Friday, October 22, 2010

Time Management Skills for Parents

Managing time in the workplace is a fairly common topic. Increased productivity usually equates to increased revenues.

But when it comes to home life - managing time seems to take the backseat. Maybe it's the notion that home is a place to unwind and relax after a busy day. But every parent can vouch that a few extra hours would be much appreciated. Effective time management for parents is a great way to gain a few precious hours in the day.

Many families juggle quite a few schedules. As children get older - they become involved with school, extracurricular activities, and social obligations. Because these kids are very dependent on mom and dad for transportation, volunteerism, and all the "behind the scenes" tasks - everything that a child does requires a time commitment from his or her parents.

Add the children's schedule to a parent's long list of things to do - and it soon becomes apparent that getting everything done is near impossible.

The solution to the madness often lies in organization. Basically, managing a family is a lot like managing a team of workers - except each individual member is quite dependent on the leader. A parent needs to arm themselves with some good strategies for managing the needs of each member of the family. Luckily, the core item needed is quite common - a basic planner or daily calendar.

In my experience this key item is often underused. This should be the single reference point when it comes to answering the question of what to do next. If used correctly, a calendar will provide an outline of each day and should be filled in for just about every hour - even blocks of free time should be identified.

For example, on a typical day let's say that I get up at 6:00am and get the kids on the bus at say 7:30. Then I try to get to the gym by 8:30. The way most people use a calendar - the only item listed will be 8:30 gym. What about the time between 6 and 7:30 and between 7:30 and 8:30? By taking some time the night before and filling in the gaps - a parent can become much more productive.

The following outline would be much more useful:

6:00 wake up / have coffee & breakfast
6:30 wake kids up / get ready for gym
7:00 make sure kids eat breakfast / fix kids lunch and sandwich for me
7:20 head out to bus stop
7:40 unload dishwasher / do load of laundry
8:00 Make the following calls xx, xx
8:15 leave for gym

And so on and so forth. Taking a few minutes to set up a daily outline is a key part of successful parenting.


Source: http://ezinearticles.com/

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Effective Time Management Skills - Why It Is Better To Manage Your Time Than Not To

My car had gotten to the point that it disgusted me. It was filthy. Not just the outside, but the inside as well. I had shaken out the mats several times over the past few weeks and now the dirt was just filling up my floorboard.

This really isn't like me to drive a dirty car. I love my car and usually I wash it at least once a week. I take and rub down all the leather with armor all, and put that tire shine stuff on to make it really look great. Over the past 4 weeks though I haven't washed my car one time. Today when I finally got disgusted I took it to the $15 car wash, then I spent an hour and a half vacuuming it out.

Normally I am fine with the $5 wash and I can vacuum it in 15 minutes. That's the problem with procrastination. When we put off the things we are supposed to be doing we compound our problems. Not only did I have to suffer with driving around a dirty car, but it took me a lot more time to clean it that it would have if I had just followed my normal maintenance routine.

Yesterday in my blog I talked about "doing HARD things". Today the thought is more about doing the small things without putting them off. Keep this idea in mind as you go through your day. The more we put off things the more we make our life hard. Sometimes it is best to just go ahead and get things out of the way while they are still small problems.


Source: http://ezinearticles.com/

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Time Management Skills - Are You Tired of Making Excuses Yet?

Time management skills refer to the ability of an individual to address personal time management issues, solving them at the fastest and least time possible. Time management skills also refer to the ability of a person to recognize these problems related to time management.

Contrary to disbelief, time management skills can be learned and is open to everybody. With good time management, an individual can maximize his time more fully, creatively, and productively thus giving better control in life and in using time.

Decisions Making

An essential part in time management falls under decision making. Making good decisions are vital in accomplishing goals. People often use this skill to reduce conflicts and solve problems. It can also be used to save time, and minimize mistakes. Decision making is also considered as the focal component of time management.

Good decision making techniques can be summarized in the following outlines:

a. Recognizing the goal or purpose of the decision. Identify what exactly are the problems that require immediate action, and which problem can be less prioritized.
b. Problem related concerns. Try to visualize the scale of the problem, and the other issues involved. Gather as much information as you can and identify some other factors that are related.
c. Recognizing principles before creating alternatives. Not all problems sharing the same issue can be solved using similar solutions. Sometimes, problems differ in principles. So it's always best to identify first the principle that surrounds an issue before making any alternative fixes to avoid unprecedented and unnecessary errors.
d. Brainstorm and write a list of valid choices. An effective way to fully exercise your available options is by brainstorming and by making a long list of valid solutions.
e. Evaluate these choices base on their pro's and con's. Base your choice using your standards and evaluate each option by weighing their pros versus their cons.

Procrastination

Procrastination happens when a persons starts to develop a habit of marking or putting important tasks off for unreasonable excuses. If you have found yourself doing this habit over and over again, you are not alone.

Many people procrastinate. Some suffer chronically while others suffer mildly. Procrastination is time management's best enemy. Not only can it disrupt accomplishments in work, but it can also ruin careers.

Fortunately, there are lots of ways to beat this problem. The following are helpful steps on how to control and deal with procrastination.

STEP 1: Accepting Procrastinations

There's literally no point in denying this issue. Denial will only worsen the problem leaving you less production and more procrastinating.

STEP 2: Dealing with Procrastination

To effectively deal with the issue, the following suggested issues should be addressed first in order to move forward.

• Unpleasant Task - One common reason why people procrastinate is because they find the task very unpleasant so they try to avoid it as much as possible. Most jobs have their own boring side, and often the best way to deal with it is by accomplishing the task as quickly as possible.
• Disorganized - It's no surprise how organize people tend to finish off tasks quickly than those who are disorganized in their work. Keeping yourself organized can also help reduce procrastination because it gives them the ability to break down a task in to a manageable and less boring system.


Source: http://ezinearticles.com/

Saturday, October 16, 2010

ways to improve time management skills

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Friday, October 15, 2010

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Thursday, October 14, 2010

employee poor time management skills

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Wednesday, October 13, 2010

experiental learning on time management skills

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Tuesday, October 12, 2010

learning time management skills

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