“Time management” is a tricky term. I used to think that time management was all about getting up earlier, staying up later and cramming as many tasks into the day as I could possibly do. Now I think that managing my time is more about being intentional about my use of time. It means doing the right things at the right time. Some days I may look at my to-do list and see very few things crossed off, but when I think about my day as a whole, I realize that the things I did do were all super important (going to a doctor’s appointment with my mom, making a dinner that my husband loves and which I don’t make very often, taking a nap because I haven’t been getting enough sleep, catching up with a good friend who needs a listening ear). So what are my best time “management” tips? What I try to focus on now is “scheduling” all of my routine things to do into “blocks” of time, setting limits on how long I will work on different routine tasks (grading papers and doing laundry are always going to be on the list and are never really “caught up”), and being efficient with chores and the routine tasks so that I can spend more time on what is most important. So my definition of time management now is not just about getting stuff done. It’s also about doing the right stuff. And making lots of lists!

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”

~Aristotle

First, here are eight general tips that have helped me.

8 General tips

1 – Write it all down. It sounds compulsive, but it’s the best way to stay on top of all the things you need to do. It also helps you plan what days will be best to do which tasks. For example, you would not plan to complete lots of cleaning or organizing tasks on the days when you have a later working day or lots of kid activities to coordinate. It also serves as a great boost when you look back on the week and see all the things you did complete!

2 – Some people like to keep all their lists and a planner on their phone. There are some great apps that will help you do this. Other people (like me) prefer paper and pencil (or Flair pens!). If you are an “old school” paper planner, like me, there are a ton of great planners out there. I’ve tried and loved the Bloom Daily Planners, Erin Condren Planners, Blue Sky Planners, and Plum Paper Planners. But this post from Rachel Hollis explains my favorite way to plan. Rachel recommends grabbing a sturdy spiral bound notebooks and carrying it with you everywhere. Carrying it with you everywhere allows you to use it for everything:your weekly cleaning list, weekly menus, grocery list, workout log, list of outfits, things to do at home, things to do at work, holiday planning, goals — all the lists you need for your busy life. In addition to pages of lists, you just start a new page for each day, write the date at the top and list the things you need/want to do that day. Whatever does not get checked off gets added to the next day’s list. 3 – Two important tips for planners and lists: A – write everything down. Do not rely on your memory. (When you’re carrying your planner around with you everywhere, you will always have it handy when you think of something else you need to do.) This is why many people prefer using their phone. B – check your planner several times a day. Put a notification on your phone if you have to, but make sure you are checking your planner at least once an hour. 4 – Go to bed earlier and get up earlier. I know — sleep is very important. But sleeping late every day is not important. If you start training your body to get up earlier, you can also train your body to go to sleep earlier. Aim for 6 – 8 hours of sleep per night. As for what time to get up each day: one tip I’ve used is to think about what time I need to get up in the morning, then subtract one hour. That is the time I should be getting up. What can you do with that extra hour? Plan your day, pray, meditate, do yoga, work out, work on some goal project of your own. (See my morning routine post HERE.) That extra hour, first thing in the morning, that is just for YOU will help you to be better in all areas of your life. Just try it for a couple of weeks and see what you think!

5 – Get some help. I know, I know — we think we should be able to do everything ourselves. But look around and identify someone you know who appears to “do it all”. Then ask her how she does it. You will undoubtedly hear that she doesn’t “do it all” herself! No one does. Look at your list of things to do. What are the things that only you can do? (Tuck your kids into bed, for instance.) What are the things that someone else could do for you? (Clean your house? Drive your kids to sports practices? Shop for groceries?) Think about delegating some tasks to other people. Everyone that lives in your house (spouse, children above preschool age) needs to contribute to the family chores in some way. Could you use different services to do some tasks? (Ordering groceries online for instance and paying for delivery or picking your order up in an express lane at the store.) Could you hire someone to clean your house or run errands for you? 6 – And while we’re talking about getting some help — it’s okay to say NO to tasks or activities that don’t fit your time availability and your current priorities and goals. This is another hard one, I know. We want to help as many people as possible and we want to please everyone. But think about what and who is most important in your life right now. Judge each task that you are asked to do against that list of priorities. Will the task you’re being asked to do affect one of those priorities in a negative way? (Taking you away from home too many evenings, for instance.) One of my favorite ways to say no is to say, “Thank you for thinking of me I would love to help, but my schedule is too tight right now and I would not be able to give it my fullest attention and energy.” They may be disappointed for a moment, but they will quickly move on to the next person to ask. Plus, they have to respect the fact that you don’t want to take on a task that will not get your best effort.

7 – Schedule EVERYTHING on your planner. If it does not get scheduled and assigned to a certain day or a certain time, it’s not going to happen. If you want to work out every morning at 6 a.m., write it down. If you want a weekly date night with your husband on Fridays at 7 p.m., write it down (and make sure he does the same!). If you want to catch up with a friend in person or over the phone, write it down. 8 – Make sure you are scheduling time for you to do what YOU want to do and what is important to you. If you don’t do that, other tasks or demands will take over that time and you will eventually feel burned out and resentful. You can prevent that from happening, or change it if it’s already happening. Schedule some daily time for yourself and plan for what you will do with that time.

At the beginning of each month, I draw a quadrant on a piece of paper. I label each quadrant with the week’s dates for that month (December 3 – 9, December 10 – 16, etc.). Then I list the calendar dates that are already scheduled in each quadrant. I make a list of what I would like to get done in that month and which week will be best for that task. Some tasks come from my calendar (birthdays, appointments, meetings, events), and some are from my goal-setting work. (I will be posting soon about how I set goals.) I leave lots of empty spaces because unexpected events occur throughout the month that will also need to be included. This list gives me some control in the sense that I can see what is coming up that month, but it also gives me the flexibility to change the priority of anything on the list.

Plan your week in advance. While you can do this on any day, I prefer Sunday. It helps get my new week off to a good start when I have some time to think about last week and to look ahead to how I will use my time going forward. Start by looking over your general monthly plan and looking at last week’s lists. What went well last week? What needs to be rescheduled or tweaked for this week? What goals do you want to accomplish this week? Make a list of tasks you need to complete for the upcoming week. Include appointments, meetings, kids’ scheduled activities, etc. What appointments/events/meetings/important dates are coming up this week? What do you need to prep for those dates? (Example: buy a birthday card and gift, review notes for a meeting, etc.) Plan time for the prep as well as the actual event! (See the planner and list tips above.)

*Cleaning routine — I keep a list of all tasks that need to be done in my home daily, weekly, monthly, and seasonally. Having such a list does not mean you have to do all these things (you might delegate to others or you might pay a cleaning service to do some), but it helps you stay on top of what needs to be done around your house. Each week I list what I need to do for that week, then figure out which days will be best for which tasks. This varies from week to week, depending on my work schedule and other commitments.

*Menus — I plan my menus for one month in advance. Look at your calendar and decide which meals will best fit which days. Then you can make your grocery list! Are there meal prepping tasks you could do in one batch on Saturday or Sunday that will help make the upcoming week easier?

*Workouts — choose which workouts you will do on what days and schedule those on your calendar. This is SO important. I schedule and plan for workouts because they will not happen otherwise. Be realistic. If you have an especially early start and lots of appointments one day, don’t try to schedule one of your longer workouts. Look for a shorter workout you can do on that day. Consistency and intensity are more important than the length of your workouts.

*Clothes/outfits — check the weather forecast and temperatures for the week, then list some possible outfits you will wear. As part of your evening routine, lay out the clothes you will wear the next day.

*Review your budget and finances. Check your balance and your account statements. What bills are due this week? How well are you sticking to your budget? What changes or adjustments could you make? *Stick to your evening routine. If there is ever a time that I am strict about my evening routine, it’s on Sunday night. I usually try to go to bed a little earlier as well.

