Posts Tagged: time management
Five Tips for Getting Things Done
Sometimes it can feel like you’re rushing around with such a huge to-do list you never actually accomplish anything. As a parent, that feeling is often magnified by having to manage everyone else’s to do lists as well! Here are five tips to help you get on the right track to actually getting things done:
Save Time, Save Money
Working from home mainly suits me very well. It became clear to me quickly that employment was not going to fit around our family life. Taking into account the cost of childcare for three children and commuting costs, most jobs available locally would have actually cost me money rather than earning it!
Balancing business and family at Christmas
The run up to Christmas can feel like a two-pronged attack on mumpreneurs. As we all know, businesses and families both experience their busiest times in the build-up to the festive season. Businesses find themselves hiring extra staff, constantly topping up the stock, or cranking up their marketing efforts as they seek a share of the holiday market. Parents start shopping for gifts, ordering food for the Christmas Day menu, and taking the kids ice-skating, or to see Santa. How are you meant to fit all this in within the next few weeks if you’re both a parent and a business owner?
School Holiday Manifesto
Are you looking forward to the summer holidays or dreading them? However you feel you can’t escape that they are now upon us. As we embark on the holidays I’m actually really looking forward to a break from the school run routine – but I know that a week or so in I may be longing for some structure and routine back in our lives!
However this year I will be reminding myself that, come September, my youngest will be starting preschool so I really am on the home straight in terms of reclaiming some me-time. But to help me, I’ve come up with my holiday manifesto – the things I publicly pledge to do over the next 6 weeks, to ensure we ALL have a harmonious and enjoyable holiday.
Time Management for Manic Mums – by Allison Mitchell
If the title didn’t grab your attention then the bright pink & orange colour scheme on the cover certainly would! Every mum I know would love to be given an extra hour in the day – either for all the things they haven’t done – or just for themselves. This book just may have the answer…..
One of my first thoughts was – if I was manic how would I find time to read this book? Well the answer comes in the Introduction where that very point is addressed; Allison offers several suggestions, including a technique to speed up your reading. The book has been organised to be read in a variety of ways, including sequentially with ‘homework tasks’, however it is also possible to dip in and out of the specific chapters that take you fancy.
Mum’s New Timetable
I currently find myself in the enviable position of having both my children at school, and having gone through a period of ‘mourning’ at losing my babies, the day is my own to fill as I wish. When I was a stay at home mum most days had a vague routine of naps and feeds interspersed with activities – staying in, going to groups, visiting friends and fitting in the shopping, washing, cleaning as and when I could. Now my day has a clearly defined structure; 9am – 3pm are child free hours – free from routine and demands, for me to fill as I wish!
How to be an Amazing Mum When You Just Don’t Have the Time by Tanith Carey
We recently posted a blog post, “From Mummy to Yummy in half the time!”, in which Tanith Carey, the author of “How to be an Amazing Mum…” shared some quick tips on how to look your best when the clock is ticking. Having read the whole of Tanith’s fabulous book of time-saving tips from cover to cover, we can now give you a few more reasons why this book may be just what you have been searching for to help you find a few more hours in each day!
It's OK to say No
“I’ve just got SO much to do!”…….sound familiar?
Saying no can be really hard….but sometimes you just need to.
I don’t know if you are anything like me, but I find it incredibly difficult to say no to people. There are several reasons for this; I am flattered to be asked, I enjoy helping other people, and finally I just struggle to find the words to say no, fearing I am going to upset somebody. The result of this is that I end up with too much to do in too little time, running around like a headless chicken, a seemingly endless list of ‘must do today’s’ and feeling resentful towards those who I am trying to help. This happens as much in my personal life as when dealing with work and that can end up compromising time with my family not to mention any valuable ‘me’ time disappearing!