Time Management

Overcoming Challenges to Self-Care

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I’ll be honest. Rest is not in my vocabulary. As a mom of 4, I’ve always just figured that people with this many kids just don’t get rest. That the busy, on-the-go lifestyle is embedded in you once you leave the hospital with baby #2 (or 3 or 4…). But that couldn’t be further from the truth. The key to finding balance in your life is to overcome your challenges to getting rest and practicing self-care. Here are some thoughts on how to do that.

Overcoming Challenges to Self-Care

Don’t let your excuses stop you

I have a goal this year to go to the gym once a week. Shortly into the new year I started missing gym day because it was too hard to find time to work out. To me, time spent at the gym was taking away from the time I had to spend with my kids. A friend recommended I try exercising in the living room with my kiddos instead. It’s not my ideal workout, but I do get my heart rate going and burn some calories. Plus, my kids love doing workout DVDs with me. And I love anything that helps them burn off some of their energy!

Take baby steps by making healthy choices

Good nutrition is beneficial for your mind, body, and spirit. It’s so simple, but eating 5 fruits and vegetables a day can do a lot to improve your physical and mental health. While I was stocking up on groceries, I saw that our local Vons had a special on wanu water. It’s this fruit-flavored water drink that’s packed with essential vitamins like vitamin E, vitamin K, and vitamins B1, B3, B5, B6, and B12. The B vitamins are a natural source of energy, and I could always use more energy! wanu also comes loaded with Folic Acid, Biotin and Fiber. You can get 24% of your daily recommended intake of fiber from one serving of wanu. Because fiber supports a healthy weight by making you feel fuller longer, it’s one of the main reasons I drink wanu. It’s at Vons, Safeway, Albertsons, and Pavillions. Use this coupon and get $1.00 off the purchase of any two (2) 16 oz. bottles of wanu. 3 wanu water flavors

Schedule some “me” time

Self-care doesn’t have to be a day spent at the spa. You can simply set aside some time to read a book, go for a walk, or get a manicure. Put it on the calendar and make yourself a promise that you’re going to do it. And, just as you would keep a doctor’s appointment, make sure to keep your appointments for self-care.

Celebrate small wins

When you DO make and keep an appointment with yourself, give yourself a pat on the back. You had to be intentional and put in effort to make that self-care activity happen. Reflect on how it feels to have done something nice for yourself. Remember that good feeling the next time you don’t think you have time to spend on yourself. Last week I took a walk on the beach by myself. It was only for about 30 minutes but I savored every moment of it, just enjoying the sound of the waves and the fresh ocean air.

Find your passion

What is it that you love doing? If you’re not sure, try out new things and you will find something that you can’t get enough of. It’s funny, I always thought I was a terrible artist. Then one day a friend invited me to a painting and vino class, and it turns out I’m not too bad at painting! So don’t be afraid of trying something outside of your comfort zone.

Be thankful

Even if I can only squeeze in 30 minutes a week for myself, at least I got some time to take care of my personal needs. Taking better care of my body is becoming more important to me. I’m thankful for low-calorie drinks like wanu water. It’s refreshingly sweetened with monk fruit, so it has 0 grams of sugar. It may seem silly to be thankful for something as simple as a drink, but you’d be surprised how much better it feels to always be in a gratitude state of mind. I’m thankful for anything that tastes good and only has 10 calories, like wanu water does. I’m also thankful for each glorious sunrise, getting to work on time, the opportunity to help a friend… Everything! Living out thankfulness truly gives me a sense of peace.

Rewriting My To-Do List into a Ta-Dah List

Some days it feels like there is so much on your plate. Between all the things you have to do and all the things you want to do, there don’t seem to be enough minutes in the day to do it all. During stressful seasons of life, I’ve been known to write a to-do list that runs the length of an entire sheet of paper. And how much of it did I actually get done? Not much of it!

What if there was a way to make to-do lists more uplifting? There is definitely a time and a place for a traditional to-do list. But every now and then, What if you give yourself a break and skip the to-do list? Instead, look back on what you accomplished that the day and make out a ta-dah list.

How I’m rewriting my to-do list into a ta-dah list

When you think about it, you really do get a lot done in the course of the day. Sometimes what gets done doesn’t seem important because it doesn’t have monetary value or maybe you don’t see immediate results. But spending time with loved ones and taking steps toward your future dreams and goals is just as important as running errands or following up on emails.
Here’s my ta-dah list from last week. Writing it out made me feel much better about my accomplishments.

So why do we let our to-do lists put so much pressure on us?

A to-do list can be overwhelming when you don’t have a lot of available time. Not to mention that there can be a number of things that will interrupt you and derail you from your plan. Urgent emails, phone calls, or sick kids needing to be picked up from school can put a halt on your hopes of a productive day. When it feels like your time is not your own, you can brighten your outlook by thinking about how much you got done, instead of focusing on how much is left to do.

