Posted on Monday,

Struggling To Get Everything Done?

Time Management Ideas

Over the years I have read many time management books in the attempt to try and get everything done. I have had Day-Timers, Franklin Covey Systems, Planner Pads, apps, software and just notepads full of lists. And yet I still find myself feeling behind. Rushing to something that I have forgotten. And feeling guilty about what isn’t done. So here are some things I have learned over the years:

Do the work.

First of all, getting actual work done is the most important thing. I have been known to spend time creating the perfect system when what I was really doing is avoiding actually working. If this is you right now. STOP. Go do what you should be doing. We will wait for you to get done. 🙂

So, using “getting organized” as an excuse to procrastinate is out.

Posted on Friday,

Time Margin: How to fit it all in??

Creating time margin for yourself and your dreams

I just lost an hour and a half.

I was trying to help. I really was.

I was traveling with my son to an event that he needed to attend. We had agreed to leave the hotel at 6:30 to get him where he needed to be by 7:30. I was ready but he was distracted, I think he thought I was being too uptight leaving an hour to get to the event (It could be a thing). Anyway, I was ready and I grabbed his suit-jacket off the hanger and hung it on his suitcase rolling handle.

So, I get him out the door and between needing to get him food, getting lost twice, I got him to the event at 7:35. As he is getting out of the car he realized that he does not have his tie on so he looks in his bag. Then he realizes it is probably hanging on the hanger where his suit was (which Mom had failed to grab).

So… he went into his event and I drove back to get the tie and hanger from the hotel room. In trying to save a few minutes, by over mom-ing him, I got to spend an hour and a half driving back to the hotel. Getting the tie. Driving back to his event so he could be properly dressed.

If I had only let him manage himself, which he is very capable of doing, I would have saved myself an hour and a half and quarter tank of gas.

This made me think of where else in our lives do we create chaos or extra work because we are interfering or helping unnecessarily.?? If we are to find the time in our busy lives to live our dreams and passions this might be an area to look at.

So here are some things to think about to help create extra time and energy for you:

Posted on Friday,

168

We all have 168 hours a week.

Rich, poor, healthy, unhealthy, young, old — we all have the same number of hours a week.

What we choose to do with those hours will determine the life we lead. Work, family, friends, sleep, eating, relaxing and chores all have to fit into these set number of hours.

Along with the meaning of life; how best to spend the time you have available to you is one of the great philosophical questions of the ages. The answer to this question can vary from “Live for the Moment” to the ” Number your Days.” (The idea here is to count the number of days you have and to realize how short is the time you have left).

Many books and articles have been written on ways to manage your time, be more effective, get more things done, etc, etc, etc. I have read many of these books and tried many of the tactics.

I have started/stopped/failed/gave up/and started again.

I don’t know that I have anything NEW to add to the discussion. Yet, how we handle those 168 hours will have a HUGE impact on our ability to reach our dreams or even attempt to start the journey.

Here are some of my favorite bits of wisdom on the subject: