June 2001

Time management is a very important skill. It is so important that it would a great class to have in school. Time Management 101. Think about how much easier our lives will be if we are successful with managing our time.

When you begin to work on time management, the first thing that you need to do is figure out is what is truly important for you to accomplish. Some goals need to be completed today; some tomorrow, some next week some time. Start a list with all the tasks that need to be achieved and then prioritize them. Be honest. Not everything needs to be done today. That can be a trap that we fall into. Somethings really are not time limited. For instance, if there is a birthday party on Saturday and today is Monday, I do not need to buy the present today.

Go over your list again and decide what are your tasks and what is someone else’s. Our partners are quite capable of taking on some of these tasks if we let them know what we need. They cannot read our minds. They do not know that there is a prescription that needs to be picked up. However, if we ask them to pick it up, then they know. Our children are much more capable of completing tasks than we often give them credit for. They can help put away the laundry. If their clothes are not perfectly put in the drawer, is that really important? They can set the table and clear it. They can do yard work. They can do quite a bit. It will not be done exactly the way that we do it, but they will learn responsibility and skills. We will end up with some extra time. A win-win situation.

Now imagine using that extra time to sit down and play a game with your children. Imagine being able to focus on the time spent with your children rather than your list. Now that is effective time management!