Time management issue

[AmandaP]

Hi my name is Amanda & I'm new to all this. I am a mother of 3 boys, 2 school age and also a 3 month old. I have just started running a home business, well 2 home businesses actually. I am studying (or trying to) some personal growth courses and to top it of I'm responsible for the household (cleaning, shopping you name it).
I write myself a list every morning full of things that a) I need to achieve that day and b) things I would like to achieve that day. Yet still I find myself running out of time.
I have tried to write out exactly what I do and when I do it to find out where I'm wasting time and have managed to find some extra tome but still not enough.
I don't think that I've taken on to much, I feel I just need to find a way to 'work smarter not harder'.
An average day for me starts at about 5.30am amd finishes about 11pm. I'm not usually tired during the day, so I know I'm functioning ok. Just hope someone might have some advise on time management for me. Help please

[Cron]

Hi Amanda.

Time management isn't about getting everything done. You can't. In 5 minutes you can think of more things to do ( even worthy things ) than you can possibly do.

Time management is about getting what matters most ( to you ) done.

Keep doing your morning list, but next to the most important things write a letter "A". Next to the next important things write a letter "B". To the least important or trivial things write a letter "C".

In trying to decide which letter to assign a task ask yourself "What would happen if I didn't do this? ". If the answer is "very little" it is a "C".

"A"s are things you value the most, even if nothing bad happens if you don't do them.

Try to do all of your "A"s first.

Make scratching things off you to-do list into a game, where the game is about getting as many "A"s scratched off as you can. Finishing more items or the list after that is just a bonus of secondary importance to knocking out the "A"s.

[AmandaP]

Thanks I'll give that a shot today!

[Joel Chue]

Time management is about what matters most ( to you ) done.

Keep doing your morning list, but next to the most important things write a letter "A". Next to the next important things write a letter "B". To the least important or trivial things write a letter "C".

In trying to decide which letter to assign a task ask yourself "What would happen if I didn't do this? ". If the answer is "very little" it is a "C".

"A"s are things you value the most, even if nothing bad happens if you don't do them.

Try to do all of your "A"s first.

Cron has hit it spot-on

[rene_stpierre]

I fully agree with Cron.

I will add ...

When you tag your tasks with A, B and C, it is very important to differentiate what is "important" from what is "urgent". Most often, what is "important" could be delayed but in the end, these are the things that will get you closer to your goals when completed. If you don't get them done, you don't get closer to your goals.

I just talked about goals. Having written specific goals (long term, mid term and short term) will help you a lot in deciding how to tag your tasks because, the bottom line is, you want to get things done that will get you closer to your goals.

Also, try to work on the A's early in the day. Getting these completed early will give you a boost of energy for the rest of the day.

Finally, for the tasks you must accomplish but which will not get you closer to your goals, see if you can delegate them (to your older boys, your husband or a company).

Good Luck!
René

[AmandaP]

Wow your right!! My older boys are old enough to do the dishes, hang the washing, & they always ask me if they can vacumn. I should just cut the draw string and let they do it. Thanks alot guys it's great to be able to ask for advise and not be treated like an idiot or have tools try and pm you in some sick matter!

[Brutha]

I don't think that you should put things on your to do list that you don't except to get done. I would rather recommend something like David Allens GettingThings Done which is also recommended by Steve.

[Still Growing]

Amanda,

A mother of 3 plus two home businesses? Plus you are going at it from 5am to 11pm. You are working so hard! Don't you sometimes feel that if you had more time you'd be able to guide your home businesses better?

Others have made some good points but don't forget that you can buy time.

In your home businesses you should figure out your income per hour. If you are ebaying for example, and you calculate you are making $15 per hour profit on average but you're too busy then you should:

1. Drop less profitable products or services.
2. Make a list of things you can pay for that cost less than what you are making. Ex: Car wash, dry cleaning, etc.
3. Advertise on craigslist for someone who can come in and help you a few hours a week. This will let you focus on doing more of the $15 per work and have someone else do the less costly work.
4. Outsource work: Lawn care, dry cleaning, house cleaning. If you think these services are expensive then you need to find a new home business.
5. Are you going to the post office to mail items? Start having them picked up.
6. Set up for auto bill pay using your credit cards
7. Continue to get help from your older kids.

Use your mind to get your profit up from your home based businesses during the day and after 7pm just relax, enjoy your kids, read and think. This will give you a new life and will be good for your kids, for you and for your business.

I know it won't be easy and you can't make this transition over night but if you truely want this type of lifestyle you can create it.

[dadeon]

I'm not too big a fan of making lists - the problem is that you often spend too much time on the darn list - time that you could have used differently.

I believe that it's incredibly important to have a vision for your life and to realize your purpose. Then you simply make sure that your life is in accordance with this purpose because that's what really fulfills you.

You can do a million things every day and still be unfulfilled. What fulfills YOU is the only thing that really matters.

Identify what's most important to you - what do you really want from this day, this week, this month, this year...map out a plan for your life and develop a compelling vision.

Know WHY you want it - this is what really motivates you.

Take action.

One thing that fulfills you, done well, is worth infinitely more than 10 things half done and without purpose.

[Rotem]

Hello everyone,

If you're looking for a good resource that would help you improve your
productivity, I think you'd like this one...

It's an 18 chapters ebook about time management skills.

Yes, It's free.

You can download it from here:

http://a-sleep.com/timemanagement.pdf

(Right-click and save-as)


Enjoy, and share it!


Rotem.