As this Labor Day weekend comes to a close, I am thankful that I spent time connecting with my husband and 4 children. We laughed, played, and (thanks to that extra day off) got a jump on the upcoming week. I’m not saying I’m not a planner. If you’ve seen my printable calendar template or read about my meal planning, you know that I’ve got a bit of Type-A in me. But I still know when it is time to step back and enjoy your surrounding, celebrating your accomplishments no matter how small they may seem.

Do you have a Ta-Dah moment from the last week? Tell me what you are celebrating!

Finding Joy When Life is Crazy Busy

As a working mom of 4, I’m becoming quite the expert on how to survive as a busy parent. But while survival is great, if that’s all I’m trying to do is just survive, then I’m selling myself short. The real challenge is to get through each day with a smile on your face and a bounce in your step. That, my friends, was the struggle I found myself in not long ago. I felt like my life was so busy that there was little left of my time or energy to spend on anyone else. It wasn’t easy at first, but I learned to be joyful in spite of a crazy busy schedule. I even managed to find a little time for myself!

4 essential habits for finding joy when life is crazy busy.

Resist the urge to compare.

I often catch myself making the mistake of looking at my life under a microscope, comparing what I’m going through to how my friends and coworkers appear to be living. Besides being a sure-fire way to wallow in discontentment, I’ve learned there is one big reason why you shouldn’t compare your life to someone else’s, and that is because you are not him. Your finances are not his finances. Your talents are not his talents. Each of us have a different skill set which qualifies us for our unique place in life. There is no guarantee that you would be any happier if you were to trade lives with another person anyway. You don’t know what struggles and hardships he may be facing, even though he appears to have it all together. When you start looking at your life in comparison to someone else’s, you’re setting yourself up for discontentment and you are ignoring the truth of how fortunate you really are.

Be laser-focused.

By this I mean stay focused on what is the most important to you. Do you love to exercise but feel like there’s never any time? Take your gym shoes with you in the car so you can get in a quick walk or circuit train while you’re out. Feel like you don’t spend enough time with your family? Make the moments … [read the rest of this post on Empowered Living]

Thanks for taking the time to visit Craig’s blog www.whowillyouempower.com and read my guest post! He is an amazing speaker and I’m honored to have him share my writing.

How Does a Busy Mom Get it All Done?

Your coworkers are all stressing about upcoming deadlines in your department. You’re bogged down by emails, and there is a pile of paperwork overflowing from your inbox. As the day turns into afternoon you plod through the day’s tasks and daydream of eventually getting home to your kids.

To get out of the office (or classroom, in may case) in a timely manner, I brainstorm all the tasks that I feel need to get done. Then I sort them into the 4 quadrants of the Stephen Covey matrix, and rank them in order to importance.

According to this matrix, everything we do fits into one of four quadrants:

When you are faced with a task, it can be categorized as

Quadrant 1: Urgent and important. This includes crises and last-minute deadline changes
Quadrant 2: Important but not urgent. Things like exercising and preparing things ahead of time belong in this quadrant
Quadrant 3: Not important but urgent. Facebook distractions and phone or email interruptions fall into this quadrant.
Quadrant 4: Not important and not urgent. Time-wasters like Pinterest browsing and playing candy crush go here, and are not at all helpful when you’re trying to get your work done quickly.

As you can see from my personal task list, I don’t get it all done. But the tasks I am able to cross off are the ones that were of the most importance.

When those last few hours of the workday seem like they take forever, yet you feel like you didn’t finish all that you needed to in the day, maybe you’re not taking the right approach to completing your tasks. To be the most effective in the shortest amount of time possible, you really have to prioritize. It’s how a busy mom like me gets stuff done!

Stay Focused, Momma! Getting More Done at Work and Home

I have what I jokingly refer to as “Flashy Light Syndrome”. Because of this disorder I am easily thrown off task by any and every flashy light in the distance. If I were a fish in a pond, I’d be hooked by a shimmery lure, no problem!

In reality, it’s not just flashy lights and glittery objects that get me distracted. It can be Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter… Who am I kidding, the whole internet is my playground. When I’m near a computer it is really hard to stay on task and not start bouncing around the web. Thankfully, my job as a teacher doesn’t have me at the computer very often. It’s during the weekends and during my before/after school prep time that I really have to maintain focus. Here are a few ways I have found to help keep me on track:

Write out your duties. Get laser-focused from the get-go by quickly jotting down what you need to do. I write down my tasks, no matter how small, because the act of writing it down helps me to remember what I’m supposed to get done. At work, my time is limited because my room fills with students at 8:00 so I write out my tasks in order of urgency, making sure that I can get the big stuff done before school starts.

