Working Mothers: Learning Time Management Skills Can Help with that Overwhelming Need for Some 'Me Time'
How to carve out 'me' time in a hectic working mother's schedule.
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PrintI posted recently that I am attempting to regain some 'me' time over this next year. This has been one of my goals lately, and it has taken some restructuring of my time and work schedule to do so.
I posted, too, that it is not always easy. Finding that time, making that time, requires commitment.
It also requires some good time management skills.
Remember our busy mother Leanne Davis?
She, like many of us, is struggling with time management.
When you work full time, take care of the house, commute, take care of kids, and do a variety of other tasks, you must arrange your time to fit it all in. Yet there are only 24 hours of the day, and at least a few of those must be reserved for sleeping!
I recently asked Marianne Emma Jeff, a professional Success Coach and owner of Motivate Myself, what it is women can do to maintain better time management skills.
Jeff said this: "There are three basic principles that you can apply to anything you want."
These are:
To begin finding more time, or better managing your time, start off by tracking where you are right now. Where does your time go? One tool for this is www.rescuetime.com. Jeff says that by tracking your time you can see where it is it is going. Don't try to do this after the fact: Write down what you are doing as you are doing it. When you go back and try to find the hours you've lost, sometimes its simply impossible. Jeff writes:
How much time do you want, or need? I'd like half an hour a day. Now, to me this sounds like too much. Half an hour? I could be clipping coupons, getting work done, writing a report, or playing with the children. However, taking half an hour for myself still leaves 23 1/2 hours in the day. When looked at like this, half an hour doesn't sound so bad!
Finally, says Jeff, you can look at that gap realistically. "You may not be able to get your ideal week tomorrow, but creating stepping stones to it is a possiblity." She adds that its important to remember this is a process.
I posted, too, that it is not always easy. Finding that time, making that time, requires commitment.
It also requires some good time management skills.
Remember our busy mother Leanne Davis?
She, like many of us, is struggling with time management.
When you work full time, take care of the house, commute, take care of kids, and do a variety of other tasks, you must arrange your time to fit it all in. Yet there are only 24 hours of the day, and at least a few of those must be reserved for sleeping!
I recently asked Marianne Emma Jeff, a professional Success Coach and owner of Motivate Myself, what it is women can do to maintain better time management skills.
Jeff said this: "There are three basic principles that you can apply to anything you want."
These are:
- Where are you right now
- Where do you want to be
- Where is the gap
To begin finding more time, or better managing your time, start off by tracking where you are right now. Where does your time go? One tool for this is www.rescuetime.com. Jeff says that by tracking your time you can see where it is it is going. Don't try to do this after the fact: Write down what you are doing as you are doing it. When you go back and try to find the hours you've lost, sometimes its simply impossible. Jeff writes:
A great thing about being honest about where you are spending your time is that it highlights the sacrifices you are making by saying “yes” to things that perhaps are not a high priority for you. When you see in black and white that volunteering, facebook or lingering at the office are taking up valuable chunks of time it gets easier to say “no”.Next, create an ideal week. What is it that you want? Do you want to work less, or have more 'me' time? For myself, I need more 'me time' as this is something I can honestly say I have not tried to have since I became a mother. I carved time for my family, my kids, my spouse,and my work, but never just for 'me.' For some reasons, mothers often feel guilt about demanding me time. Why? This is something we all need.
How much time do you want, or need? I'd like half an hour a day. Now, to me this sounds like too much. Half an hour? I could be clipping coupons, getting work done, writing a report, or playing with the children. However, taking half an hour for myself still leaves 23 1/2 hours in the day. When looked at like this, half an hour doesn't sound so bad!
Finally, says Jeff, you can look at that gap realistically. "You may not be able to get your ideal week tomorrow, but creating stepping stones to it is a possiblity." She adds that its important to remember this is a process.
Shifting our operating system takes time. Be kind to yourself. In my mind failure only exists if we do not ask ourselves “why” when we don’t meet our goals or expectations. As long as you get curious in a loving way about your challenges you are always learning more about what makes you tick and how to play to your strengths. So there is no failure only learning and growth.Jeff recommends listening to this podcast if you are having trouble prioritizing and taking back a portion of your life.
