Time management is essential for parents! No matter how full your schedule gets as you juggle packing lunch, helping with homework, getting dinner ready, and making sure everyone gets to bed on time, you will save yourself a lot of stress if you know how to wisely manage your time.
Let’s explore a few time management tips you can use as a parent to help you keep organised so your daily life runs more smoothly.
Five useful time management tips
Use a timer
When doing certain things, like checking your email or reading news headlines, it is easy to get distracted. Before you know it, you’ve spent more time online than you intended. It can be useful to set a timer for when you need to complete a certain task to prevent this from happening. This way, you won’t lose focus and complete certain tasks at the right time.
Delegate
Trying to do everything yourself is one of the biggest time wasters in the home. Delegation is necessary. From a young age, children can be assigned chores. Among the tasks that young children are capable of doing are organizing their belongings, making their beds, doing the dishes, sweeping the floor, and dusting. Make it clear what responsibilities each household member is expected to perform. Set up a chore chart for your kids to follow. When they can carry out their daily chores and responsibilities without you having to spend time explaining each one to them, it makes life easier for you as a parent.
Routines are a must
Your household will run more smoothly and effectively if you have a regular and consistent daily schedule. When you establish routines in your home, try to maintain them. Your whole family will benefit from this in terms of time management.
Learn to say no
It’s easy to overextend yourself. To avoid this, give yourself permission to say “no” when you’re feeling overwhelmed. Of course, if certain events and activities are important to you, do them! But to free up time for the things that are truly essential, make sure to eliminate any other activities you’re not keen on.
Allocate time for yourself
To, ultimately, be effective with your time, you need to have adequate space and time to recharge your batteries throughout the week. It is essential to plan to have time for yourself as a mum or dad. This will help you feeling well, get perspective and have some time to think.
It’s important to have a realistic view
The list of things we think we must do, things we want to do, and things that other people want us to do can sometimes feel overwhelming. Having a single objective can help you in setting priorities and providing the focus through which to filter decisions. Once you prioritise and have a more realistic view of what you can accomplish you’re more likely to get it done. In turn, this will help you to feel better about what you have achieved.