Tag Archives: plan ahead

Time Management – What’s It All About?

Time management is one of the toughest things to master as a person, but becomes even doubly difficult as a parent whether working outside the home or not, especially a parent of a young child. I’ve struggled with focus and being task oriented for almost my entire life, and I have a lot of hobbies outside of my day job, so having strong time management skills were a MUST. It is because of this need for laser focus, that I started looking into different way to stay on course and meet my goals. I thought that it would be a great idea to share those tips with you in a new series that I’m simply calling Time Management for the Busy Mom.

Time Management - What's It All About - Baby Doodah

Let’s be honest, even on some of our best days we struggle to stay focused and on task. One chime from Facebook, a notification on your phone, or a co-worker calling your attention to something other than the task at hand, is enough to derail even the strongest and most focused of individuals. And once you’re pulled off that task, it’s hard to bring yourself back to exactly where you were before.

[Tweet “The dictionary defines time management as the ability to use one’s time effectively or productively, especially at work.”]

I’ve read that it can take you 15 more minutes to get your focus back on track. The worst part? In that time, it’s easy enough for someone else to come along and interrupt what you’re doing. It’s enough to make a grown-up cry!

Believe it or not, there are many, MANY different ways to keep you focused on the end result. Simply doing a search of Google will turn up millions of hits on how different individuals handle their procrastination, and stay focused. Just like with anything, no one way will work for one person – if you try one method and it doesn’t work, I encourage you to try again and not give up! You will find your focus gold and will wonder how you ever survived without it.

Since we as mom’s, whether we work inside or outside the home (this can be SAHMs too), learning how to be focused and have great time management skills will help make your days run smoother and will keep your sanity about you.

Here’s my list of the Time Management Techniques that I’ve tried:

This list is not all encompassing of every possible time management trick out there, but can be used as a guide to find your comfort zone. I will also be covering each item in their own post to provide details on how each works, how I used it, whether it worked or not and some ideas on how you could tweak it to work for you.

  • Pomodoro Technique
  • Urgent / Important Lists (Prioritization)
  • Block Your Time
  • Creating “Tickler” Files

As I try new or different ones and as I do, I’ll update my post and share those results with you, too.

If you’re looking for some great posts that talk about time management here are some additional options:

For bloggers: Blog Clarity’s post on 25 Tips to Become a More Productive Blogger or Write Better and Faster with One Simple Tip.

For Moms: Time Management Tips for Moms or Time Management: 6 Tricks for Parents to Stay on Track

Your turn!

Have you tried any Time Management techniques before? Did it work, did you feel more productive? If so, I’d love if you shared them in the comments below.

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Sunday Meal Plan – Week of 10/27/14

Sunday Meal Plan

Happy Sunday! I’m so happy to have you here!

Before I get into the meal plan, I wanted to just talk about what a sweet little boy Emmett has been. Why? Because I love him and because I’m a proud momma. He’s been so full of pleases and thank yous and it just warms my heart each and everyday.

This morning, Seamus said he woke up and was telling him thank you for everything, getting him out of the crib, changing his diaper, giving hugs, etc. The best part for me is that he is using please and thank you appropriately. He doesn’t seem to have any confusion on when to use please, thank you and you’re welcome. I love it! I realize it might seem pretty silly to some, but when you have a child, you are just so proud of everything they do. 🙂

Love him!

So how was your weekend?

Ours was pretty awesome! Saturday I got up early and headed to Starbucks to get some of my work done. I have a desk at home, but as soon as Emmett starts waking up, I lose my concentration. I had a lot to do and wanted to be productive, so I showered and headed out. I’m glad I did, too! I got so much accomplished!

When I got home, Emmett and I spent some time playing with Play-Doh (Emmett is partial to the Play-Doh fun factory – affliate link). With the this set, there is a mother, father, and boy cut out. He had me help him make one for each of us. Then he took the mother and father and had each of them say I love you to the other and then give each other kisses. It was the sweetest thing! I’m so glad that we’re showing him what a loving and happy relationship is all about.

We also headed down to visit my parents which was really nice. It’s always so laid back there! Emmett plays and we chat, he loves playing with all the different toys that grandma has!

Today will be filled with laundry, grocery shopping, food prep and tidying up. Nothing exciting, but all things that need to be done.

And now, onto our meal plan

Breakfast: 2 scrambled eggs, feta & 2 slices of bacon

Lunch for the week: Chicken Soup, Rice Crackers & mini sweet peppers

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Sunday: Chili & Corn Bread

Monday: Spaghetti Squash – Fettuccine Alfredo

Tuesday: Rotisserie Chicken & Asparagus

Wednesday: Pork Tacos

Thursday: Steak, Chick Pea and Tomato Salad

Friday: Homemade Pizza

Saturday: Scrounge Night

Lunch for the week: Chicken Soup, Rice Crackers & mini sweet peppers

Breakfast: 2 scrambled eggs, feta & 2 slices of bacon

I’m linking up with Laura from Mommy, Run Fast! and Jill from jillconyers.com, be sure to stop over and link-up your meal planning posts.

Your turn!

Anything fun, new or interesting on your meal plan this week? I’d love if you shared in the comments below!

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Looking for a quick, easy and FREE way to get your news? Check-out theSkimm and sign-up for your daily email box delivery of the world’s news, plus if you share your birthday, you get it listed at the bottom of the newsletter on your day. It’s like celebrating with thousands of people!!!!

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