Those who have young children and work hard often hear a frequently asked question: How can you handle everything?
One tip is time management. Knowing how to use time in a more organized way makes life more practical and easy, no matter how large the number of tasks.
Dr. Magdalena Battles, Master in Child Psychology, shares some tips with other parents so they can get more quality time with their family in the long run.
1. Establish a hierarchy of importance.
What's more important to you? What is your priority? You need to determine what you value most in life in order to filter obligations through your personal lens that shows what is important to you and your family. Evaluate which activities align with your values and whether this will move you away from any other activity that is a must. When do you say yes? the one thing, are you saying? no? the other because you can't do everything. So you must first decide what your priorities are, then know what things you mean? Yes? or refuse. If you say yes? At every opportunity that comes your way, you will be overwhelmed with an overly busy schedule.
2. Don't Overwork Your Children's Agenda
Many children are involved in many extra curricular activities. If you value your family and want your children to develop strong family ties with each other, it is difficult to do so when they have a different activity each day of the week. Don't have things checked every day. Doing so will lose the family time at home and the downtime everyone needs. Allow days with no activity. Take the time to play board games, snack or dine together, or just talk about life. Parents and children need downtime.
Read also: GTD method of organization promises to make your life more practical
3. Keep an organized home
Your home does not need to be perfectly organized. Is not nobody got time for that. However, if you have an organized home, you will find that life gets much smoother. Have fixed places so everyone can know where things are. Teach the children that it is their responsibility to put back the items they have taken. When you spend time searching for something you need, it can be extremely frustrating, and you are late, which changes the mood for the whole day. So, have a plan, choose a place for everything to be placed every day. And when you use each item, put it back in the same place. Keeping a home organized is a great skill for teaching children. It takes practice, but don't give up.
4. Give up on being perfect
Many parents put a lot of pressure on themselves and their children to live up to a certain standard. It's good to have standards, but if being perfect is the goal, give up. Trying to be perfect takes a long time and takes a lot of energy. Sometimes doing the job correctly is all that is required. Most of the time you are the only person who will notice the difference.
5. Learn to delegate
One of the biggest wastes of time is trying to do everything. We need to delegate. Children can receive household chores at an early age, according to their age. Make the beds, store the toys, clean the floor, are some examples. They are able to use a smartphone, do you think they would not be able to organize a toy room? Make clear what duties are expected of each family member. This makes life easier and gives you more time to do anything, including staying with the little ones. In addition, it will be investing for your children to become better and more self-sufficient human beings.
6. Create routines
Routines are the life force of the home. A regular and consistent daily schedule makes the home work smoother and more efficiently. Creating home routines helps the whole family manage time expectations. See what works best for your style, your duties, and all of your family's chores, and do something that helps you do everything you need without haste.
7. Take a break from gourmet meals
Testing different recipes is great and makes dining special and enjoyable. But the basics are often enough, so why waste time, energy and money creating new things? Opt for quick and easy meals, especially when you are with children. Sit together at the table and enjoy the time.
Read also: Meet the bullet journal, a useful and cute tool for organizing your day
8. Be honest with your time.
When you are sitting in a doctor's office waiting for your appointment, how are you spending this time? Are you reading the latest gossip magazine or doing some work while you wait? If you do the work, you are winning! Use this time to answer emails, update the to-do list? Watch how much time you spend on social networks or other unimportant things and be honest with yourself. If you put limits on your kids about using technology, why not do the same and optimize time during the day?
9. Keep to-do lists and a calendar
Make the lists and take them with you. Things in life are often not done simply because they are forgotten. Also bring a calendar so you can see the entire month and plan. All the while trying to remember what you planned for next week sucks up your energy. By organizing yourself, you free your mind for other things.
By prioritizing the organization and turning all these practices into routines, time will surely be optimized so that you will have more free time to devote to your children, to some other task, or even to do nothing and get some more rest.
Top Time Management Tips for Working Moms!! (March 2024)
- Children and adolescents
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