Remember "Tell Your Time?" Well, its free...

 During the month of October, when I posted a mini-series on time management, I talked muchly about the eBook, Tell Your Time by Amy Lynn Andrews. (You can read the whole series, called "It's About Time!" by clicking here.) This eBook made a huge impact in the way I look at time management and the steps I take to improve in this area!

Well, Amy has so kindly informed me of a few exciting bits of news, so that I can pass them on to you.


The ebook, Tell Your Time, will be available for F.R.E.E. on Amazon on Cyber Monday and Tuesday. (November 26th & 27th) So if you didn't already grab up this fantastic eBook (shame on you! and) now you can get it for free.

The other news is that Amy has something fun and special planned for January to help us all get organized together. And it involves this book. So grab it while the getting is good! You'll want to keep your eyes peeled (not literally) for this organizational challenge, and I'll be sure to keep you posted! What better time than right at the beginning of a new year to set some organizing goals and start 2013 off on the right foot! Be honest, you are probably setting some resolutions along that line anyway. :)

So write Monday and Tuesday in on your calendars as the day to get a priceless eBook for free. I'll be sure to remind you (watch my Facebook page!) so that you don't miss this great opportunity!

Note: this post contains affiliate links. I will receive a small commission for the products purchased through these links, which helps support this site.

It's About Time! Part 5

So far in our series on Time Management we’ve talked about the first step to take, setting priorities and goals and how to set a manageable schedule, and things that rob us of our time.

We’ve skimmed over a lot of thoughts in this mini-series. Today I’d like to wrap it all up with some random final thoughts to help us on our journey.

1. Don’t put things down, put them away. Ten minutes a day spent looking for lost or misplaced items adds up to over 60 hours a year. Think of all that could be done in 60 hours! Break your procrastination habits in this and other areas: instead of thinking, “I’ll do that later,” stop and do it now!

MaryEllen over at Imperfect Homemaker is on a year-long anti-procrastination journey. She has some great thoughts as to why we procrastinate and what can be done to stop that habit!

2. Set goals, then tell others about your goals so that you’ll be motivated and held accountable. You know I set weekly and monthly goals, which I was inspired to do after reading Crystal’s weekly goals over at Money Saving Mom. Every week, I read others goal in a linky party that is encouraging to us all to get them done!

Amy says in her book, “Any significant change in our life will require patience and sacrifice.” And, might I add, goals - a vision of where we want to be!

3. Time management involves breaking bad habits and developing good ones. It also goes hand in hand with self-discipline. In fact, I am amazed how Crystal’s new book, “21 Days to a More Disciplined Life” ties hand-in-hand with this study on Time Management. Because really, you can know exactly how to manage you time wisely and use each moment to its fullest, but if you lack the self discipline to actually do it, what good is it? As Crystal says, I am the problem, but I am also the only solution.

Beginning tomorrow, November 1st, several gals over at Serving Joyfully are beginning the 21 Days to a More Disciplined Life book and challenging us to do the same. Read about it here...I’d encourage you to join in! This will be a great opportunity for some accountability and encouragement as you work through this fantastic book.

4. Take advantage of small blocks of time...sitting at red lights, waiting for supper to cook, etc. For instance…

    In 5 minutes, you can schedule an appointment, water houseplants, clean one drawer, dust on piece of furniture or the dash of your vehicle, change a diaper, take out the trash, make out your weekly goals list, or write a short note.

    In 10 minutes, you can send a birthday card, organize your desk or a drawer, do a short round of exercises, take freezer or pantry inventory, make out a shopping list, or make a phone call. (Provided you aren’t calling your best friend...that might take longer than 10 minutes. :)

    In 30 minutes, you can sort mail, skim through a magazine, work on a project, catch up on emails or facebook, vacuum and dust one room, or even prep one dish for the freezer.

Be thinking ahead of these small blocks of time you may have, and determine what you will do to fill them!

Checklist for Getting More Done

By Mrs. Joyce Comfort

Always work with a to-do list

Assign priorities and work accordingly

Plan every day before you get into action

Delegate whenever possible

Try to work by time blocks

Avoid or control interruptions

Avoid over-commitment by learning to say, “no.”

