This is just one of the boards that adorns my walls, full of scribbles of tasks, reminders and jobs. Some are work-related, some are parent-related, some are just plain old boring admin-related. Either way, the board is ALWAYS full, no matter how many jobs I’ve managed to get through on any given day.
The thing is, I don’t think it’s possible to NOT be busy when you have kids. The life of a parent tends to involve constant multi-tasking, as we rush from one place to the other, often trying to remember the next collection time / kids’ party / form that needs to be handed in. Whether you are a working parent or a stay-at-home parent, time always seems to be against you. Or maybe that’s just me.
Anway, I’ve found that since becoming a mum, there is nothing more vexing to me than a time-waster. You know the one: the person at work who calls an unnessary meeting, the cold-caller who rings just as you’re about to hit “send” on a piece of work, the nonsense emails that pile up in the inbox, requiring precious seconds to delete.
I can’t be the only one constantly seeking an extra five minutes in the day. I can honestly say if I had the option of losing a stone or gaining an hour, I’d go with the hour no questions asked.
I’ve only been back as a work-at-home mum for two days. Now, rather than juggling 80 hour weeks with motherhood, I’m juggling 30-40 hour weeks with motherhood (and a relocation 200 miles away). I’ve cut out the commute and slimmed down the work-load. And I’m still time poor. It doesn’t make sense.
And that’s why I’ve come to the conclusion that time is a slippery little bugger. It seeps away from you, trickling like water through your hands. To capture it and stop it from running, you need to be firm. So I’m going to take another look at the spam settings on my inbox, take a stricter approach to fielding calls and be clearer about what I do in which bits of the day.
How do you manage your time and keep it in check? (And don’t say “Give up Facebook” – never going to happen.)
I would LOVE to tell you that I manage my time wonderfully well, but that would be a big fat LIE, so I’m not going to do it…..
I’ve never been an organised person, try as I might – I am the bain of both my Mother & my youngest Sister who are incredibly well organised time managers……I have, and always will be, the QUEEN of the last minute and the up till the early hours crying because you KNOW you should have done this job 3 days ago!!!
I simply muddle through the best I can – but yes, I regularly forget Homework, PE kits, vital bits for projects that you’ve only just discovered they were supposed to do etc…….but no-one has failed anything (yet), the Girls are all fed and watered and SOMEHOW the hoursework is getting done (albeit sporadically…….)….
I’m pretty confident that on a scale of zero to Organised, you are WAY higher up the chart than me on this one……
I am an organiser, without it I feel out of control and stressed. I use an app called paperless and I have list categories within this, domestic, shopping, school, blog etc and each list categories has a to do list within it. Then I have a due by date on each item and work through methodically. The stuff that has no deadline, never gets done, but theres always hope eh.
That sounds ruddy marvellous……I am going to go and install it immediately and hope it manages to work miracles on me!!!
FAB post! And SO true! Every day I chase my tail from the minute I wake up and every day I tut as I realise it’s 11pm and I still have a ton of things to do! I think it’s called being a WOMAN! We try to be all things to all people – and apparently STILL have to look good! x
You are SO right! Just goes to show we all have the same challenges, no matter who we are. Blooming kids eh?!
x
Where does the time go? I’ve tried lists, online diaries, paper diaries, life laundry and I never have any time so my new mantra is to find peace in just doing everything I can. That way I mustn’t think ‘b*gger I didn’t do x, y and z today’ but instead I can think ‘yes I did a, b and c today – clever old me’. It doesn’t give you any more time but it makes me feel a little less of a failure.