Time Management for 2015

Home management involves a lot of things, not the least of which is time management. Now that my precious kids are all in school, I find that my need for organization and time management is at an all-time high. It's true that I do have more free time in the sense that I don't have anyone at home demanding my attention from 8am to 3pm. However, I have a lot of things on my to-do list that still will not get done if I'm not organized about it. Time is so very easily wasted. {And we can't always blame it on the kids.} I am learning that having a list to follow everyday of the things I need to accomplish is the best way for me to get it all done. I love checking things off of a list. There's a big sense of accomplishment from that. The older I get the more I need a list to follow because I cannot do it all from memory.
Do this little exercise in time management to see if you are using your valuable time wisely.

• Journal your day starting from when you wake up until you go to bed.
• Write down what you did that day in 15 minute increments. You may want to stop every hour for a second to write it down otherwise you may forget. We do SO MUCH everyday!
• At the end of the day, look over it and analyze how your time was spent.
• Did you find you had several sections of time that were not productive? I know that I do have some that I could be using to do those small things on my list. I'll give you some ideas below.
• Do you have too much on your to do list? It's possible you need to rethink your list and determine what things you need to remove or move to another day/time.

Now, if you have slots of time that are not productive, here are some things you can do in small amounts of time:

• Clean out a drawer.
• Fold a basket of clothes.
• Distribute clothes to a room.
• Wash windows in one room.
• Dust one room.
• Vacuum one room.
• Sweep the porch.
• Clean a half bath.
• Refill paper products - toilet paper, napkins, paper towels.
• Clean mirrors.
• Hang up clothes.
• Write a thank you note.
• Send a card or email or text to someone you need to connect with.
• Write a grocery list
• Pick up everything in one room that doesn't belong and put it away.
• Throw in a load of laundry.
• Switch clothes to dryer.
• Wipe down counters
• Wipe down kitchen sink.
• Clean out refrigerator.
• Empty dishwasher
• Load dishwasher
• ETC.

During this time, you can also make a phone call to return a call, make an appt., pay a bill, etc.

The goal is to multitask when you can and use every slot of time in the best possible way. Schedule some down time if you need it, by all means, but make sure you're not just wasting time when there are a million things to be done.

If there are things on your list that never get done, ask yourself:

• Is this item absolutely necessary?
• Does it benefit my family or cause me to neglect my family?
• Is doing this item causing frustration in me or in my family members? {Maybe from lack of planning, feeling rushed, doing too much...}

Sometimes we place unneeded stress on ourselves by taking on too many committments. I mean, school is demanding, family obligations can be demanding, ministry can be very demanding, sports, etc. We don't have to do it all or be involved in everything that is available to us. In fact, it's impossible to do it all and maintain a balanced family life. Sometimes, we just have to say no. Sometimes, we can say 'later' and even fewer times we can readily commit where the whole family benefits and doesn't suffer. You just have to take these things one at a time as they come because some seasons of life are busier than others and one month we may feel like taking on the world, but the next month be completely maxed out. Balance is the key. Life is a balancing act.

• Determine your priorities ahead of time. {Family, Church, Work, School, etc.}
• What are you willing to sacrifice and not sacrifice from time to time?
• What kind of demands fall into each of those categories?

Plan ahead and when opportunities/demands present themselves, you will already have a plan in place to determine whether or not you should commit.

How do you manage your time? Do you use a daily to-do list? Do you plan each item for a specific time? Or does it work for you to just fly by the seat of your pants? I'd love to hear your tips!

Here are some great day planners for 2015 you can get for a good deal!

The Inner Guide 2015 Planner - 5 Star Reviews! From Amazon...

• OTHER PLANNERS HELP YOU PLAN YOUR DAY; WE HELP YOU PLAN YOUR LIFE!
• 8"x9" light-weight and convenient carrying size, 204 pages
• 2-page spread per week for appointments including a structure for developing awareness, accountability and reflection
• 2-page spread BEFORE each month to help you plan ahead and a 2-page spread AFTER each month to help you assess the quality of your month. Plus, a BONUS 2-page Mid-Year section
• Unique goal-setting chart featuring nine important areas of life to help you brainstorm your yearly and monthly goals

At a Glance Monthly Planner 2015 - Perfect for looking at your whole month. I like to use monthly planners for doing bills, keeping track of family appointments, events, etc.

2015 Mom Do-it-All Weekly Planner - Great reviews and perfect for all the busy moms running from this place to that with a van full of kids or teens.

This is part of my 31 Days of Home Economics series. You can find the full list at the tab above {Home Economics}.

Like this post? Will you please share it with your friends on your social media? You can also follow me on Facebook, Google+, Pinterest and Twitter. Click the social media icon of your choice in the right sidebar.

I'm sharing this with a few of these friends! Thanks for stopping by!

