Learning to successfully plan your time and follow the plan is the most important key to structuring our lfie. But many people resist the idea of tracking their time. Maybe it seems like just "another thing to do" in an already harried schedule. I urge people who feel this way to try this system for one month. I tell them that if it doesn't work, pitch it. Most people I have worked with are willing to make the one-month commitment, and over 90 percent continue to use the system.
Let's get started with your own system to take control of your life and your time. As you glance through this section, you might be tempted to skip a step or two. I caution you that this is like a recipe. Skipping one step is the equivalent of leaving out an ingredient. For maximum success use all the ingredients.
Step One: Take stock of how you currently use your time.
Perhaps the most tedious of all the steps is to figure out exactly where your time is currently going. The balance wheel provided an overview of where you are. If possible, try to get even more specific. Many time management experts suggest carrying a planner and writing down everything you do for a week in fifteen-minute increments. I personally wouldn't recommend it because I could never find the time to do it, and each time I tried, I lasted about an hour. What worked for me was to divide a piece of paper into the following increments: Before Work, Morning at Work, Lunch Hour, Afternoon at Work, Evening with Samantha, After Samantha goes to Bed. In each square I wrote a few brief notes as to how I spent this time. I was able to maintain this method for the full week to get an accurate inventory of how I spent my time. Whatever method works for you is great; just try to gather some sort of weekly summary.
Step Two: Evaluate your week, simplify expectations and identify common time wasters. Recording a week's worth of activity can be an eye opener for many. In the hustle and bustle of life we often overlook how much time slips away that could be better utilized. As you look at your week, ask yourself the following:
How much time is spent spinning your wheels? Could positive planning help free up this time?
How many times do you make the same trip twice? (i.e. running errands in the same area of town, going to the store more than once.) How much time could positive planning free up if these trips were consolidated?
How much time is spent doing extra-commitments? (Helping church, school, friends or organizations.) If you budgeted a comfortable amount of time each week to others, but made a promise not to exceed it, would that help balance your life?
Do you really have to do everything? What on your list could be delegated or become a shared responsibility? Are there any items kids could help with? Could you pay a baby sitter a little extra to help clean or grocery shop? Could you start a car pool with other single parents to eliminate the constant demand of driving?
Do you have to do everything so often? If you are cleaning your home once a week, top to bottom, could that be done once a month and spot cleaning be done weekly? If your time is being devoured by items that are low or nonexistent on your balance wheel, consider deleting or simplifying those tasks. Could you go to the grocery store monthly for the bulk of your food and just drop in weekly for perishables? If financial considerations prevent monthly trips to the grocery store, consider making this a goal to work toward.
What areas are simply getting too much time? Are the mornings devoted to too much dawdling and not enough doing? Are phone calls taking away from work time or family time?
What about you? Often the first thing to be eliminated from a schedule is time for one's self. How much time did you devote to yourself last week -- without children? Did you take a walk alone? Relax for a while in peace and quiet? If you know that you aren't making time for adequate rejuvenation, sleep, exercise, diet or other self-maintenance, make this a starred priority. You need energy and self-care in order to nurture your children. Try and block out at least two hours a week for time that is completely devoted to you. The energy that you collect from two hours of focused time will easily recover those hours and more.
Step Three: Make an inventory of responsibilities and goals.
As you went through Step Two, you most likely pinpointed where your time is escaping and remedies for correcting it. You also probably figured out what tasks need to be done and what is done more out of habit than need. Step Three involves listing out all your responsibilities and goals. Once we have them all on the table, we can begin to insert them into your life management system.
On a fresh sheet of notepaper list all the responsibilities you can think of. You may want to divide these into three columns -- personal, family and work. The weekly inventory from Step One offers a good starting point of responsibilities. Keep this list handy, since more responsibilities may occur to you throughout the upcoming days.
Here are some responsibilities that may be on your list:
Carpool Vacuuming
Education Yard Work
Volunteer Work Finances
Cooking Exercise
Pet Care Work
Grocery Shopping Helping at School
Sweeping & Mopping Laundry
Church/Temple (or Synagogue)
Step Four: Prioritize with the A, B, C method.
People have a tendency to create to-do lists and give each task equal billing. Most of the time, not everything needs to be done immediately. Listing everything together can create a false sense of urgency and unneeded stress. Try identifying each item with a priority tag as shown here.