Set a timer. Try a productivity app like RescueTime or Pomodoro’s Focus Booster. I like Pomodoro because it is a cute little timer that you set for 25 minutes while you work. When it goes off, you take a short (maybe 5-minute) brain break, then reset it for another 25 minutes. After 4 25-minute work sessions, you take a longer break. Their website has additional productivity tracking tools and a book that gives more detail about the technique, but I just like the cute timer.

Ditch the phone. Give yourself cell-phone free work time. Set the phone in another room, out of sight, or to airplane mode while you work. I have to stay away from my phone when I’m doing my weekend cleaning and making dinner at night. Otherwise I just can’t resist checking all my apps.

Find a tidy workspace. Stack papers out of your way at your desk and put away office supplies. Give yourself some elbow room.

Keep a snack and water nearby. Low blood sugar and lack of hydration can affect your ability to concentrate. With some water and crackers or apple slices at your side, you’ll have no reason to start rummaging around for something to munch on and you will be able to focus better!

Play some music (if you’re allowed to). Listening to music can improve your mood and boost your ability to think creatively. Read this article for some great arguments from researchers in support of listening to music while you work.

Beware the email monster. Resist checking emails all day long, as they come in. Set specific times for checking email, like when you complete a task or on the hour. Don’t respond in-depth to every email, either. Be brief and concise in your communication, then move on to other tasks.

Delegate! Ask yourself at the beginning of each week, “Is there any part of my upcoming assignments that someone else can do?” Don’t become overworked because it will get done better or sooner if you do it yourself. Don’t be afraid to allow another’s talents to shine and grow, meanwhile offloading a burden from yourself.

Reward yourself. Celebrate your successes, whether large or small. Upon completion of a task, give yourself a brief break to play a short game on your phone or text a friend. After a productive work day, spend some time doing something that makes you happy, like watching some of a favorite movie or taking the scenic route home.

Being able to stay focused is a continuing area of growth for me. Hopefully, with some determination and a little planning, I can make the most of my work time and enjoy more personal time and time with my family. If you have any tips that work for you, please share them in the comments below!

Make the Most of Your Time

If time be of all things the most precious, wasting time must be the greatest prodigality. -Benjamin Franklin

Have you noticed that people can’t wait around anymore? With the increase of available technology, it seems that we are no longer capable of just standing in line. We reach to our cell phones or eReaders the second we are forced to wait for anything.

Instead of spending 10 minutes checking Facebook, the next time you are stuck in line, try this: Use this wait time to make some notes or plan a project. Using a small notebook or a note-keeping app, jot down the things that are pressing on your mind. Usually, having to wait causes us anxiety because we have a million other things we could be doing instead. Free up your mind by making a list of those things, so you don’t forget to do them later.

If you carry a notebook, it should be small enough to fit in your pocket. Moleskine© makes a notebook as small as 2.5” x 4”. You can also find small top-bound spiral memo books at the dollar store.

If you have a smart phone, I suggest looking into an app that will store your lists digitally. Two of my favorites are available for both Android and iTunes marketplaces:

Evernote (free). With Evernote you can save notes, record voice memos, and save favorite websites. You can access your Evernote files from your smart phone’s app or from any computer connected to the internet.

Wunderlist (free). This app will share your lists with others, a useful feature if you and your spouse have to complete the same project. You can also set reminders with Wunderlist.

More time-management ideas here:

7 Tips to Help You Manage Your Time Each Day

Finding Time for the Working Mom

Why You Never have Enough Time in the Day

Edited with permission from Steve Wilson

How do you make the most of your time?

Be More Productive in 1 Easy Step

If you want to have more free time and improve your time management, all you need to do is list 3 things.

When you start your day, take a few minutes and list 3 things that you have to get done during the course of the day. They can be any 3 things, but they must be things that you can get done in one day. Think of this list like a daily to do list. And just like a useful to do list, there are some guidelines that will help make your list successful.

Be specific. “Clean” or “Study chemistry” are too vague. To be sure that you are getting the most important stuff done, only write what MUST be cleaned or studied today. A more specific item on the list would be “Clean the kitchen floor” or “Read chapter 6 for chemistry class”. Maybe it would feel better to have an entire clean kitchen or to have memorized the table of elements, but is it really necessary to do all that in one day?

Be reasonable. Don’t just jot down any task. It has to be a task that you can (and will) complete today. When you are wedding planning, “Hire a photographer” is not likely to get done in one day, because there would need to be interviews or face-to-face meetings that you can’t expect to take place in one day. So narrow down your task to something you can do today that will bring you closer to finding the right photographer. Something like “call possible photographers for pricing and availability” would be more reasonable. “Interview photographer” can go on another day’s list.

