Time Crunch Fix

Over a year ago, I remember having a conversation with my mom about time. I was in the middle of hurriedly cleaning our master bathroom when she called around 10:00 p.m. At some point during the conversation, I commented, “I can’t keep this house clean now, how in the world am I going to do it when I have kids?” Of course, she laughed and told me that when the time came for it, I would adjust.

Many months later, we welcomed Owen into the world and after choosing to stay at home with him instead of returning to my teaching job, I thought I would have no problem getting everything done – cleaning the house, working a few part-time hours a day, running errands, keeping up with laundry, having dinner ready when my husband came home and so on.

Unfortunately things didn’t work out like my mind had laid them out. I found myself trying to complete all of the week's cleaning tasks and grocery shopping on one day – Whew! How exhausting! – And trying to get in three hours of work on Monday through Friday seemed nearly impossible. Finally, I decided that I had to buckle down and do something about my inability to manage my time.

Conviction set in when I started studying the Proverbs 31 woman in my devotional time. She “worketh willingly with her hands” and “riseth also while it is yet night”  - Yikes! On that one! She is definitely described as a woman who uses her time well and accomplishes all of her duties in an organized way because she gets everything done!

So, where did I get started? I found these templates at http://moneysavingmom.com/downloads/household-management-forms and decided to write everything out and stick to it! I downloaded the blank daily and monthly schedules and filled them out to fit my day.

I also decided that I had to get up BEFORE my son in order to get everything accomplished (3 hours earlier to be exact). So far, I’m a month in. My house is cleaner than it every has been on a consistent basis, the laundry stays in check, I get three hours of work in every day, spend lots of time with Owen, and have time to run errands and do anything that may pop up unexpectedly.

A tool that helped me? The Mead Organizher – I put all my schedules in it and keep it on my fridge (Even though I hate fridge clutter) – It has three pages and works great for keeping those schedules visible and accessible.

I must say, I’m not nearly as stressed and I love having everything done at the end of the day!