Time Management for Busy Family Members

With the demands of work and, in some cases, the demands of having to pull in an extra income, it is hard to find enough hours in the day.  While it may seem difficult to put your family first in the midst of all of these demands, you'll find that you are happier and less stressed out if the family, as a whole, is happy.  If the only time you have to spend with your family is during supper, work your dinner routine into the daily schedule and you will see rewards.

Here are some other time management tools that will help ease the stress of your day.

Setting Priorities - Some Things Can Wait Until Later

Learning to prioritize is one of the biggest challenges for people today. It doesn’t matter if you work in or out of the home -- prioritizing is extremely important in your daily life. Someone who does not prioritize tasks and their daily schedule will likely feel overwhelmed, stressed, and unhappy throughout the day. These feelings can bleed into the entire day's routines and activities. By prioritizing your life, you can figure out what really needs to be done immediately and what can wait until later.

Learn To Say “No”

A problem that many people have today is the inability to say “no” when asked to do something. If someone asks you to do something, you do not have to commit to helping out. Helping others is great if you have the time to do so, but helping them when you are already short of time does not help anyone.  You'll be stressed and will probably resent having to spend time with others when you have other priorities.  Unless it's an emergency, you should never rearrange your schedule for a request from a co-worker or friend. If you do this once, they will assume that they can call on you as much as they want. By not being able to say “no,” it is easily to become over committed and overwhelmed. Your friend or co-worked might be shocked, particularly if you have never said “no” to them before, but it is worth it for your own personal happiness and health.

Making Lists Can Be Rewarding

Experts will say that you should spend most of your day working on important tasks and that the best way to decide what is most important is to write a list.  Write down everything you think you need to accomplish. Then number each by importance. Display your daily list in a place that you will constantly see. This will help you stick to your plan. List making may seem juvenile, but making lists actually take the stress out of jobs. Many times when you see a task written on paper, it looks much less intimidating then when it is only floating around in your head. Not only will you be able to prioritize your time, but as you scratch off each item as "accomplished," you truly will feel as though you have accomplished something at the end of the day.

Simple Time Management Techniques

Simple techniques such as making your phone calls while waiting to pick your child up from school will allow you to accomplish more. Multi-tasking is a great way to get more done. Some people get more stressed by multi-tasking, so if you hate the thought of it, don’t even try it. If you feel confident with multi-tasking however, go ahead and get as much done as you can. You will be surprised what you can do while waiting in a doctor’s office or while sitting at soccer practice.

"Time Management for Busy Family Members," contributed by Jeff Ottman