Do those things ASAP. Don’t procrastinate. Attack them with all your energy because as soon as they are checked off your list, the day is yours. All the minutes left in it can be used surfing Pinterest or liking posts on Facebook, which is much more enjoyable that completing tasks. So go get them done already!

Praise yourself for a job well done! YES, you have to actually check off each thing you got done. It’s a way of physically acknowledging that you did it. It sets you in a positive frame of mind. At the end of the day (or the next morning, as you write down the next 3 things), take a moment to remind yourself that you did some good stuff today.

Your time is valuable. Each minute that passes is another minute that you can never get back. At the end of the day, will you truly be satisfied with how you spent all your time? When you focus on using your time more wisely, you become more purposeful in what you choose to do each day. Here is an easy way to increase personal productivity and maintain focus, and ultimately finding more time for the things you want to do. Like looking at photos of cats saying funny things and using awful spelling errors.

For more time management tips, check out these posts:

7 Tips to Help You Manage Your Time Each Day

Why You Never have Enough Time in the Day

Saying No

Why You Never Have Enough Time in the Day

Have you ever thought about why it feels like there just aren’t enough minutes in the day? Although I am the Rushed Mommy, I actually put a lot of effort into making sure that I have enough time during the day to spend with my family. They are my biggest priority, so it is important to me to make sure that my “free” time is spent with them. But how much free time does a working mom really have? Of course, working dads and work-from-home moms have the same time issues as working moms. I did some research on the Bureau of Labor Statistics. They have a whole page of data relating to working Americans, and it’s divided up by gender. Dads aren’t represented in the graph (sorry, guys!) because it was just too much info! But the hours men spend doing the same activities varied only by minutes. So don’t worry dads, this still applies to you. :smile:

The actual hours aren’t listed in the chart, so here they are:
Sleeping: 8.86 hours
Working/Traveling to work: 7.78 hours
Caring for and helping children: 2.14 hours
Food Preparation and Cleanup: 1.86 hours
Housework: 1.16 hours
Eating and Drinking: 1.09 hours
Grooming: .96 hours

Put your calculator away, I added it all up for you. Do you know how much time that leaves in the day? 0.15 hours!

I don’t know about you but I work more than 7.78 hours, and I sleep way less than 8.86 hours. But this is the average data for all Americans, and I suppose that if you factor in weekends, that would lower the average hours you are working.

It seems to me that if you are trying to make more time for yourself during the day, you either have to sleep less or work less. What do you think?

Saying No

One of the easiest ways to free up more time for yourself is to limit your responsibilities.

For those who work, this means that maybe you don’t accept the request to join another committee. Or maybe when you are at a meeting that goes past business hours, you politely excuse yourself and say you have an appointment. No one needs to know your reason for declining their request. If you feel obligated to give a reason, keep it short and give little details. Your personal life really isn’t their business.

Stay-at-home-moms/dads get pressured as well, although it may not be in a work environment. Your child’s team may need volunteers. The play group may need your assistance with a fundraiser or event. Unfortunately, the need for volunteers is permanent when your children are involved in activities. Not to say that you shouldn’t help out, but you also shouldn’t try to take on more than you can handle either.

If you find it too hard to say “no”, try saying “Let me think about it.” Then do some thinking about the issue and let the person know that it probably won’t fit in your schedule. Or you could come up with an alternative. Instead of taking the responsibility on by yourself, see if the job can be shared among the rest of the people in the group. As a personal example, I was asked to take charge of our school’s yearbook this year. Being a new teacher and desiring to still have a job next year, I accepted the request. But I made a good case for asking each grade level to contribute, which significantly decreased my work load. It wasn’t exactly a no, but it was an alternative solution that didn’t commit me to doing it all on my own.

You should never feel guilty for saying no to someone. Consider your personal goals. Would that extra assignment align with your goals? Probably not. If your top priority is more time for yourself or to be with your family, make that your focus. So what if your coworkers stand out more than you or the other parents get more recognition for their efforts? You can be at peace with yourself because, although recognition may be their top priority, it’s not yours. And doing what is important to you is what really matters.

Kitchen QuickTip

I don’t know about you, but I’m always looking for ways to save time in the kitchen. Between work, football practice/lacrosse practice/youth group, making dinner, lesson plans, busy babies, and everything else that’s going on, I could always use a few more free minutes!

One way I shave off a few minutes of cleanup time every now and then is by putting a layer of baking foil down on a dish before I put it in the oven. This really helps if you ever cook bacon in the oven (try it! It’s so much less involved than cooking it on the stove!), or when baking chicken.

Ok, it looks gross but I’d rather peel that layer of foil off and toss it in the garbage than scrape that gunk from the dish!

I hope you liked my quick tip! Do you use foil on your baking pans? Got any other good tips to share? Leave me a comment! :smile: