"Life offers two great gifts: time and the ability to choose how we spend it. Planning is a process of choosing among those many options. If we do not choose to plan, then we choose to have others plan for us." Richard I. Winwood
Performing redundant tasks, putting your time into ridiculous activities, and wasting minutes here and there all add up to significant amounts of unproductive time over your lifetime.
Consider statistics, recently reported by time-management experts, that the average American wastes over his or her lifetime:
eight months opening junk mail
seventeen months drinking coffee and soft drinks
two years on the telephone
five years waiting in line
nine months sitting in traffic
four years cooking and eating
a year and a half grooming
a year and a half dressing
seven years in bathrooms
twelve years watching TV
three years shopping
one to two years looking for misplaced objects
24 years sleeping
We could come up with some pretty fun statistics on how much time mothers waste doing redundant tasks:
picking up stray toys
wiping kitchen countertops
scouring the sink
washing the dishes
doing the laundry
folding clothing
putting the laundry away
cleaning bathrooms
mopping the floor
collecting the garbage
changing diapers
changing crib sheets
wiping runny noses and dirty bottoms
getting little ones out of car seats
blah blah blah...does the list ever end?
In order to eliminate common areas of wasted time, you need to be constantly on the lookout for ways in which you might use time more effectively.
A few tips:
Stop watching TV...or severely restrict your tube time. Allow yourself to watch the evening news for one hour after the kids are in bed. Eliminate morning "fluff" TV and afternoon talk shows. They are minor on content and major on commercials and pure nonsense. Unless you're sick in bed or need to spend the day on the sofa, give them up.
Keep a lot of irons in the fire. Remember the old saying: "If you need something done, ask a busy person to do it." The busy person is always ready because she has momentum. Doers always have multiple irons in the fire, so new projects are always ready to be tackled when boredom or fatigue sets in with her current project. Don Aslett calls it "ship jumping." When enthusiasm wanes, a project gets boring, or we need to put a temporary freeze on a project for one reason or another, we jump ship, leave it, and move on to something else. Working this way, you become fast, efficient, motivated, and highly productive.
Lastly, think ahead. Moms who "stand ready" always thing ahead to the next probable scenario. Red traffic lights are not stops; they are pauses for reflection about the next intended thing. Carpool lines are not monotonous waiting lines; they are times to write or read or do one's make-up or nails or plot out the next intended thing. Ditto for doctor's office waits, grocery line queues, and gas station fill-ups. Rocket Moms use these as intentional "mental moments"--always taking in opportunities for action, planning the next intended event, organizing the rest of the day, or reviewing activities lined up for the kids.
Critically examine the ways in which you spend your time. See if you might find yourself surprised to find extra hours in your day...to take a bubble bath, write a letter, paint a picture, or read a great book.
Carolina Fernandez earned an M.B.A. and worked at IBM and as a stockbroker at Merrill Lynch before coming home to work as a wife and mother of four. She totally re-invented herself along the way. Strong convictions were born about the role of the arts in child development; homeschooling for ten years provided fertile soil for devising creative parenting strategies. These are played out in ROCKET MOM! 7 Strategies To Blast You Into Brilliance. It is available on Amazon.com, in bookstores everywhere, or by calling 888-476-2493. She writes extensively for a variety of parenting resources and teaches other moms via parenting classes and radio and TV interviews. Please visit http://www.rocketmom.com to subscribe to her free ezine and get a weekly shot of inspiration.