Time Management Tips from Kimber

Ah, time management. This is a topic I often get questions about. How do you do it all, people ask? How do you work full time and go to school, work extra jobs for your employer, publish, present, run a business, and manage to find time to be a (halfway) decent parent and blogger? Everyone is different, so my time management tips may not help everyone, but I get this question enough that I thought maybe I would share some of my tips. Feel free to read them and use them, or just discard all of them if they do not work for you. You know, whatever. It won’t hurt my feelings. (I simply do not have time for hurt feelings....)

Here goes....

1. Create goal, lists, checklists, calendar items, priorities, whatever you personally call them. Every day, I make a list of items (mini goals) that I want to get done in that day. When I wake up, or when I get to work, I look at the list and prioritize items, so that I can ensure that I get them all done. You can start small, with things like "Call to make a dentist appointment" or "Make dinner grocery list" or "Finish XYZ project and submit to my boss". It is liberating to have a list, check things off, and feel accomplished! Some days my lists are small and simple. Other days, I may have ten or more items that are all important. The essential thing is that you wrote them down and prioritize and then check them off when you have completed them. Make it fun. Use gel pens, fun fonts, drawings, highlighters, and stickers. Make it fun to finish things! And then keep those lists in your agenda, so you can reflect on how much you accomplished whenever you feel less than successful or overwhelmed.
2. Do the important stuff first. This may seem super obvious, but it is worth saying that you should make sure the really, really crucial stuff gets done first. If there is something that you can easily do tomorrow if you run out of time, make it last on your list.
3. Schedule in some breaks daily. Whether that is meeting a friend for lunch, taking a walk, or reading a book, make sure you do something fun every day. If you only do things you HAVE to do, your lists are going to be boring and it will be easier to avoid making them or using them altogether.
4. Along the same lines, celebrate meeting goals or getting items completed. We often do not celebrate our accomplishments enough in life as adults. When we were kids, we used to get so excited over every new milestone. Every step or new word or good grade or new friend made us so happy. We had no issue with celebrating ourselves. We should still do that. When you have met a looming deadline, earned a new accolade, or simple gotten caught up in life, we should take the opportunity to reflect and feel GOOD. Just bask in the glory of being ahead in life, even if it is only for a moment. Stop what you are doing and feel gratitude, peace, and happiness. When we do not reflect on our successes, then we are always feeling like a failure because there is always more to do. Life does not stop throwing us lists of to do items, so there is no real "end," so stop and enjoy your successes when you can. You deserve it.
5. Be proactive. When you get an email from your boss and it has an actionable item in it? Do it right then, when you read it. Then you waste no more time on the item. Don't open the email and close it, thinking you will get to it later. Just get it done and free up your time. Set out your kids' clothes the night before. Plan your meals for the week on Sunday. Look at your syllabus in the class you are taking and look ahead for more challenging assignments that are coming in the future weeks. Do you know you are going to have a busy week? Then make good choices that can make your life easier. Plan easy dinners or grab your favorite take out. Pack your kids' lunch the night before. Plan you own meals and wardrobe, too, so you are not looking for your favorite black pants while your kid searches for his socks, five minutes before school starts.
6. Delegate. Is there a task that does not need you and your own personality to complete? Perhaps something that you do not enjoy or are not talented at? It is perfectly acceptable to delegate these items to another family member, a friend, or someone you pay to help you. For example, while you may need to go to your kids' parent teacher conferences or an important meeting at work, you do not have to be the one who cooks dinner or does the laundry that night. You definitely have to write your own essays when you are in a class, but you do not have to mow the lawn. You need to be the face of your business, but you do not need to be the one going to the post office and mailing your customers their goods. There are always tasks that you do not find joy in and that do not require YOU personally to get them done. These are tasks that are good for delegating! Don't be afraid to pay someone to help you when you need it. Don’t be afraid to ask for help, either. Just be sure if your friends and family help you, that you replay them somehow. While it is good to ask for help, you don't want people to stop answering their phones every time you call. Lol.
7. Visualize the big picture, but focus on the small pieces. Just like building a skyscraper or putting together a puzzle, you need to visualize the big picture, but focusing solely on the big picture can feel overwhelming. Start small and do one small part of the project at a time. Let's say you want to run a marathon (I do not, but let's say YOU do). You do not just go out and run a marathon. You have to do small things that lead up to the big goal or else you will just quit and not manage your time well at all. You would go for a one mile run, perhaps, then focus on a 5K perhaps, and gradually build up to the marathon. When you have a big project in your personal life or in your work life, just start small, but keep your eye on the prize. As they say, "You eat an elephant one bite at a time." I am not sure who is eating elephants, though, and why.... Seems odd to me. So, take the metaphor, but don't take it literally. Please. Just do not eat elephants.
8. Have some fun. You have to have a passion that does not relate to your job or your schooling. My passion is acting in stage productions and seeing movies and reading books. These have nothing to do with any of my jobs or my schooling or parenting. They are things I hold dear that help recharge me. I make sure I make the time to do them, even when I feel like I do not have the time. I am always much more efficient when I actually make the time to do these. The hours are already there in the day. Make them count. It is not wrong to take care of yourself; it is not selfish. It is rather critical, really. You will feel better, reenergized, and be better able to get it all done in life.  So, find something you love to do, something that gets you all jazzed up, and then do it.

9. Reframe your thinking. The best way to get things done? Being grateful that you have these tasks to do. Feeling overwhelmed with parenting duties? Be thankful that you have children who require you to do these things. Feeling stressed over work duties? Thank God (or the universe or whatever) for having a job at all, and especially one that relies on you to get these tasks done. Reframing your thoughts about the tasks you do in everyday life can really change the amount of time you spend doing these tasks. When you are grateful for the opportunity to have these tasks assigned to you, then you are feeling good about getting the tasks done. Usually, we get stressed over time management when we forget to be grateful that we have the things and people in our lives that depend on us. Your house is a mess? At least you have a house. Car needs gas? At least you have the car to take you places and gas stations close by. Nothing in the refrigerator? There are restaurants on just about every corner and you live in a place of abundance. Be appreciative and grateful whenever you have these feelings of being overwhelmed. It really helps a lot.

What are some tips that you have? We would all love to hear your time-management tips! So, please share one in the comments.

Until next time, have some fun, make some lists, and get some stuff done.