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I’m getting the distinct feeling that flying by the seat of my pants is not good working practice, especially as I have a 9 month and 2.5 year old as ‘wing mates’ on the journey. A couple of months ago, I found out that my childminder has to take a month off due to an op. I talked about making plans…and then I made some plans but after almost a week of them both being home, it’s becoming apparent that I need to ride my own backside like Zorro if I actually want to get anything done over the next few weeks.
Be Routine & Have a Schedule
You’d think this would be obvious but really, it’s the type of thing you talk about and then wonder why it’s not happening. The best days are fun but with routine. The worst are when I lose my grip on the day and best laid plans come down like a house of cards.
If you want some uninterrupted time (aside from naps), it may be an idea to consider getting up an hour earlier. But if you’re getting up early don’t work/go to bed late, as you’ll be knackered all day and/or you’ll struggle to be effective when you are working. I’ve learned the hard way for ‘nightworking’ – get both of them in bed by 7 and cook dinner beforehand so that you can get straight down to work and get to bed at a reasonable hour.
Be rigorous with time and tempting as it may be to hang on Facebook, Twitter etc, limit yourself and make it productive, otherwise you’re throwing away the very time you’re saying you don’t have.
I’m using Let’s Freckle to time myself (see my recent post on it) – very effective for seeing how much time you waste…
Trying to work for the entire day whilst trying to entertain and take care of the kids, whilst also doing chores…will probably bring you to your knees. You are not superwoman!
Print out a day planner – you can print one from Google Calendar for instance. I’ve known that there are only 24 hours in a day since I was a child, and yet as a mother, I try to feed the five thousand with my time. Work out what your day is likely to be like – when the kids sleep, key things that you have to do (such as go to the Post Office for instance, publish articles, respond to clients) and work out when you can do these things and what can be automated, scheduled ahead etc – I’ve realised a lot of things aren’t as time sensitive as I’d led myself to believe….
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This is so true. Well done for advice. Mine are older, but they still need Mummy time, and I’m currently not being as planned as I should be. Must remember my Themeword – FOCUS! Not on me, but them! Happy juggling!
Reading this and sobbing. I WILL TAKE YOUR ADVICE and have a schedule try out next week