Divide big tasks into small segments

Do not be afraid to ask for help

Set up reminder systems

Some books I’d recommend (and have reviewed for this series):


Tell Your Time by Amy Lynn Andrews
Life Management for Busy Women by Elizabeth George
Emilie Barnes’ 15 Minute House and Budget Manager...by Emilie Barnes :)
The brand new 21 Days to a More Disciplined Life by Crystal Paine


***Note: post contains affiliate links. If you purchase these items using my link, I am given a small compensation, which helps support this blog.

It's About Time! Part 4

So far in our series on Time Management we’ve talked about the first step to take, setting priorities and goals and how to set a manageable schedule. Today lets talk about the things that seemingly rob us of our time.


There are time takers, and there are time wasters.

Two different things.

First, lets talk about the time takers.

A trip to the grocery store is a time taker, for sure. Depending on your circumstances, it could take a whole lotta time. We are blessed to be able to do all our shopping just 15 minutes away. (We don’t have a lot of things to choose from here, which is wonderful, but thats for another time) So we can feasibly do our shopping without taking up too much time. I know of others, however, that have to drive an hour to get to Walmart, so every situation is different.

Putting the baby to sleep is a time taker. Trust me. Just this morning I spent a good 45 minutes rocking him and trying to get him back to sleep. I had planned to blog during that time, but Judah is more important than this blog, sorry y’all. :) So that took time...but it was a necessary time taker.

Now lets talk about time wasters. There could be a zillion and one of these, each a little different for each of us, but here are a few quick ones that come to mind…

Disorganization

Laziness

Disorganization

Distractions

Over commitment

Not choosing to delegate

Perfectionism

Doing the wrong task for the moment

And dare I mention TV, blogging, P***terest, etc? Nope, I don’t dare.

Can you see the difference between time takers and time wasters? We all have some of both in our lives…’cause if we didn’t have any time takers, our lives would be pretty boring, ya know?

But here is the key….

Make time for the time takers. Refuse to take time for the time wasters.

Did you catch that? Schedule in your time takers. That is vital. We talked last week about scheduling out our days so that we effectively use the 24 hours God has given us. Part of that schedule must include the time takers. Will you spend a half hour changing diapers this morning? Schedule it in!! How glamourous will that look printed on your schedule? :) If you make time for all the necessary things, they won’t get pushed out of your day, and you will be able to estimate how much time you have to work on the not-as-necessary things.

But the time wasters. Leave those out of your schedule, or better yet, turn them into time takers instead! Is disorganization your time waster? Do you spend precious minutes or hours looking for things or moving piles of junk around to get to your washing machine? Schedule in time to work on getting organized...and now, instead of being a time waster, you’ve turned it into a productive time taker! Eventually, once the thing is organized, that time will be able to be used in some other endeavor.

I mentioned that TV, Pinterest, etc. can be time wasters. I’m not saying you can’t ever do those things. Instead, turn them into planned-for time takers! Pinterest is a great tool to learn new things and find ways to benefit your life and home. That is time well spent...but set a goal. Say you can fit in 20 minutes a day on Pinterest. So schedule that in! Now it is just another part of your schedule. Just don’t go over those 20 minutes, and it won’t become a time waster.

Here are some ways to avoid time wasting traps:

Learn to delegate

Set goals

Have a running to-do list

Do the best things first

Learn to say “no”

Ask for help

Learn to use a planning binder or day planner (in a way that benefits you, not hinders you!)

Next week, we’ll wrap up this mini series with some final thoughts about time management. In the meantime, I’d love to hear from you...how are you doing with your time management? Any lightbulb moments you’d like to share with us? How do you handle the seeming time wasters that come into your life?

Some books I’d recommend:

Tell Your Time by Amy Lynn Andrews
Life Management for Busy Women by Elizabeth George
Emilie Barnes’ 15 Minute House and Budget Manager...by Emilie Barnes :)
The brand new 21 Days to a More Disciplined Life by Crystal Paine (which is on sale through tomorrow for only $0.99!!!)


***Note: post contains affiliate links

It's About Time! Part 3

So far in our series on Time Management we’ve talked about the first step to take and setting priorities and goals. Today, lets get in the nuts and bolts topic of actually scheduling and managing our days!

