Ever feel like you are falling behind on your to-do list before you even begin? Don’t miss these 10 great tips for getting more done every single day!
I have a confession.
The list of things I want and need to do is always much longer than the list of things I actually accomplish. I can’t do it all. I wish I could. I am constantly striving. But at the end of the day, I’m usually just a girl who drops more balls than I catch.
And I’m okay with that.
Learning to balance running a home-based business with the reality of being a full-time mom is one of those thrive-or-die situations. Either you learn to thrive, or it all falls apart.
Thriving does not, of course, equal perfection. My house is not always clean, my kids not always well-behaved, my laundry piles up, our bills are sometimes late, and occasionally we eat cold cereal for dinner. The overachiever in me gets frustrated by these failures, but the eternal optimist keeps hoping that someday it will all come together.
Until it does, here are ten tips for squeezing the most quality time out of every day:
Take 10 minutes to list your priorities and to examine who or what is important to you. Keep this list in a place where you can look at it frequently, and make sure the big stuff comes first. Think of your life as a jar you want to fill with rocks & sand. If you put the sand in first, the rocks won’t fit. The amount of time you spend on things should be somewhat relative to how important they are in your life. Life is short, and moments are precious. Don’t waste time on the things that don’t matter.
Setting the timer can be one of the best ways to motivate yourself. For instance, if you give yourself only 30 minutes to tidy your house, you will most likely get more cleaned in less time than if you weren’t racing against the clock.
Limiting your time on seemingly endless tasks like email and Facebook helps a lot too. If you only have 15 minutes to sit at the computer, then you have no choice but to prioritize. Likewise, setting the timer helps accomplish tasks you might normally procrastinate on, such as paying the bills. Telling yourself you only have to do it for 45 minutes is powerful motivation to get it done.
Give yourself 10-15 minutes each morning to drink a cup of coffee and write down your to-do list. Likewise, take a few minutes at the end of the day to figure out what your plan is for the next day and perhaps complete a few quick tasks that will make your morning easier, such as picking up clutter, making lunches or setting out clothes. Knowing what is coming up, what you have to get done and what you’d like to get done can help keep you focused.
Clear and specific goals are essential to managing your time well. Break them down into long-term and short-term goals, then break larger goals into manageable tasks. All your goals should be specific enough to know when you’ve achieved them, and they should also have an end date. Refer to your goal list often, or post it in a place you can look at it daily. Not sure how to start?
There is something so satisfying about crossing completed items off your list. A daily to-do list helps you stay focused in spite of the billion distractions—kids, phone calls, email, errands, runaway dogs, etc.—you encounter each day. Try to keep your task list small enough to actually be doable. I have personally found that a 3×3 Post-It note pad is the perfect size to keep my list manageable. If the pad is full, that’s enough!
For the longest time I was trying to accomplish things around my kids until one day it finally occurred to me to let them help. Sure, things may take a little longer but instead of ignoring them and saying, “Not right now, Mommy’s busy”, we are spending quality time together.
My youngest daughter loves helping unload the dishwasher, loading the washing machine, wiping the table and picking up toys. My oldest, on the other hand, is a big help with sorting the laundry, hanging clothes and clipping coupons. And they both love to help me cook. The hour or so before mealtime used to be extremely stressful, with 2 crabby, hungry & whiny kids who just wanted my attention. Now they can’t wait to help me make dinner every night and instead of dreading that time of day, I cherish it (at least some of the time).
If you have small children at home, you know how hard it can be to accomplish anything while they are awake. When my kids were really young, I would split my to-do list into things I could do with the kids or while they are awake and things I needed to accomplish while they were napping. The second they would go down for their naps, I would stop whatever awake-time task I was working on and switch to the nap-time list. It was amazing how much I could get done during that time!
Consider how different your life might be a year from now if you committed to waking up 30 minutes early each day and to spending that 30 minutes working towards your most important long-term goals. How many of them would you be able to accomplish? Countless studies have shown that almost everyone is more productive first thing in the morning. Use the peace and quiet of the early morning to complete your most important tasks, and you will never regret missing that extra hour of sleep.
I am a morning person, so getting up at 5am doesn’t bother me. And to be perfectly honest, I love the peace and quiet and alone time I get at that time of day. I am so productive! I figure there will be plenty of time for sleep when they’re teenagers, right?
This includes television, smart phones, computers and tablets, or even video games. We’ve become so accustomed to having an endless stream of technology at our fingertips that sometimes we forget that we don’t need to be connected all the time.
For most people, myself included, the temptation to “just quick check” something—especially after hearing that telltale ping—is often too great to resist and before you know it, a whole hour (or more) of precious time has slipped away. Combat this temptation by consciously scheduling technology-free times each day then by physically logging off or shutting down the device.
For me, this is the hardest part. But I’m learning. Luckily I have a great husband who not only helps out around the house but helps remind me of my priorities and tells me it’s okay if I can’t do it all.
Because no one can do it all. It is just not possible. So try to relax, do what you can, take a break when you need it and don’t get so caught up in your to-do list that you forget to take each moment as it comes.
Life is short. Moments are precious. Don’t waste time on things that don’t matter.