A - For items that must be done out of prior commitment or because they are part of your goals, priorities or value system.
B - For items that you hope to get done if you can complete all of the A-Priority tasks.
C- For items that need to be done at some point.
Many people find that when starting to prioritize, they have mostly A's and few B or C items. Since many of us don't practice regular planning, this is quite common. After a few weeks of planning and maximizing your time, you should begin to see a better balance of A, B, and C items.
Once each item is prioritized, compare your list to your balance wheel. Are you heading in the direction you want your life to take? Many people find that just recording these items on paper leads toward a more balanced wheel. If it doesn't for you, look over the list again. Is there anything else you could change or do to take you one step closer to your balanced goal?
Step Five: Create a monthly plan.
A monthly plan is similar to a balance wheel in that it serves as an overview for where you are. Sketch in responsibilities and appointments on a monthly calendar.
As you write each item on your calendar, ask yourself--Does this coincide with the plan I have for my life? If not, why am I doing it? Sometimes these are items that we must do, but other times they might be things we do out of habit. For example, one woman, Cindy, reported that she cleaned her house thoroughly every Sunday and wished she could hire a maid. With her high devotion to cleaning, I asked her if this was a priority in her life. She replied that it wasn't.
After a few moments she said that her mother had always kept a very tidy house, and she felt that was part of her "expectations." Cindy switched from a thorough cleaning once a week to a monthly thorough cleaning and touch-ups on weekends. This created close to fourteen extra hours for her each month.
Step Six: Create a weekly plan.
The weekly plan sheet will serve as your primary tool for life management. I find that filling out a weekly plan sheet each Sunday afternoon or evening makes my weeks much more effective and helps to maximize each day. Here's how it works:
Each Sunday look at your responsibility list and your monthly calendar. Jot down any appointments or commitments on your weekly planner. Next, look at the time you have left and get out your balance wheel. Look at the ideal wheel you made earlier. Glance at your goals. Fill in the remaining spaces with those items. Your schedule might be so hectic that you only see a few 30-minute increments over the course of the week. Don't let them slip away!
Step Seven: Create a daily plan each night.
Each night before retiring, jot down a plan for the following day. I find that using the same increment schedule I mentioned for tracking time works best for me. I simply divide a piece of paper into morning responsibilities, afternoon responsibilities and evening responsibilities. Others report great success with a system documented by hours. Find a method that works for you and you'll see how the daily plan accomplishes several vital functions:
1. You don't have to "store" everything in your mind. You can jot it down, plan it and then let it go. This helps to alleviate stress.
2. You can eliminate spinning your wheels and wondering what to do next since you simply follow the plan.
3. It offers a sense of accomplishment as you mark off each item you have accomplished.
Note: On your daily list you may want to name your top three priorities for the day. These tasks should contain three things that no matter what would allow you to feel good about your day if you accomplished them.
Step Eight: Utilize to-do lists.
To-do lists offer a great release. I keep a spiral notebook in my purse at all times. I use this to jot down anything I think of that I need to do. At one point, I tried to have just a master list at home, but soon noticed that I never thought of anything that needed to be done until I was stuck in traffic, playing at the park or at some other location equally far from my pen and paper.
By jotting down these items as they occur to you, a person doesn't have to continually focus on them, be preoccupied or try to remember them.
Step Nine: Organize a time-management center.
You will need to have a time-management center to keep track of your progress and schedules. If you don't have a spare drawer, pick up an accordion file at your local office supply store. Stock your file with the following:
o Scratch paper or to-do list paper
o A monthly calendar
o Pencils/pens
o Weekly and daily calendars (Check into the many planners available today. There are several that can be customized to fit your needs. Or, if you have a computer, make your own forms, hole-punch them, and insert these papers into a three-ring binder. This allows you to customize your entire organizer.)
o A section to hold bills (folders that are three-hole-punched are excellent if you are using a three-ring binder)
o A section to hold important papers
o A section for receipts and other important items
o Stamps and different sized envelopes
o Note cards
o Frequently dialed numbers, doctor, etc.
o A list of immunizations for children or other important medical records
Step Ten: Evaluate your progress weekly or monthly.
Sit down with your balance wheel, goals and schedules on a regular basis. Make a new balance wheel based on what you have done over the last month or week. Are you getting closer to your goals? If so, continue on the same track. If not, double back and look for steps you may have skipped in the process.
