We all have the same amount of time in a day, our choice is how we use it. At times I expect too much from time and try and squeeze too many tasks into a short spaces of time. I also get frustrated when I don’t get everything done, when I want it done. This idiosyncrasy is one thing that really tends to bother my husband, who is laid back, productive in his work, but laid back all the same. For us time, has been an issue, time and time again ( pardon the pun). I absolutely hate being late, he doesn’t mind being late, so we are often late – defined as later than I want to be.. this has been cause of tension, added to as we have three children, with their own perception of time – you get what I mean, leaving in half an hour really means in an hour and a half. You say ‘ were leaving’ and they hear… change your socks to cleaner ones, swap the things in your lunch box with each other and fight about where to sit in the car.
Time management is the process of planning and controlling how much time you spend on a specific activity
On a serious note, time is one thing that needs to be managed in a way that works for every member of your family. My husband and I over time have worked it out, it is still a work in progress but nonetheless, parameters have been put in place to ensure big blow ups don’t occur over time.
Some key skills in time management are as follows:
- organisation
- planning
- prioritisation
- goal setting
- delegation
- stress management
Sound familiar? A friend once asked if the definition of freedom, is having a toilet trained child. How much effort and planning and strategising goes into toilet training. This is just one example of what parents do on a constant (note I didn’t say regular), constant basis. We are all probably better at time management than we give ourselves credit for.
In terms of applying time management skills to family life I came across an excellent list of what to include in creating a time management plan. I have altered it slightly to make it relevant to family life.
1. Pick two or three tasks at a time
2. Review the tasks – what outcome are you trying to achieve?
3. You can’t do it all by yourself
4. Use tools
Use the above list to start mapping out some tasks that you can review and make changes to, to improve your time management and level of busy in your family.
In the next post about time, I will share a few things that have helped our family work on our time management.
Homes of Victory 