Author : Carolina Fernandez
"Life offers two great gifts: time and the
ability to choose how we spend it. Planning is a process of
choosing among those many options. If we do not choose to plan,
then we choose to have others plan for us." Richard I. WinwoodPerforming redundant tasks, putting your time into ridiculous
activities, and wasting minutes here and there all add up to
significant amounts of unproductive time over your lifetime.Consider statistics, recently reported by time-management
experts, that the average American wastes over his or her
lifetime:eight months opening junk mailseventeen months drinking coffee and soft drinkstwo years on the telephonefive years waiting in linenine months sitting in trafficfour years cooking and eatinga year and a half groominga year and a half dressingseven years in bathroomstwelve years watching TVthree years shoppingone to two years looking for misplaced objects24 years sleepingWe could come up with some pretty fun statistics on how much time mothers waste doing redundant tasks:picking up stray toyswiping kitchen countertopsscouring the sinkwashing the dishesdoing the laundryfolding clothingputting the laundry awaycleaning bathroomsmopping the floorcollecting the garbagechanging diaperschanging crib sheetswiping runny noses and dirty bottomsgetting little ones out of car seatsblah blah blah...does the list ever end?In order to eliminate common areas of wasted time, you need to be constantly on the lookout for ways in which you might use time more effectively.A few tips:Stop watching TV...or severely restrict your tube time. Allow
yourself to watch the evening news for one hour after the kids
are in bed. Eliminate morning "fluff" TV and afternoon talk
shows. They are minor on content and major on commercials and
pure nonsense. Unless you're sick in bed or need to spend the day on the sofa, give them up.Keep a lot of irons in the fire. Remember the old saying: "If you need something done, ask a busy person to do it." The busy person is always ready because she has momentum. Doers always have multiple irons in the fire, so new projects are always ready to be tackled when boredom or fatigue sets in with her current project. Don Aslett calls it "ship jumping." When enthusiasm wanes, a project gets boring, or we need to put a temporary freeze on a project for one reason or another, we jump ship, leave it, and move on to something else. Working this way, you become fast, efficient, motivated, and highly productive.Lastly, think ahead. Moms who "stand ready" always thing ahead to the next probable scenario. Red traffic lights are not stops;
they are pauses for reflection about the next intended thing.
Carpool lines are not monotonous waiting lines; they are times to write or read or do one's make-up or nails or plot out the next intended thing. Ditto for doctor's office waits, grocery line queues, and gas station fill-ups. Rocket Moms use these as
intentional "mental moments"--always taking in opportunities for
action, planning the next intended event, organizing the rest of
the day, or reviewing activities lined up for the kids.Critically examine the ways in which you spend your time. See if
you might find yourself surprised to find extra hours in your
day...to take a bubble bath, write a letter, paint a picture, or
read a great book.Carolina Fernandez earned an M.B.A. and worked at IBM and as a stockbroker at Merrill Lynch before coming home to work as a wife and mother of four. She totally re-invented herself along the way. Strong convictions were born about the role of the arts in child development; homeschooling for ten years provided fertile soil for devising creative parenting strategies. These are played out in ROCKET MOM! 7 Strategies To Blast You Into Brilliance. It is available on Amazon.com, in bookstores everywhere, or by calling 888-476-2493. She writes extensively for a variety of parenting resources and teaches other moms via parenting classes and radio and TV interviews. Please visit http://www.rocketmom.com to subscribe to her free ezine and get a weekly shot of inspiration.
Keyword : time management, organizing, organization, home and family, parenting, motherhood, moms
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