With our list of priorities in hand, we’re making a plan of action for the day, based on what needs to be done. Remember, we have 24 hours...no more and no less!

Make time for the most important things first. Eating, grooming, sleep...these things and others are essential for you and your family every day. Don’t take time from these vital things in order to accomplish the non-essentials. Remember the priorities?

Even the basics may look different for everyone. For me, the essentials looks something like this: Sleeping, showering, grooming, eating, room cleaned, dishes washed, and of course a daily coffee. :) But the list might have some variations for you. For instance, you may have a person in your home with health needs. Part of your essentials list will include administering meds or something similar for that person. Schedule in each and every essential, and then you won’t be left wondering where the time went!

A side note; You might be saying, “A schedule isn’t practical for me. Every day is different and unexpected!” I believe everyone can have some semblance of scheduling, so hang in there with me, ok? We’re going to talk about variations to the schedule more next week.

Once you’ve prepared for the essentials in your 24 hour time slot, its time to take the time that is left and decide how best to use it. Remember how last week we took our goals list and gave everything a number? This is where the #2’s would come in!

In the eBook Tell Your Time, Amy has a great system for delegating your time slots and filling them appropriately, with the most needful things. I would highly encourage you to head over to her site and get her book for this next step. I personally will be filling out her “grid” this week and determining how to best use my time with her method, but I can’t write the whole thing out for you here, because it is her book. :) It is only a $5 eBook...but worth so much more if you apply the principles and glean from her wisdom in this area.

Regardless of whether you get the book or not, you must determine how to best fill your time with the #2’s and #3’s from your list of goals. Is there something that isn’t vital (such as eating) but is a responsibility you have (like the promise you made to volunteer for a certain event)? Plan for that time so it doesn’t catch you by surprise!

As you begin to schedule out time for each activity, slowly your 24 hours are going to diminish or be depleted completely. It will start to look something like this;

Start: 24 hours

8 hours for sleeping
3 hours a day for cooking/eating/clean up
1 hour for self care
1 hour for personal devotions
1 hour a day cleaning

After these essentials, we are down to 10 hours in a day. Lets add the #2’s on our goals list:

3 hours volunteering at a local nursing home
2 hours of blogging/online/social media
1 hour of reading
½ hour of exercise
2 hours of sewing/work

Finish: 1 ½ hours, which is a great cushion in case something unexpected comes up!

This is just an example of how my days might be meted out, with ballpark figures. And every day might need to be different. But it gives me an idea of how I need to distribute my time throughout the day in order to not put any more on my plate than I have time for.

Your tasks will be different. Your numbers will be different. But following this basic principle of filling out 24 hours, no more and no less, will help you to not become overwhelmed by what isn’t getting done. Adapt it to fit your needs, and see if it doesn’t help you on your time management journey!

Some books I’d recommend:

Tell Your Time by Amy Lynn Andrews
Life Management for Busy Women by Elizabeth George
Emilie Barnes’ 15 Minute House and Budget Manager...by Emilie Barnes :)

Do you already schedule out  your days? Or have you tried it before? I'd love to hear what did and didn't work for you!


***Note: post contains affiliate links

Its About Time! part 2

 
Last week we talked about the very first step in this time management journey - allowing God to show us which things should be filling our time. This week, lets talk about actually managing those things! Here are some proactive steps to take today to become a better time manager:

1. Set Goals

I’ve talked about goals before (and you know I set weekly and monthly goals) so this should be a no-brainer. It is so important to know where you are going with what you are busy doing. You cannot manage your precious blocks or time, or even minutes, unless you have a purpose and know what is important to you.

It takes time to think and pray over long-term goals. But you can start with just daily or weekly goals in the meantime. Before we can meter out our 24 hours in a day, we need to ask ourselves, What do I need/want to accomplish today?

2. Make Manageable Chunks

With your Goals in hand, it is time to break them down to what actually needs to happen today. Each month, evaluate your long-term goals, and set specific things that can happen over the course of the month. Each week, set weekly goals based on the monthly ones. This gives you a not-so-overwhelming task list to refer to each day, and set daily tasks accordingly.

Imagine the headache if you were to try and find time to do each thing on your long-term goals list every day. Talk about a headache! By having a small, manageable chunk of tasks, reaching the ultimate goal does not seem so taxing.

