HOW DO YOU DO IT ALL?

You may envy Luann.  Her house is always spotless.  She’s a young mom with a one year old, and she babysits her toddler nephew.  She’s active in her church, takes voice lessons, goes to BSF (Bible Study Fellowship), and finds time to encourage friends.  If asked, “How do you do it?”  Luann’s answer is simple.  “I never leave the house without doing three things:  I make the beds, do the dishes, and put in one load of laundry.  I always get up at least two hours before I have to be anywhere.  That gives me an hour to get ready, and an hour to straighten the house.”

That seems simple enough to do.  You might choose three different things to do, such as vacuum, iron, and get supper ingredients together.  And if you’re a morning person, you might choose to do these things before you go to bed at night. But it makes sense to get into the routine of doing three specific things every day.  It gives Luann a sense of being in control, gets the housework started, and lets her return home to a neat house.

Luann also faithfully heeds my tips – thanks Luann!  But, before you start thinking that Luann is some kind of super woman, listen to her second thought:  “Think what would happen if I tried to do everything everyone expects me to do:  Serve at church, keep the house and closets clean, have personal devotions and memorize Scripture, spend quality time with the kids and my husband, cook three solid meals a day-don’t forget tasty fruits and vegetables, cultivate friendships, read to keep myself current and stimulated, oh, yes, and take time to do something for myself.  When do I sleep?!

I think Luann is trying to tell us that no one can do it all.  Be realistic.  Set your priorities, find the best way to accomplish them-then relax, and accept yourself as you are. 

Welcome to the wonderful world of organized living!

MAKE PLANS! Nothing is more important than planning! Time management experts agree: If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Plan in advance how a job is to be done, and it is half done. Planning is crucial to good time management, but what many experts forget to remind us is that we need to schedule time to make plans. Put a date on your calendar to set goals, both short term-what you want to do this week and long term goals-what you want to accomplish this year. Ted Engstrom, Time Management seminar leader advises that we spend at least 20-30 minutes a day, or two and a half hours a week, in planning. It may sound like a lot of time, but careful planning will save lots of wasted time later! And planning helps us focus our time on what we really want to accomplish so we don’t end up wasting time on trivial pursuits. Without plans we end up spending all our time dealing with things as they come up. Careful planning puts us in control of the day. Engstrom has a solution for those unexpected surprises that happen each day. He says-schedule two hours a day for the unexpected! For the phone call from a friend; for the neighbor who knocks on your door; for the child who needs some extra hugs; for the letter that arrives in the mail-for all those daily surprise, both the good and the unpleasant. If you plan for them to happen, they won’t catch you unprepared. And, if the unexpected doesn’t happen, you’ve gained extra time for things you want/need to accomplish! Engstrom has one more rule about planning-stay flexible! Plan, but also have a back up plan. And be willing to revise your plans if you think of a better way as you are working. August 16, 2010