Time Management

I'm hesitant to write this, because inevitably, when I do, I always get some misguided commenter who feels compelled to point out to me that I'm, actually, not all that - and I don't know it all and I probably shouldn't be spouting off like I do know it all. Let me me clear on this - I don't know it all. I don't. There are many days that I do seem to accomplish a lot, and many days when I just feel like it's a struggle to stand upright and get ANY food into my kids, let alone toss the wash in the machine.

I don't actually think I'm all that good at time management, but lots of people think that I am. It's probably one of the things others comment on the most about me. I think part of it is that I'm blessed with a crazy compulsion to do a million things at once and I also don't ever do anything from start to finish, all the way through in one sitting.

I'm kind of like that dumb Mouse, who is constantly distracted and goes from one thing - to another - to another - and still yet another - without ever finishing what he started off doing. I mean, I do eventually finish, but I wonder sometimes if that's how I can get more stuff done - because I do all of it at.the.same.time.

I don't know if that makes sense.

I make lots and lots of lists. I have lists on the computer Notepad, my phone Note section, sticky notes in the bathroom and the bedroom and the van and the kitchen. I try to never go one place without doing two things - and I utilize my steps, both front and back, as a pile function. Which sounds stupid, but instead of running something upstairs and wasting time - I set it on the steps and go on with my day. When I go up, I grab all of it at once and drop it in the room it belongs in.

Which sounds stupid, but it really helps me not waste time.

I also cook a lot at once - meaning I might make 3 dinners and a bunch of sides at the same time and put it all in the fridge. If I'm cooking I try to never cook or bake one thing at a time, because I'm all about maximizing my time.

I try to portion out my day - I typically allocate my time this way:

• Up at 5:30-6 - until 8 is getting kids up, feeding them, getting them out of the house and to school.
• 8-11:30 - I spend most of this time writing, getting up and walking around the house to clear the cobwebs when I get stuck, and putting my house back in order while doing so. I might walk into the kitchen to get some water, see the dirty towels, take them into the laundry room to put them in the machine, toss the wash over, grab food from the freezer, wipe out the fridge when I see it's messy - it's mostly a free form, follow one step to the next with no real rhyme or reason type deal. I often cook here, making dinner or bread or cookies or some such stuff.
• 12-1:30 boxing class or some form of exercise.
• 1:30-3 shower, pick up the house some more, try to answer some emails. Sometimes I make dinner at this time.
• 3-8 pick up kids, sports, dinner, baths, dishes, folding laundry,bedtime.
• 8-11 cleaning up, and writing. If I'm doing a crock pot dinner the next day, I assemble it and put it in the fridge - just pull it out and plug it in when I get up. SERIOUS time save there - if you are already in the kitchen for dinner and clean up, jsut do it at the same time.

I'd love to get to bed at 9 or so, but I always need that extra 2 -2.5 hours of time to get the rest of my stuff done. I also cram stuff into the weekends - do 3 hours of ironing while watching shows, that type of stuff.

Often, I make a couple of pounds of ground beef, season it with garlic and onions and freeze it in baggies. I might cook 2 chicken in the crock pot overnight, let it cool while I take the kids to school, and then pick it off and freeze it in dinner portions. This way, I can have a jump start on dinner. I cut up tons of fruit and veg at once - 5 pounds of carrots, 4 or 5 cucumbers, wash and portion out grapes - so that it's quicker and makes the stuff more easily accessible.

One other thing - in talking with my very good friend, I realized that I don't have one important thing hampering me that a lot of you do - I have no little ones. It's incredibly difficult to be productive when you have to stop every minute to get some juice/break up a fight/separate arguing kids. When you've got a baby crawling after you, or needing to be fed every hour, it kills your time. I also have kids who are big enough to help, although that takes more effort than it's worth some time!

Oh, one other thing - when my kids have Jiu-jitsu and Muay Thai, it's a 3 hour block of time. I use this time to write, exercise, go for a run - I don't like to have down time.

I don't really feel like I have a lot of time management tips, but these are the things that work for me, for what it's worth. I think my main key is to just use every minute you can, as much as possible.

Comments

[Elizabeth]

The putting stuff on the stairs and making only 1 trip is something I've heard about before. We only have a 1 story house but as I'm picking up I'll stack stuff to be moved to a different room so when I go to that room, I make 1 trip with all the stuff. Then I make sure to put it all up where it belongs in that room instead of leaving it in a pile.

[maggie]

I really admire this Carmen for I am an expert time waster! I do have some systems that help with efficiency but I'd like to be more productive. One goal I have for the summer is to schedule the exercise or else it just doesn't get done, so thank you for reminding me!

[Headless Mom]

I do the stairs thing too. My problem? I don't grab it on my way up and it sits there as long as I ignore it.

[addy]

The stair thing works - all those extra trips up and down waste way too much time

[Laura H]

Some days, I feel like the queen of running my house! Beds are made shortly after I get up (although, getting loft beds for the kids, I don't even bother with those), dishwasher unloaded/loaded, stuff picked up, energy abounds. Then there are days like, well, today. Not much of anything got done. But I totally know what you mean about little ones; since my youngest turned 5, it seems I have so much more time!

[Jennifer]

I'm always surprised at how little time it takes for me to get my house together after the hurricane in the am. If I don't waste time on the computer, I can make all the beds, start a load of laundry, clean the kitchen, pick up the dirty clothes, wipe down 3 bathrooms in less than 45 minutes.

Anyway, one thing that helps me is the "First things first" approach to the day. I lie in bed and I think about what absolutely has to be done. Then everything else is secondary.

[Pat]

That sounds like my Mom--she always had things on the steps for the next person who went up or down the stairs. She, as you refer to, had older me--polish the boys' shoes, iron the girls' dresses, go change the baby's diaper!

[Emily]

I use laundry baskets while I'm cleaning, we have a fairly small house so I only need two, one for the front of the house and one for the back. As I clean out a room I throw the stuff in the appropriate basket, and work my way through the house. This helps A LOT with the things my 3 year old scatters from one room to another. It also motivates me to just go ahead and fold whatever laundry is sitting there so I can have the basket!