*Try batching some tasks into 15 or 20 minute segments. For instance, as a teacher and I will have assignments to grade until June 10 (our last day of school). I am never really “caught up”. The assignments are not going to magically grade themselves. I am never going to find some huge chunk of time to get them all graded and then be “done”. So I grade assignments for 20 minutes a day. Many times, at the end of that 20 minutes, I decide to continue for a bit longer. Sometimes I don’t have any more time that day, so I stop. But the point is that I am being consistent in getting that task “done” daily. Other ways to use this tip: to get started on an overwhelming organizing or cleaning task or to keep focused on one task at a time (instead of getting sidetracked into checking email or googling something). It’s a lot easier to tackle some big task or to make progress on your goals when you know that you only have 15 or 20 minutes. You will be amazed at how much you can accomplish in a short batch of time by the end of a week or month! See the time blocking tips below for more about batching tasks. *What if you plan out your work in this way, but there is still too much to do? Take a look at your plan. Some weeks it does feel as if everything important needs attention in that week. But often I find that I am trying to do too many things that don’t matter as much. Not everything is essential. I can’t say “yes” to doing everything that other people want me to do. So think about what matters most to you. What can you cut out of your schedule? What can be delegated? I love the saying, “Do fewer things, but be awesome at them.” Not sure where I heard that, but it is wise advice. See the time blocking tips below for more about how to realistic about time and doing what matters.

*Schedule time for your own self-care. This is another area where being intentional about scheduling this time is key to making sure it happens. Being stressed and burned out leads to less productivity. Take a few minutes every day for yourself.

6 tips for time blocking:

1 – I have been doing a version of time blocking for years, but this post totally makes sense and explains it in a fun way. Jordan Page recommends setting your day up in blocks that fit your particular stage of life. Then, in each block, list what you will get done during that time. Jordan’s tips: ~stick to 2-3 hour blocks ~don’t micromanage your day. Emergencies and interruptions will happen – don’t stress about it. Just rearrange and move necessary tasks to other blocks ~use the alarm on your phone to remind you of upcoming blocks ~use the alarm to alert you when a block is ending

2 – Another reason to use time blocking is to help you plan and be realistic about how long different tasks will take. I have noticed that when I have a tight time schedule (with appointments, meetings, etc.), I am more efficient with getting things done but on days when I don’t have as many time pressures, I just kind of fritter the time away and then wonder why I didn’t get anything done. So I plan for what I will do during a time block, allowing extra time for interruptions or unanticipated events. This makes me focus on how much time I actually have and how long some tasks will actually take, helping me develop more realistic time blocks for the future. It also cuts down on the urge to procrastinate. I’ve already made the decision to do certain tasks at a certain time, so I just get started and do them! Nothing will ever be perfect, but if you have a plan for a block of time, you will get more done. 3 – Within those time blocks that Jordan recommends, I set shorter time limits for dedicated work time. For instance, if I decide that I am going to work on school work such as grading papers, researching resources for plans, or creating assignments, I set specific time blocks for just one task (i.e., grading papers for 20 minutes), and work on that one task for just that amount of time. Chipping away at something every single day helps you get stuff done. Instead of being overwhelmed by all you need to do, just focus on that one task for one short time block. Then, when you spend time with your family, you can give them your undivided attention, knowing that you made progress toward your most important work tasks.

4 – Other than using your phone’s alarm to alert you when it’s time to stop a block, turn off your phone notifications when you need to get something done OR when you are spending time with your family. Unless you need to be available for some kind of emergency, stay off the screen and focus on what or who is right in front of you. This can be really hard since we all use our phones for just about everything. But try it and see how it works for you. 5 – Schedule both your chores/tasks/things to do in your time blocks, but also think about scheduling things you want to do. If you go into a weekend with the hope of doing certain things with your family or friends, schedule that activity for certain times of the day! (And make sure that your family and friends know what time you’re scheduling the activity! 🙂 You will find that you enjoy your leisure time more when activities are planned and scheduled because they will actually happen, instead of just being hoped-for activities that you will do “some day”.

6 – Plan your day backwards. For instance, if you want to leave work by 5:00 p.m., plan your work time blocks with that “limit” in mind. Some days/weeks are busier at work, but if you set some boundaries, it helps you keep better work/life balance and forces you to be efficient with your use of time. A similar thing happens at home. If you set your wind-down/bedtime for 9 p.m., plan your time blocks with that “hard stop” limit in mind.

Conclusion

Finally – make sure you are doing “first things first.” What is the “deep work” that uses your abilities and talents best? Can you cut out incessant email checking (I’ve been guilty of this), incessant social media scrolling (same), and mindless TV (uh, same again)? I’m not saying that you need to be a hamster on a wheel all the time. Just try focusing on what matters most to you: what people you want to spend your time with, what tasks or activities will make your life better or more organized, what tasks or activities use your talents and creativity best. You will find that your stress level will go down, and that you will have MORE time for the activities and the people that you love.