How I Tackled The Time Monster: Part 3

Well, this is the last installment in my time management series.  I hope that this has been as helpful for you as it was for me when I stumbled upon it.

Today, let's take a look at cutting the fluff out of our schedules and putting it all together.  

Step Three:  Trim the Fat

If you don’t get anything else from this post, write this down and keep it in a place where you will see it often.  Contrary to popular belief, you cannot do it all, and you shouldn’t even try.

Go back to the first list in step two and slash through everything that is not essential to your health, happiness, and goals or in the best interest of your family unit.  This may mean dropping out of certain committees, saying no to worthy causes and social activities, or even scaling back on some of your children’s extracurricular activities.  Believe me, they won’t die.  Do not be afraid to take a good look at cutting back on work hours if necessary.

I feel it is important to mention that your children will also not die from doing chores!  Delegation is an important part to this step.  You can't do everything, and I guarantee you that more than likely your kiddos are not doing enough.  Homeschool-Your-Boys has a great chore list to help with figuring out what types of household tasks to hand over to the kids.   It was an eye-opener for me!  Let's put it this way...I stopped trying to figure out how to fit a housekeeper in the budget. 

Step Four:  Plug in Your Priorities

Now that you have identified your priorities and cut out all of the excess, it’s time to get to work.  Sit down and give each of your priorities and necessary tasks an allotted amount of time.  For example, getting in at least 30 minutes of exercise 5 to 6 days per week is important to me.  I want to still be here to see my grandchildren, so I have to do my part to reach that goal, and leave the rest up to the Lord.  So, at least 30 minutes 6 days per week is only 3 hours per week.  That leaves me with 165 hours left in my week.  Well, that just burst the "no time for exercise" excuse bubble!

Once you have your list of time allotments, you are done.  You have created your weekly time budget!  Don’t forget to leave a buffer of at least one hour a day.  This gives you room for overflow if that great conversation at Homeschool Park Day took longer than expected.  Now, plug in your priorities into your weekly schedule and you will be amazed at how much more you accomplish and how much more centered you feel.  Happy living!