efficiently to remain an effective, productive employee.

Below, you will discover a few simple strategies to manage your time more effectively so that you can reap all the benefits of a work at home arrangement without sacrificing your professionalism.

CREATE AN UPDATE, ACCURATE TASK LIST for HOME and WORK

To effectively utilize your time, start by creating a simple list, including ALL your tasks big and small. Categorize the tasks as HOME or WORK related tasks. You may find that using two different fonts or two different colored pens is a convenient way of accomplishing this. You can use a PC-based organizer program for this or a journal-type planner designed for the job. Set a clear due date for each task. This will help in prioritizing your work. Break down larger tasks into small, manageable goals.

SCHEDULE SMART

Use your organizer to schedule all the tasks in your list. Remember to leave time for unexpected delays. Set a schedule where you finish your tasks prior to their due date, rather than extending them to their deadlines. Schedule similar tasks together to ease transitions, and take advantage of larger time chunks.

Combine errands with similar locations to save driving and parking time. For example, arrange to return your library books after your work-related trip to the post office, if the two buildings are close to each other.
Don’t feel guilty about SCEDULING PERSONAL TIME. If it’s on the schedule you are more likely to do it. YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY NEED TO KNOW THEY ARE IMPORTANT. Setting aside special time for them and following through on it is a sign of respect.

TAKE ADVANTAGE OF UNCONVENTIONAL HOURS

Schedule tasks that require concentration at your personal best time of day. If you are an early riser, schedule your most demanding work for early morning when you are freshest. If you are a night owl, set aside time later on to tackle the big jobs.

Schedule errands to avoid peak congestion times on the roads and avoid crowded hours at businesses and stores. For example, you might choose to do your grocery shopping at 8:00am and complete your paying work during the more conventional shopping hours.

WEEKLY PERFORMANCE REVIEW

Schedule a weekly performance review for yourself. Look at the past week’s tasks and consider how you could have accomplished them more efficiently. Look forward at the coming week and decide how best to tackle the upcoming challenges. Learn from your mistakes and put experience into practice when scheduling forward. Above all, make sure you reward yourself for a job well done.

Putting these suggestions to work for you will enable you to become more efficient and effective when managing your time while working at home.

Time Management Tips for Moms

Nir Dobovizki — Mon, 1 Feb 2010 09:46:00 GMT

Whether you are a stay-at-home mom of a newborn baby or a working mother of teenagers, the minute you become a mom can seem like the last spare minute you have to yourself. When you are a mom, there is a high demand for your most limited resource – time.

But there are ways to solve the time crunch. Here, we outline 3 simple steps to manage your time in a way that will restore your confidence and ability to GET THINGS DONE and even allow you some precious “me-time” to maintain your mental health.

THE LIST IS NOT ENDLESS

The most important step in managing your time is to KNOW what tasks you and your family need to complete each day. Writing down your tasks can seem daunting at first, but it is very important to see with your own eyes that while the list might be long, it is not endless. You may find it easier to use a calendar tool for your PC or app for your cellphone, or you may enjoy being able to put pencil to paper on a hardcopy calendar that hangs in a central location of your house. Keep the tasks short, and update them regularly. Sit down once or twice a month with all family members and make sure that everyone’s events are updated on the central calendar, and solve the time conflicts in advance.

USE YOUR RESOURCES

Good managers know how to delegate. Wherever possible, delegate tasks that don’t truly NEED your personal attention. Join carpools, hire a monthly cleaning service, ask your babysitter to fold the laundry while the baby is napping. Grandparents and extended family are a great resource. Don’t be afraid to let your children get to know their relatives better while you finish a task that requires your concentration. Consider giving a weekly allowance to older children in exchange for age-appropriate household tasks. Or, consider giving the family a weekend treat (maybe ice cream at the playground or a family pizza night) if everyone has helped to make the schedule go smoothly all week.

ADD 15 MINUTES OF SANITY

Set your alarm 15 minutes earlier than usual. At first this seems exhausting, but give it a two-week trial and see how liberating it really is. Those new 15 minutes are ME TIME. Use the first 5 minutes to take a look at your calendar to see what is planned for the day. Then take 5 minutes to plan your course of action. Prioritize the tasks planned for the day. Decide which tasks can be combined and which can be delegated. Gather the papers, permission slips, cheques or bills you will need to complete the day’s tasks and set them in a special place. Then take the next 5 minutes to do a quick meditation routine, like the one here. This will restore your focus and energy to meet the day’s challenges with a smile.

Once you put these simple TIME MANAGEMENT FOR MOMS tips into practice, you will find that that you have less anxiety and more real time to enjoy your family.