The number one excuse for not doing something is that you probably should be is "I don't have time." Beauty Facile is about helping you improve your life, not just your beauty regimen. So let's make some time for the fun stuff in life. "Too busy" is overrated. I'm going to provide you with some tips for time management.
I have been coaching and training time management skills for many years in my professional career so I have a few tricks you can use without too much hassle or creating a full scale development plan.
A few things to keep in mind about the information I'm going to present in this post:
1. Not all of the tips will work for you so pick something that's suitable for your lifestyle.
2. Time management is a skill and will only improve with practice and can be learned by anyone.
3. Recognize your own skill level so that you don't incorporate actions that may be too easy or too difficult. You have to pick the "tips" that are easy enough to start but still require a small level of conscious effort.
4. Always reward yourself with time for yourself to keep it fun and positive.
5. Don't be too hard on yourself - try to have fun with this.
Alright here it is:
Track Productivity:
The goal is to get an idea of what you do through your week and how much time is spent on each activity. Create self awareness.
Write down everything at the end of the night if you can't through the day but be honest.
Or you can simple make a code list. Red - House Chores, Orange - Work, Green - Free Time, Purple - Family Time, Pink - Transition Time ( traveling, errands, moving from one activity to another), etc
Develop your own. I just like colour coding. This way you can just track Colours through the day without explaining activities.
Once you have atleast a weeks worth of data. Highlight the following:
Where was too much time spent on any non productive activities (watching tv, talking on the phone or texting)
Where was too much time spent on productive activities? Did you spend way too much time creating that report at work when you could've shaved off 10 minutes if you focused? Did you spend and extra hour cleaning when you could have broken it down over the week?
Was it worth your time to run out to the store to get that bag of chips? Are you washing dishes 10 times a day instead of 3-4? (This wastes time and water btw)
Think your actions through. Find patterns.
Just being aware of your time will automatically trigger better decisions and better time allotment. You will literally find the time in your agenda that could be dedicated to doing something you really love like reading this blog or working out.
Intelligent Sorting
Make a list of all the things you have to do for the day and one for the week. Look at them together and ask yourself the following questions:
Are all the tasks in the daily column need to be there?
Do all the tasks in the weekly column belong there?
Make a list of all the things you have to do for the day and one for the week. Look at them together and ask yourself the following questions:
Are all the tasks in the daily column need to be there?
Do all the tasks in the weekly column belong there?
For example:
"Mopping floors" should be a task that falls in to your weekly column. If you plan for it every day and you can't make it happen, you will burden yourself with disappointment. Just make it happen 2-3 times a week in regular intervals and maintain.
"Read a Book" should not be in the weekly column but rather the daily column. Chances are tasks that require a lot of time should be broken in to small daily tasks.
"Pay Bills" should be in your weekly tasks and you should schedule it out because it's important.
Always take priority tasks and schedule them out that way you don't forget and you can plan your day/week around them.
Don't list things like "do the dishes, finish report, bathe, eat" You know these tasks are a part of your routine so no need to write them out. Only write out tasks that will require additional time and you really want to focus on completing them.
Put your revised lists up on your fridge, office space etc. Check items off as you complete them. If you miss something, jot down why in a couple of words so you can look for patterns later. Maybe you always miss the things you hate doing like ironing *ahem*
After a few weeks of this exercise, you will probably stop creating lists because you know exactly what needs to be done and when is the best time.
Always take priority tasks and schedule them out that way you don't forget and you can plan your day/week around them.
Don't list things like "do the dishes, finish report, bathe, eat" You know these tasks are a part of your routine so no need to write them out. Only write out tasks that will require additional time and you really want to focus on completing them.
Put your revised lists up on your fridge, office space etc. Check items off as you complete them. If you miss something, jot down why in a couple of words so you can look for patterns later. Maybe you always miss the things you hate doing like ironing *ahem*
After a few weeks of this exercise, you will probably stop creating lists because you know exactly what needs to be done and when is the best time.
The goal is to ensure that you are spending the right amount of time on the right tasks and to sharpen those skills.
Prioritize:
Write all the tasks that you have a hard time completing or the tasks you would like to incorporate in your daily/weekly routine. Number in order of priority. Once you have everything sorted from highest priority to lowest priority, write down how long you think it will take you to complete these tasks (limit to weekly tasks). Start completing the tasks in that order and write down exactly how long that task took from start to finish. You will be surprised when you compare the time you thought it would take and the time it actually took to complete an activity. Maybe your priorities will change.
The goal is to get a good idea of what your capable of doing in a given time.
These are some very basic things to do. There are other more complex activities that can be completed to really hone this skill. Maybe another post...we shall see.
Additional Tips:
- Wake up an hour earlier. More time!
- Prepare for your next day ahead of time (I cut my veggies, set up my bills, pack lunches, pick out outfits etc. the night before to ensure that the next day runs smoothly)
- Take time to think about your day and reflect on how you spent it. Take time to reflect how you can change things tomorrow. (Even if you don't follow through with your plans, its important to reflect and change them to make them easier to accomplish)
- Create a sense of mental urgency. Pretend that if you don't finish this blog in the next 20 minutes, your toddler will wake up and then you will have to abandon the entire post for another week ...NoOoOo!
Let me know what you tried and what worked. Organizing your life can be fun. It's an excuse to go buy some new and cool stationery. I'm a nerd... I know.
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