Time Management Series
I have a confession to make. Due to busy schedules, changing routines and last minute must do items, my routines have completely fallen apart. Oh yeah, not just a little bit, I really do mean completely. About the only routine that I have managed to hang onto, by my finger nails no less, is our before school routine, and I truly believe that if it were summer vacation right now, there would not even be that little teensy bit of routine in our days.
Lack of routine bugs me, more than I care to admit. And up until a few years ago, I would have scoffed at the idea that I would miss my routines. Ok, well, if I’m completely honest, it’s not the routine I miss, it’s the order and the calm that a good, solid routine creates. Without that order, my days look an awful lot like this:
- Load the dishwasher, and start tidying up the kitchen
- Reach into cupboard for dishtowel, only to find none, so go hunting for one in laundry room,
- Find clean dishtowel, then remember that I put in a load of laundry yesterday afternoon, open washer and determine that said load needs to be rewashed, so start washer and check dryer to see if it’s empty. Folded towels ontop of it would suggest it would be empty, but with me, lately, you never do know.
- Go back to finish tidying up kitchen, notice floor needs to be swept, so toss dishtowel onto counter to sweep floor
- Sweep half the floor and notice the recycling basket is full, so take it to garage.
- Come back, see towels folded ontop of dryer and forget about finishing floor in favour of putting towels away
- While putting away towels, remember that downstairs half bath needs to be cleaned, so go down to clean it.
- Finish cleaning bathroom and remember to vacuum downstairs
- Forgot to have Liam tidy up the last couple of nights, so spend time picking up toys, notice school library book while picking up toys, and go put it by front door to take with me in the afternoon
- At front door notice that shoes are all over the place, start putting them away, only to notice front closet is messy, so …. go grab the camera to take some pictures, and a note book for notes for a blog post about organizing the front closet
By now you get the drift. I flit and float and go round until nothing gets done, or worse, I feel so overwhelmed by the seemingly huge and insurmountable amount of things that I need to do that I shut right down and don’t do anything. Fortunately, the latter option doesn’t happen as often as it used too. I’m beginning to recognize when I’m reaching my breaking point and I take a break before that happens. I’m also noticing that it doesn’t have to happen. If I stick to a loose routine, all is well. I can get so much done in a day, and not feel like I spent all day slaving away with nothing to show for it.
The trouble starts when some little thing interrupts my routines one too many times. The routines begin to fall to pieces and chaos creeps into our lives. I’m positive there is a way around this, a way to ride the ebb and flow of life without getting pulled into a current of disorder and mayhem. Life won’t stand still, and while the simplest solution is to say no to anything that won’t fit, that isn’t always an option I want to take. I want to be able to go to fun days at Liam’s school. I want him to know that he’ll always have one parent present at all performances. It’s important to me. While our Teen is more self sufficient, I want to be able to be present at events that are important to him, and just to keep it real, that he wants me there for. Travis’s work schedule isn’t set in stone, I need to be able to be flexible for that too. (Don’t even get me started on the fact that it was supposed to be more set in stone than it is turning out to be)
The point is, I need to figure out how to keep myself on track and still allow for life to happen. So, I’m taking myself on a journey into the wonderful world of time management and routine building, and I’m inviting all of you to come along with me. I’ll be sharing the steps I’m taking, any printables I create/use, my thoughts and ideas, and whatever tips, tricks or interesting tidbits I pick up along the way. My goal is to have new routines in place before summer vacation comes, (that’s the end of June for us) so that I’m not wasting time playing catch up, and can enjoy the time with the kids.
The fun starts Monday, when I’ll share a more detailed plan with you, and the first, most likely the first of many, printables for this series. I hope you’ll stop by to check it out! Wanna know the one thing I’m really looking forward to? Carving out time for some much need organizing projects, and I can’t wait to share those with you either!
I hope all of you have a fantastic weekend! And to all my readers who are Moms or Grandma’s, I wish you a wonderful Mother’s Day!
Anyone else out there struggling with routines?
Other Posts in the Series
Time Management: Back to Basics