If you have gone through this process and still feel overwhelmed, perhaps there is something you need to say no to. Is there anything on your list that is unnecessary? Anything that you can consolidate, delegate, or eliminate? Find a way to pare that list down until you feel confident enough to tackle it!

3. Determine your Priorities

What is most important from your list? There are several ways of determining the priorities on your to-do list. My suggestion is to give each one a number, with the most important things getting a “1” and the least important getting a “3”. Then tackle those number 1’s first! Profound, eh?

Have you read Amy Lynn Andrew’s book, Tell Your Time? It is a brief eBook with some of the most concise, pointed time management advice around! Amy gives a great process for making a schedule and sticking with it. Here is a great reminder from her eBook:

She gives an easy system to set a plan in place and manage those 24 hours wisely. But obviously, I can’t rewrite her book in this post. :) You’ll have to pick one up for yourself!

4. Take action!

We’ll talk more about those 24 hours and how to manage them wisely next time. But for now, take action! If you’ve followed the steps outlined today, you should now have goals to accomplish today. So start them! Don’t put it off...anyone can start with something!

Some books I’d recommend:

Tell Your Time by Amy Lynn Andrews
Life Management for Busy Women by Elizabeth George
Emilie Barnes’ 15 Minute House and Budget Manager...by Emilie Barnes :)

 What are your thoughts about goal-setting? How does it work for you? What changes do you need to make to help yourself out in your time management?


***Note: post contains affiliate links

It's About Time! Part 1

I’ve been thinking and reading about time management, and decided to put my thoughts out there in bloggy land for you all. Welcome to...

Every Wednesday during the month of October I’ll be touching on this subject, setting specific goals for myself, and encouraging you to join in with me! Of course, I picked the month with 5 Wednesdays...convenient, aren’t I? :)

Consider this quote*:

Time management sometimes seems like a far off dream, an aura of perfectness that I can’t ever achieve. It is easy to look at others who seem to do so much, and think, If I could only learn to fit that much into my schedule, then I will have achieved the coveted award of time management.

It doesn’t really work that way. If I did achieve that much, there would always be someone doing more...and I still would not feel like I accomplished anything. As the above quote points out, it is not just being able to fit more things into a day, but doing the things that God intends for me to do in a day.

Jeremiah 10:23 says,

If it is not man’s responsibility to direct his steps, then whose is it? God’s, of course! He wants to direct our steps, and He will if we allow it!

This doesn’t mean we can’t plan, prepare and set goals. We were not placed here on earth to flounder and guess our way through life. No, God intends for us to go through this life with purpose, understanding that ultimately it is His purpose and plan that we are following.

After reading Jeremiah 10:23, I took a step back and looked at the things that make up my days right now. Am I accomplishing God’s purpose in these activities? Or am I pushing my own agenda? How am I to know?

By asking.

I made a list of the things that, to me, are an important part of my days right now. I wrote down Jeremiah 10:23 along with this list, and stuck it on my daily prayer list. Now every day I pray that the Lord will direct my steps in each of these specific areas.

The things on my list are so simple that I’m almost hesitant to share them with you. It is not big stuff. I’m not contemplating some major life decision. It is just every day things that I was taking for granted was my calling at this moment. I’m not even looking to change any of these things, but I do want God’s best purpose to be worked through them and me!

My list includes blogging. I love blogging. But am I letting the Lord direct my steps in this area? I travel on Sundays to play the piano for a small church 45 minutes away. I absolutely love it...but I realize it can’t last forever that way. Eventually something will change. Am I allowing the Lord to direct those changes when the time comes? Right now I teach my siblings piano (and need all the prayers I can get! :) but I can’t teach publicly in Canada yet. Am I allowing the Lord to work out those details, and help me be faithful over the few I am teaching right now?

I believe very firmly that this is the first step to time management...allowing the Lord to show us what things we are to be filling our time with! I pray that you will take time this week to establish this principle in your own life.

I'd love for you to leave a comment with your thoughts on this matter! Do you struggle with Time Management? What areas would you like to see covered in this series?


*Emilie Barnes’ 15 Minute House and Budget Manager, pg. 179