Take Back your Time with These 12 Tips

Ever wonder where your week or day went? Here are 12 Tips that can help you be more mindful of your time and get those Hours back into your day. Being a working mom of 3 and even before I have had days where I would question just where it went. Just like finances we break them down into monthly and weekly bills. Using this method along with different tips and resources you will find yourself having more time for you, family, and friends. Life is not just about working, taking care of the kids, cleaning, and paying bills. It is so much more than that. There is needed restart days, slow down days, and even days to explore. No matter your lifestyle applying even some of these tips will help you take back the time in your days.

Let us start taking back our time with these 12 tips:

Monthly Overview: First figure out what your overall month looks like write down what you have for your work schedule if changes weekly then have that week ready for the next step, see if you have Dr. appointments birthdays, weddings, or any other kind of special event to attend. If you already do this then great you are already 1 step closer to having more time back. The best way I found to accomplish this was to use a large monthly desk calendar and fill in what you have to the exact days doing it this way you will also give you a clear view of what your week looks like; use colors coordinating to different tasks is extremely helpful as well. I did red for bills, green for Dr. appointments, purple for work, etc. I am sure you get it. Many people over book their days so having this set up and placed in a visible and frequent area you visit of your home it will help avoid over booking.

Prioritize your days: Now, that you have an idea of what you have going on in your month over all and placed out for each day you need to prioritize what happens, you can place the time of events if needed. Then the rest of your day is filled in around that. When planning your day do not forget about this next tip.

Down Time: When you plan your day/ to do list give yourself some downtime apart from the early morning and late at night this time could be all of 20-30 minutes. If you have kids make them apart of it over time not only will you get a part of your day back, but they will learn healthy habits and understand more that people need time for themselves. A few tips for the kids are setting them up with a timer to read, draw, color, or listen to music. For you do what you need for you as this is you time only! do a workout, read, start a book or blog, sit in the tub and breathe, paint do anything that makes you relaxed and happy. Every day during this time try something new it does not have to be the same thing every time it is a time for you to enjoy you.

Managing Your Time: I know this can be difficult at times especially if you have little one’s key to this step is leaving yourself about 15 minutes for anything that may happen before and after said scheduled thing. For Those with littles like myself try and work the things that need solely your attention around nap time or when you can give them an activity, they can keep busy. Lastly, it is good to set a limit on how long you think said task will take. A timer will help so you do not go too far over the time limit.

Restart Day: Looking over your Personal schedule find yourself a designated restart day. This day will be the day before your week starts majority of people’s weeks start on a Monday though this may not be for everyone so if it does Start on Monday then Sunday or Saturday would be a good restart day for you. This day consists of me putting in changes to my weekly/daily calendar for the upcoming week. I also do a full house clean to start the week fresh. Doing this helps make for an easier week. Last part that is included in this day as a priority is to order food. I will get into this more in a bit.

Slowdown Days: In your weekly schedule it is good to have at least 1 slow down day 2 is better. Slowdown days as I call it are days where you work in 1 part of the day then the rest of the day you relax and make time for family and friends or try something new for you.

Be Organized: As we organize our days if we keep other parts of our lives organized as well like our homes, we will spend less time searching for something than if you were to have a designated spot for your belongings. Once this is started after a bit this will become natural to place it in its new “home” like everything else and time will be given back.

Cleaning Schedule: As I mentioned in tip 4, I do a full house clean on my Sundays that only consists of me doing sheets/blankets and any other loose laundry laying around. Then I vacuum, sweep, mop all rooms, clean bathrooms and kitchen top to bottom which is not a lot because during the week I follow a pickup as you go method. which means sweep once a day, mop as needed, wipe down counters table furniture in all rooms once a day this takes seconds to do. Then, after any meal all dishes washed. Since I cook 3 meals a day I put away as I cook and clean what is done being used this really helps. When it comes to cleaning this is a good time to get your kids involved. If you have them. They are more than capable of helping with picking up toys as they take out, they can wipe down tables and many other things my littles are 6,4, and 2 and they all pitch in some way. I can give some ideas to what children can help with based on their age in another post soon. hint I set them up to help while I cook dinner, so they are busy and helping mommy is always fun!

Let Someone Else Shop Your Groceries and Deliver Them: This tip you not only save time you also save money. For those of you if you are anything like me yes, you can still get cash back and save on your groceries. Okay, many of you may already do this part but, if not consider doing this and shop certain items in bulk for the month. The items I stick to for this is paper towels, Tp, soaps such as (laundry, dish, body wash, shampoo and conditioner) Kid items (pullups, wipes, and diapers) lastly, meat products if you can get your hands on a meat package even better! Many of these items last longer than a month and will go a week or 2 into the next month depending on your family size and what you buy. This is helpful and gives you time to get your next order. The rest of your groceries you can buy on a weekly basis and have them delivered through either Walmart which is 1 of the ones I use that is only a $13 monthly fee for unlimited deliveries every month meaning you forgot to add something, or they were out its ok place it again for the same week no extra charge. I also use Amazon which I know majority of you reading this have amazon prime and if you do not you should reconsider getting it. Prime is a huge life saver! This is my personal opinion honestly, Once I learned all that amazon prime has to offer, I was kicking myself for not realizing sooner. These sources are amazing you save time no more drawn-out store trip and wrestling to get the kids ready just to go out the door. On top of that you are not getting distracted at the store and you are not buying more than what you went in for, oh and gas expense… well that just went down even if it’s a little it adds up seriously try this.

Meal Prep: Since you are going to start buying for the month and week. Now, you can prep weekly meals. For the monthly meat be sure to repackage into weekly meals and daily portions. When you buy things for the week go according to your meal plan this will give better money control and save time when it comes to mealtime; another extra tip crock pot and air fryer meals are easy and cook themselves.

Auto Bill Pay: Set all bills to autopay this not only helps time it ensures nothing is forgotten about and as a bonus some companies give you a little savings just for having autopay set up.

Good Night’s Sleep: Be well rested getting to bed at a decent time and getting sound sleep you will be more likely to wake at a good time. My personal goal is 6:00am. waking early is a good way to get added you time for me it starts my day right when I wake to just me and starting on my morning routine. Getting a good night’s rest allows you to focus and put more of your energy to your tasks allowing you to get them done more efficiently. Also, your mind and body will thank you.

Applying these tips to my life I have been able to gain back time with myself; finding out new things I was not able to before and I do not feel guilty about it. I still have quality time with my children and the everyday tasks and obligations are taken care of. I hope that you apply even some of these tips to your daily life and notice even a small difference. Once you find what works for you and your home it really could change your life forever!