MANAGING YOUR TIME AROUND THE TIME OF OTHERS

WHEN YOUR TIME IS NOT YOUR OWN

For many of us managing our time is very much influenced by others. One of the members of our Facebook listener group suggested doing a podcast episode about time management for individuals with children. Having to work around the schedule of children can make managing your time difficult. Sometimes it’s not only working around their schedules but also managing the expected or unexpected interruptions of our time. But, when I thought about it, most of us have to do some type of coordinating our time around the time of others.

People with children often have less control over interruptions, those things still happen to all of us, sometimes just with less frequency. So, instead of focusing only on time management for those with children, I think this topic can really be applied to many life situations. That may be managing around a hectic work schedule, running a business, tending to animals, your spouse, parents, or really anything that has an impact on the time you have available to work with on any given day.

BE REALISTIC ABOUT THE TIME YOU HAVE TO WORK WITH

Often we think we have much more time to get things done than we actually have. So, when we get fewer things done on any given day we feel like we should have been able to get more done. That may be true sometimes, but we often fail to consider all of the other things that take up our time each day. There are so many tasks that take up our time before we can even consider getting other things done. At the very minimum each day most of us will spend some of our time in order to shower, get dressed, prep breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  And depending on where those meals are eaten, potentially some clean-up afterward.

Add to that other daily commitments you may have such as exercising, working, kids’ activities, and any other appointments you may have. It can be helpful to map these out on a schedule to see how much time, if any, you have on a particular day to tackle some of your to-do lists. By plotting out your time, you will not be likely to plan on making the phone calls you had on your list when you see that your day is jam-packed with other activities. Seeing when and where you have time available can be really helpful in deciding what you realistically can and cannot do.

CONSIDER THE SEASON YOU ARE IN

In some seasons of life, our time is more devoted to the needs and schedules of others. If you are in one of these seasons and feel like your time is really limited, take credit for the time being used supporting others. Don’t feel like you are getting nothing done. Most likely the time supporting others is having a big impact on their life. Of course, if the time supporting others is not something you want to be or don’t have time to be involved in anymore, then you might need to make a change.

For example, if you are a volunteer or part of some type of group or organization that you don’t really have time for, maybe take a break from that until other things in your life slow down. But, if you are busy due to normal seasons of life, such as having kids, helping an older parent, dealing with an illness, or anything else that is taking a lot of time just remind yourself that this is just a season of life. Give yourself grace and do what you can do without burning yourself out.

PRIORITIZE YOUR TASKS

Most of us have more on our to-do lists than we can ever reasonably accomplish. When things get checked off, new things always get added. There is never a shortage of things to do. It is unrealistic to think we will ever finish our never-ending list of things to do. So, it is really important to prioritize your to-do list and pick only a couple of things that you would really like to either complete or make progress on. Let the other things go.  Don’t think about them, they remain on your list so they won’t be forgotten.

Your time is limited and there is nothing you can do about that. Keeping those other things on your mind that you are not able to get to just causes stress and often impacts how much focus you devote to the items you chose as your priorities. If you are presented with a day with a jam-packed schedule, then those things on your calendar become your priority. Decide what you will work on if you have time, but accept that you may not be able to squeeze anything else in

TAKE ADVANTAGE OF LITTLE BITS OF TIME

Be prepared with things that you can do with little bits of time. Sometimes when we have an extra 10 to 15 minutes, we can end up sitting and watching TV for a few minutes, scrolling on our phones, and just blowing it in some other way. If you are really having a hard time getting what you want to accomplish each day these little bits of time can make a big difference. By keeping in mind some things you can do during those little bits of time you can get right to something. If you stand around thinking about what you might be able to do, you might end up wasting the short time you had.

Keep a list of some quick things you can do during that time. Some things I can think of are: unloading the dishwasher, throwing in a load of laundry or putting some laundry away, sweeping the floor, reading a book, recording some banking transactions or reconciling an account, cleaning the microwave, checking the fridge for things that might need to be tossed. There are so many things that can be done in a little bit of time. Keeping a list handy either on paper or on your phone can help if you need a quick reminder of something you might be able to do quickly.

USE BLOCK SCHEDULING

I have also seen a block schedule referred to as “time-blocking your activities”. I have a whole separate episode in more detail on block scheduling if this is something you are interested in. With block scheduling, you section off your day into time frames and schedule what you will do in those time slots. Don’t get over-ambitious and schedule out every minute with accomplishing goal-related tasks, don’t forget you still need to shower, cook and eat!  And also make sure to schedule in some downtime to just rest a little. Block scheduling works well because you can make progress on several things by devoting a period of time each day.

You have to have some discipline and stop yourself at the end of the timeslot. The idea is that you will make progress on various things throughout the day. Keep in mind how your body operates too.  I am a morning person.  After dinner, I really don’t want to do anything that requires a whole lot of energy.  I have used it all up by then.  So, for me, I definitely wouldn’t block out a time frame for a task that requires a lot of physical energy at the end of the day.

DON’T BE A PERFECTIONIST

You can waste a lot of time trying to get things just right, without a whole lot of extra benefit. Perfectionism also can lead to procrastination, if you are too worried about getting something done perfectly and do not know the way to get it done perfectly you will often just not do it at all. Things don’t have to be perfect. Isn’t it better to have something done not perfectly, than to not have it done at all?

Thanks so much for checking in! If you would like to hear the podcast version of this topic check out Lola’s Frugal Life Podcast! Also, be sure to check out my other blog posts on this site!

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