There’s not many of us who haven’t wished for more hours in the day at one point or another but today I want to share a few simple ways to manage your time better so you won’t need any extra time to get everything done…..
- Create a to do list! Honestly this is the best thing you can do if you’re looking to improve your time management skills. I have a lovely A5 leather bound notebook that I treated myself to when I was planning to start bullet journaling but it actually just morphed into a to do list book. I probably write a to do list most days in some form as I always start my working day with a to do list and on my days off I usually write a blog/home to do list.
- An app like Wunderlist is amazing for to do lists on the go as you can set up multiple to do lists and tick things off as you go along. I use this more as a reminder nowadays as I prefer the old fashioned notebook approach but if you’re a fan of apps for this the this could be the one for you. If I think of something I need to do while I’m out and about then I’ll pop it in to the Wunderlist app and transfer it to my book when I get home.
- Once you’ve got your to-list written down in whatever format you prefer, you need to prioritise it. Sometimes I might get some of the smaller tasks boxed off first as I love to see my to-do list going down but once I’ve done that I’ll do the most important ones that absolutely need to be done.
- Resist the urge to open Facebook or Instagram while you’re getting on with your tasks as it’s so easily to get sucked in to them. Pinterest and YouTube are two other vortexes where you could get lost for hours and the wonder where the day has gone. You can always do what I do and ‘reward’ yourself with a bit of social media time after a set amount of tasks are ticked off your list.
- Use a calendar – whether it’s a traditional calendar on your kitchen wall, the calendar on your phone or a calendar like Google Calendar that you can share with your family. Whichever one you choose, the most important thing is that you use it. Ours has everything from work shifts to important dates for school and from appointments to after school clubs.
- I look at my calendar (I used Google calendar) and know that if I’m picking the kids up from somewhere then I’ll probably have a good 10-15 minutes sat waiting so I’ll leave checking my email until then. If I have to drop them off somewhere then I look on my to-do list and see if I need to do anything near to where I’m dropping them off – popping to the shop for something when I drop Master Frugal off at football for example.
- Print out a copy of my free daily life planner and spend some time on a night filling it in for the following day.
- I even have a weekly planner that you can print out to plan the week ahead.
- Learn to delegate tasks to free up some of your time. I have a chore chart on the side of our fridge that has several jobs each for the kids to do on a daily basis, nothing complicated but things that I would be spending time doing if they didn’t do them. Things like hoovering, sweeping the kitchen floor and clearing and setting the table are done daily and there are some jobs that take a little longer for them to do on a weekend. Even the weekend jobs aren’t difficult with things like dusting and polishing on the list but they all give me time back every day.
- Use the alarm on your mobile phone to remind you when you need to be somewhere or when you should be moving on to your next task. I don’t do this often but I do when I’m having a blog catch up day or a housecleaning afternoon as it helps keep me moving and focused.
- For more organisation with your meal planning you should read this post to find out how I’ve cut the time it takes me to plan our meals in half! It’s so obvious that you’ll kick yourself for not thinking of it sooner but honestly, it’s made a huge different time wise for our meal planning.
- Try and cut down the time it takes to cook tea – I have a slow cooker that I couldn’t be without, a soup maker which I love and my newest gadget is a bread maker. All of them save me time and money every time I use them.
- Think about batch cooking or at least just cooking extra when you make things that are suitable for freezing so you can freeze a portion.
- Food wise, think about using more frozen foods to save time – frozen veg is just as healthy and just as tasty but with the added benefit of saving you a lot of time. The day I discovered frozen chopped onions and frozen rice in bags was a very good day!
- Have a night time routine and a morning routine where possible. Trust me, a couple of focused minutes here and there can really make a difference and free up a lot of time.
Is there anything you can think of that I’ve missed?
Don’t miss out on future posts like this – receive updates directly to your inbox by email by adding your email address here and hitting subscribe. You can also follow me on Twitter, BlogLovin or Networked Blogs and I’d love to see you over on my Facebook page and on Instagram.