The Well-Managed Home: The Linen Closet

Let's be honest here, closets are kind of our personal space. That space we can hide our junk in so that no one outside the family unit will suspect us of being unorganized or even a hoarder collector of things we don't really have a place for in our house. You know what I'm talking about? Closets in my house are the place that 'things' get shoved when company is coming over and I don't have time or energy to put it in its place. I admit it, I'm THAT person. I want to be the person that has a place for every single thing and believe me, I'm totally working toward that goal, but it's not easy when there are 5 individuals in our household that all like their stuff.
So, in an effort to get myself inspired to tackle that problem in my house, I decided to head straight to the source of all great ideas that get pinned and hardly ever followed through - Pinterest! And boy, do I have linen closet envy now! I feel like running straight to the dollar store and hoarding baskets of all shapes and sizes. Then, going and buying all the same color of towels and sheets. But I won't. Not until I finish this post anyway.
This is the current state of my linen closet.

Yes, it is unorganized and embarrassing in its sad condition, but I'm being real with you. I don't have it all together. I'm not writing this post {or any posts} because I think I am an expert. I'm just like everyone else trying to create order out of the chaos in my everyday life.

This is what I hope my linen closet looks like when I'm finished with it.

Laura @ I'm an Organizing Junkie has a great post about organizing the linen closet. Click here.

Home Idea Maker's closet is drool worthy. I love this!

But before we can organize and make it all look super cute and magazine worthy, we have to do a few tasks that will enable organization to take place.

1. Get 3 garbage bags. One for trash {broken things, moth eaten things, etc.}, one for donating {things that still look good and are not broken}, one for selling {things you don't want, but could make money from - you'd be surprised how much money you can make off of things you don't want/need anymore - check ebay or craigslist to see how much similar things are going for}.
2. Make another pile for the things you want to keep.
3. Now, get to work separating all this junk.

Once you've accomplished that, the fun part begins. Decide where you want everything to go back to in that closet. Towels, sheets, blankets, Christmas decor, etc. Come up with a game plan. Make a trip to the dollar store for baskets and other helpful organizational items. Then, get to work putting it all back.
The goal here is to make it work for you. Not so it looks beautiful, although that never hurts, but make it the most functional for you and your family.

Example: I put the washcloth basket where my kids can reach it. Also, the dishcloths - because I can send them to get one for me when needed. The other things in the closet they don't need access to, so I can put them anywhere else that works for me. Just think, "How will this make my life easier?"

What are your secrets to keeping a tidy linen closet? Or any other closet, for that matter? Is yours a mess or is it always organized?

This is part of my 31 Days of Home Economics series. You can find the whole series at the tab above labeled {Home Economics}.

Thanks for stopping by today! I'm sharing this with a few of these friends.

The 5 Minute Pick Up

The hardest places in my house to keep clean are my kids' bedrooms. That's where they play, get dressed, sleep, rest, etc. We have no playroom or other play area in the house so their rooms are where all the action happens - and where the piles and clutter grow rapidly. So, when they hear the words, "Go clean your room." they feel slightly overwhelmed. {I know the feeling.} Looking at the big picture, it seems impossible, but I started implementing a technique I personally use often and there has been much less drama and a lot more confidence in their own cleaning skills around here.

If you map out your day from the time you wake until the time you go to bed, you'll see that you do have periods of time {maybe even just minutes} where you're just wandering or sitting idle or waiting or doing nothing. Wasted time. I try to be conscious of those times and get short chores done. For instance, while the kids are brushing their teeth at night, I'll throw in a load of laundry to wash {otherwise I'd just be sitting and waiting on them}. Then, in the morning after my shower I'll go throw those clothes in the dryer real quick before I head downstairs to pack lunchboxes. Both chores took just a few minutes and saved me time. I didn't have to wait for the clothes to wash because I was well on my way to dreamland. In the morning, I didn't have to wait for them to dry because I put them in the dryer just before a busy time for me. By the time I'm ready to fold clothes, they will be dry.

{photo source}

Throughout the day, I take 15 minutes and go through one room and pick up anything out of place, hang up clothes, dust or whatever needs to be done. The time frame of 15 minutes is a challenge to me to get as much done as possible in that time frame. And believe it or not, you can get a lot done in 15 minutes!! I do this same thing when I get a phone call from my mom or sister. Otherwise, I'd just be sitting there talking when my hands could be working. It's really quite effective.
So, I decided to teach this to my kids. Since they are mainly responsible for their own rooms, I give them 5 minutes on the timer and have them run through their rooms picking up toys, putting clothes in the laudry, hanging up clean clothes, etc. They typically come out with a sense of accomplishment and pride in how their room now looks. This can be expanded as they get older, but for now 5 minutes at a time is a good fit for us. So, next time they say, "I'm bored!" they'll be sent to their rooms with the timer.
What 'tricks' do you use to get your kids cleaning?

Sharing this with some of these friends.

Thanks for stopping by!