In my TEAM BuffMother! Rally room~ July is Focus on Solutions month~
Today’s topic was
As mothers I think we have the least amount of time of any species on earth!! Weather we work outside the home or work as stay at home MOMS…there is hardly time to breath most days.
Time management is a lot like MONEY management, since time is MONEY in a way. How do you spend your time? Is it on things that will matter 5-10 years in the future or things that can wait (like cleaning, landscaping, shopping, etc.).
I have gone through a few seasons in the last 4 years regarding this issue.
1- CHAOS season- this started about when I had my twins until they were about 1 year old. It was filled with EXHAUSTION, a mental to do list always at least 5 items long (change Tia, feed Tia, change Gracie, feed Gunner and Gracie, change Layla, feed Layla, wash bottles, do laundry–on and on) ~ I was MOMMY 24/7= surviving on little to NO sleep for MONTHS on end. But at about 5 months in, I joined the gym and was able to have an “escape”…some days we’d get to the gym and one or more of the 4 wouldn’t cooperate and NO workout happened. At first my time window was about 30 mins, but as the twins got bigger that turned into 1 hour and eventually by the time my twins were about 8 month old I was up to 2 hours at the gym!! (that long of a day usually included tanning) . I didn’t have the time to go to the gym as I had a MILLION things at home to do, but I don’t think I would have survived without that mental break. So if you have small kids and have the opportunity to use a gym with childcare- DO IT!! It may save your sanity!
2- Controlled Chaos- this started when I started training some clients in the gym…I would workout and/or train someone, come home get am NAPS and feedings done, have lunch, do chores– play with kids, get afternoon naps done… then go back to the gym to train clients or workout. I fit in about 5-10 hours of training clients each week this way. I enjoyed this season because I KNEW God had a PURPOSE for me as a trainer. Plus at the time we needed the extra money…and with it I was able to hire a cleaning lady to come once every 2 weeks . I could have argued that I had NO TIME to workout, but I still DID it. This was also during my “contest” era. I won 5 NPC figure titles during this time.
3- Computer Chaos- This started when I founded www. buffmother.com in Jan of 2005. I shifted gears from training in the gym to trying to help every woman in the world through buffmother.com. I had no clue about websites and spent many hours doing it all by myself. I had no money to pay someone to help, but I was determined to get a website up and running. I built a decent site and then started pouring time into trying to help women with my story and success tools. All the while I still had 4 kids at home full time! And Gunner was going to start kindergarten in the fall. During these almost 2 years I still managed to workout almost every day~ and then at night worked on my website answering e-mails, training online clients, building our Yahoo group. I still had NO TIME but made time.
4-BUSINESS FOCUS- this started this year and has morphed into an entirely different animal for me. This march I enrolled my kids into full time daycare so that I could WORK on my book, etc…. THIS has been the toughest time in my last 4 years to find time to workout. I feel guilty to take the time away from my workday and I feel guilty to take the time away from my kids when they are home. I have to remind myself that it is OKAY to take time for ME! Most days I have fit it in!! NOW this month I’ve move back to part time day care…as I missed my babies too much (plus the cost of 3 kids in full time was CRAZY!!). I also have to remind myself the sacrifice I am making NOW will pay off into a new SEASON where I will be free to EXERCISE more than EVER!! I still have TIME to workout, but I have chosen to take a BREAK so I can move into the NEXT season of my life!!
I guess in all of these examples it comes down to decisions. What do you DECIDE to do with your time?
What tools do you use to get things done?
Are you good at “saving” time by not overextending yourself? or do you need to learn to say “no” to some things?
I have said it before and I’ll say it again I wish I had 40 hours in every day!! BUT since I don’t, I have to sacrifice and work with the SEASONS in my life to make the next season the even BETTER!!
What are some of your thoughts on Solutions for NO TIME?
-Michelle