5 Ways to Better Manage Your Time

I have been very convicted lately about managing my time. It seems that so often at the end of the day I look back and see that I really accomplished very little. When I actually sat down to make a list of what I’d gotten done (or listed things as I did them), I realized that I was wasting so much valuable time! Then, of course, I had to ask myself why it was happening. I came up with a list of things that I should or shouldn’t do to help make the best use of my time. I hope the list is helpful to you!

1. Don’t put off the things you don’t want to do until later in the day. I’ve gotten into a terrible habit of doing this! Then, if other things keep me busy, it’s easy to make myself feel better by telling myself that I just “didn’t have time” to get the unpleasant tasks done.

2. Don’t take too long to do the jobs you really don’t want to do. I’ve been guilty of working on a task for a short time, getting distracted by something else, going back to the task, etc, instead of just jumping in there and getting the job done. Then I get discouraged when it seems to take forever to finish!

3. Do require that your children help around the house. Growing up, my sister and I knew how to do any job in the house that needed to be done–except cooking, which our mom wouldn’t let us do. By the time we were 10 or 11 years old (maybe younger–it’s hard to remember exactly), we knew how to clean the kitchen, sweep and mop and vacuum the floors, wash and fold and iron and put away laundry, dust the furniture, take out the trash, clean our room, and pretty much anything else we were big enough to do. My children are all in the double digits now, and I have hardly required them to do anything in the house! And then I wonder why I can’t keep everything under control.

4. Don’t get “sucked into” being on the internet too long or too often! Because I handle social media for my website, I have to be on the computer on the website, Facebook, etc. I’ve been allowing myself to get “sucked into” social media instead of doing what I need to do and getting off the computer. That’s such an easy thing to do! I’m a “people person.” I love to talk to people, read about what my friends are up to, comment on people’s pictures or questions, encourage people, and so on. The problem is that I should not be taking the amount of time that I often take doing those things. I need to give myself a time limit and then get on and off the computer during that amount of time.

5. Do a better job of meal planning. I have been making an effort to consistently plan meals lately, and it helps so very much! When I practice meal planning, it helps me save both time and money. It also keeps me from feeling pressured and stressed in the evenings when everyone is hungry and tired. Just go to eMeals.com, take a look around and decide which plan you’d like to try. I promise you that you won’t regret it!

Do you have tips or ideas for making the best use of your time? I would love to hear them!

This post is by former MYB contributor, Wendy Hilton of Homeschooling Blessings