1. Evaluate Your Priorities
2. Set the Timer
3. Take Time to Regroup
4. Set Concrete Goals & Write Them Down
5. Use a Daily Checklist
6. Involve Your Kids
7. Divide and Conquer
8. Wake Up Early
9. Turn off Electronics
10. Give Yourself a Break
Ready to take action? Here at Living Well Spending Less® we’ve got some incredible resources for developing and maintaining simple but powerful home systems in every area of your life.
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Thanks so much for your blog. It felt like I was reading my own. Words. It is nice to know there is someone out there just like me. I have five children ages 12 up to 19. I also thought it would get easier,wrong. Lol I also home school. Just wanted to say thanks.
Ruth, I love your posts! I really relate to you. Sometimes I have to go back and read again certain sentences because it sounds exactly like something I would say! I especially like #1 in eternity's vies, this one is extremely important and since we can't do everything, it is important to take note often and remind ourselves of what things are the most important. Actually, I haven't read past #1 and part of #2, I want to focus on one thing at a time, because sometimes I get so excited about something like this that I don't actually do what it says! Thank you so much!
Fastidious response in rsturn of this issue with genuine
arguments and telling thhe whole thing regarding that.
It's the same with me, I always want to do so many things that finally I end up really frustrated. I'll definitely try to follow your tips and reorganized my daily routine to be more satisfied with it ;) Hope it will work.
"The type-A-perfectionist-overachiever in me gets frustrated by these failures, but the eternal optimist in me keeps hoping that someday it will all come together."
For a minute, I thought I was writing this post!! SO me, in every shape and form. Thank you for this list and sharing in my pain ;)
Blessings,
Jacy
http://www.jacyleepulford.com
that same line got me too! it takes a lot of practice to let some things go - I suppose having kids speeded up the process for me!
One of my students sent me the link to your post. Thanks for the shout out to my book :)
You're welcome! :-)
Great, great list! I love everything on here, and by far my most favorite ones are the timer and avoiding tv. Found you through Pinterest!
Lynet- I find it interesting and funny that you found this blog on Pinterest. Are you one of those tied to your electronics? I know I am. I work away at something for a while, get a little out of energy and decide to sit down and check Facebook or my e-reader for "just a minute". Yeah, right! Next thing I know I should be starting supper! I find this whole post helpful. I am past the days where my kids are running around the house, but that doesn't mean I have any more focus. When my kids were little I always made a list and my favorite part was crossing off the completed items. Then I guess I kind of outgrew that mentality. I SHOULD have stuck with it, by the looks of my house!
I was diagnosed with an auto-immune disease in January of this year and that causes me to deal with fatigue and often side effects of medications. There are days I don't get off the couch. Recently I've started a new plan to get things done. I create a "to do" list each day of only 6 things. These 6 things can include fixing dinner, packing lunch, doing laundry, grocery shopping. This allows me to not over exhaust myself due to my condition and it also allows me to feel productive in some way. There are times when one thing will not get done and it gets moved to the next day but I have found this to work really well. I write my six things down in a notebook in my kitchen and cross them off when I'm done. I like the act of "crossing them off" the list.
Thanks, this is really helpful to me as I have also a similar diagnosis plus my husband is also disabled. I have been frustrated at myself when I couldn't achieve all that I had planned.
I also have an auto-immune disease and I know what it is like to not be able to move off the sofa I have list of things to do that I never seem to get done. Good reminder,Alecia, to reduce the list to most important. Thanks.
I want to thank you for sharing! I was just diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder last year, and then came down with Mono this summer. Being a single mom of two including a disabled epileptic 18 month old has been very difficult and I just started a new job for the first time in two years at a child care center last month. I've been feeling like a failure because I wasn't even getting the basics done any more. But the list of 6 is a great idea! When I'm home I participate in the Flylady challenge where I make a list of 6 things and she picks a number and for ten minutes we work on that item. Then she picks a new number. This would work rolling a die too! (Bonus points if my oldest had the same list just numbered different so she worked on the same task for ten mins too!)
I am so excited to read this book! That is exactly what I have been looking for! I am actually a night owl but since I have a little girl now that does not sleep in I would love to become a morning person. I am seriously struggling with it though!
Thank you for sharing all of these great tips! Oh and I found you via Sarah @ Mama's Got It Together!
Keia
Until you have to work all day , or run your own business with staff and subcontractors, , manage budgets and demanding customers in a service based business.. AND have two children, a husband, a household, pets and extra curricular activities for the betterment of yourself, and your family, including volunteering in the community with your children... and having valuable relationships while doing all of this..don't bother writing a blog about how to get your housework done. And your to do list of organizing cabinets and drawers at 5am. No thanks.
I am sure that you didn't mean that the way I read it, but your comment comes across a little harsh. I can see that you are a very busy parent, but I believe Ruth was only trying to be friendly and help. I'm not trying to be ugly here or start a comment war; I just think that we should all support one another and say things in love. I wouldn't want my own feelings of inadequacy to color my opinion of Ruth's posts. And believe me, there are many days I get frustrated and just don't feel like I can get it all done, and to heck with the housework! But we are all trying to be better parents and better people. Please remember that none of us truly knows each other's specific situations. I only know what I'm sure is a small piece of the beautiful, complex puzzle of your life (only what you posted), and likewise that's all we really know about Ruth. I think what you meant to say was that even with these tips, some of us still just don't have the time to implement these things and they just wouldn't be practical specifically in our situations.
Well said, Brandi.
Very well said Brandi