6 Simple Steps To An Effective Time management Strategy for Burned Out Moms
We feel like we have no time. It sucks and it’s overwhelming. The truth: we do have a ton of time actually.
The math:
24 hours x 7 days/week = 168 hours a week
Work=40-50 hours
Sleep=56 hours if you sleep 8 hours/night
Outside of work and sleep, we have 62 hours left per week!
62 hours of time each week to fill!
What?!
Our perception is skewed. People claiming they work a 75 hour work week were found to be off by about 25 hours. We have way more time than we think.
If that’s true, what do we do to maximize our time?
1. Find snippets of time
There’s a lot of power in small bits of time. We can answer a text or email in under a minute. We can spend 10 minutes a day reading which adds up to more than an hour a week. We can work out for 15 minutes daily which would be almost 2 hours of a work out a week. All better than nothing.
The book The Slight Edge highlights people’s daily small habits having a compound massive effect over time. We can put in what seems insignificant time into something and have a huge payoff in the end. For example, I am a person who exercises. Even if for 15 minutes when I don’t feel like it. Over time, this results in good health and being in decent shape. Over months you can increase your muscle mass with small steps on a daily basis.
We all want immediate satisfaction, but if we practice patience and put in bits of work, we will see the pay off in the long run.
2. Time is flexible
Time stretches to accommodate what we put into it.
In her book What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast: And Two Other Short Guides to Achieving More at Work and at Home, Laura Vanderkam gives an example of how a woman’s hot water heater breaking requires 7 hours of work in a week. Somehow, this person is able to find 7 extra hours to be home in order to get it fixed. So somehow, even though looking at her week, she believed she didn’t have that time, she was able to create it.
3. Use of priorities
Figure them out and focus on them. We must treat our priorities as the equivalent of that broken water heater. Every minute we spend is our CHOICE. We can decide to spend time in a way that reflects our values and priorities. I don't have time means it's not a priority.
Define your priorities
What 3-5 things could you do to make the year amazing?
Figure out what they are and create a plan with small actionable steps to get these things done. Prioritize them onto a calendar.
Examples of this:
At your job, figure out where you need to focus your energy and spend time on that. For physicians this could mean spending more time chatting with patients and less time on documentation.
For your personal relationships, make time on your schedule to meet up with those you love and care about. Perhaps an automatic weekly date night or monthly meet up with girlfriends would make sure you are spending your time the way you want.
4. Ways to free up your time by decreasing low value activities
Limit TV
Limit social media
Decrease errands, utilize online shopping, prime grocery, Instacart, automated systems
Outsource
5. Lower your standards
Life ❌ Instagram
We don’t need a picture-perfect home, especially with kids. Kids are messy!
Try focusing on creating one out of sight and mind messy area—for example, a basement filled with kids’ toys
6. Track your time
Keep track of your time in 15 minute increments for one whole week. Examine how you spend your time and figure out your time vortexes. Take those empty spaces and replace them with a higher value activity.
Try one of these tips as the year wraps up and see how your time magically expands.
If you want to dive deeper into transforming your life, reserve your seat to my free masterclass at noon EST on Thursday, Dec 16th on The 3 Secrets to Enjoying the Enjoying the Life You’ve Worked so Hard to Build:
👊🏼 Stop Sacrifice
👊🏼 Stop Exhaustion
👊🏼 Stop Burnout
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86110403516
If you're feeling bold, hop on a call with me for a free 30 min consultation to move past burnout and love your life again.
https://priancanaikmdcoaching.as.me/