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It does not usually take someone very long after meeting me to find out that I run my own home business. Another thing that most people find out about me pretty quickly is that I am a single
mother with four children. This usually impresses people greatly. In time, some will discover that I still work part time out of the home to help pay the bills while
my business gets off the ground. This is a surprise to them since it is in addition to the kids and the business. If someone gets to know me long enough they also find out that I help take care of my handicapped mother.
The combination of all of these amazes them.
It took me a lot of chaos and frustration to reach this conclusion of course, but I had no choice. I have to schedule everything. For instance, I schedule:
- Kids bath
- Time to Leave
- Go to bed and sleep - Yes I have to tell myself to sleep ;)
- Eat - And tell myself to eat :)
I even schedule little questions to myself at random times like:
- Have you taken a drive lately? Why not do it now, you need a change of pace!
- Hey have you stopped and paid full attention to each of the kids today?
- Have you hugged someone special without distraction?
- When was the last time you moved away from this computer?
You get the picture ;) Scheduling is not easy. Sometimes you get so busy that you can forget to write things down. For me, I got so busy that I was totally lost. When I officially started my business, I decided
that lost would be very unprofessional. What is the best way to keep track of things to do?
This is a common question, and the answer is not simple.
- Some people prefer to have a hard copy of their schedule, they want to write it down and see it in black and white. If this is you then you need a standard paper planner. There are various styles out there so
you will need to experiment with what works for you.
- The world of computers has taken hold of most of us. There are plenty of computer based planners out there that can do almost everything: monitor your calls, page you with reminders, warn you of scheduling
conflicts and so on.
I prefer the computer-based planners because I have to have an alarm pop up into my face to remind me of things. I can snooze the alarm, reschedule, connect the event with a person and so on. I can also print out my
schedule to carry with me when I need to. I have played with many different programs to find out what all they have to offer. Ok I'll admit it, I have a weakness for PIM's (Personal Information Managers) so I like to
try new ones when I find them ;) My two favorites: Goldmine: http://www.goldminesw.com and Sidekick: http://www.starfish.com There is too much to do! Where do I start?
- Prioritize.
What is most important? Who is most important? Can something be listed as tentative, put off for awhile, delegated to someone else, or not done at all?
- Start with a list of the most important things.
For instance: Kids and Clients. If I have a job to do for a client, that gets priority scheduling. If the kids have something special going on at school then that also gets priority scheduling. These things get done first and on time.
- Break the lists down.
The kids want me to make Frybread for supper, that takes awhile to do. I will make a note of it and maybe even schedule a block of time for doing it, but I will mark it tentative. This gets done if I have the energy and nothing else comes in that has to take priority. I do make sure to make things such as this a priority occasionally since keeping my kids happy is one of my biggest priorities.
- Rate it
. If my mother needs shopping done, I will evaluate what she says she needs, and rate it as to how important it is. She is a diabetic, if she wants a snack just because but I know that she has food in
the house, then this will get lower priority depending on what else I have pending.
- Can someone else do it?
Answer honestly then delegate the task to someone else!
- Do I really need to do this?
Many things in our life tend to not need doing. Women especially have a hard time saying, "no," or, "I'm not going to do this." We need to realistically ask if it has to be done and is it important to us. If the answers are no then toss it out.
- Make time for you and schedule it.
If you do not schedule your fun times then you may never get them. These are critical for keeping hold of your sanity sometimes. I schedule design time, new project time, writing time, work on web page time, driving time, movie time, hiking time and so on. These are not usually listed as highest priority unless they are greatly needed. I can rearrange the time for them, snooze it a bit, make it tentative and so on, but I have a reminder that says, "Hey, you are important too."
- Be sure to use the schedular you choose
. My schedule book is the one program on my computer that runs almost 24 hours a day. I consistently refer to it. Sometimes a pop up alarm is annoying if I am involved
in something else or just being lazy, but I set it for a reason and I have it flashing in front of me for a reason too.
- Schedule important things immediately
. This helps you to not forget about it in between the time it came up and the time you thought you would schedule it. Can you imagine a client asking you to have a job
done on X date and time then forgetting all about it? I also try to schedule my day the night before. On Sunday night I will sit down and enter things into the program that I need to do on Monday. This way I
start my day with a purpose. I am ready to tackle the day instead of feeling like I'm behind from the start.
Scheduling will vary for different people. The important thing is, do what is right for you and stick with it! :) It can sound like a lot of extra work, but believe me it is a fantastic way to keep control over
your life. I hope this has helped someone out there, and if anyone has tips and tricks on what works in time management for them, please share with the rest of us! :) About The Author:
Kathy Burns is the single mother of four children and the Self Published Author of, "Sir Gawain and The Green Knight - A Child's
Tale" and "So You Want To Start A Home Based Business?" as well as various articles and poems. Kathy has been writing and editing for over 15 years, and started a home based business ealier this year.
Mailto:sase@kincyb.com |
