Wonder Woman Wannabe: 31 Days to Finding Balance as a Home Manager

At this stage of the series on the heels of suggesting all sorts of activities and tasks to engage with that require your time (Time for YOU, 'Special Time' with your children, and Intentional 'Date Your Spouce' time) in addition to observing a TIME AUDIT, you've more than likely come to this realization...

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So, what to do about all those time sensitive needs? We BUDGET it...

I know what you're probably thinking - yuck. Who likes to even think about the idea of budgeting? It may bring an instant negative feeling just considering the word. However, our TIME really is a lot like MONEY. We're all only given a certain amount. 24 hours, no more and no less. Only we can decide how it is 'spent'....

Time is the coin of your life.

It is the only coin you have,

and only you can determine how it is spent..."

-Carl Sandburg

I was introduced to the idea of a time budget a few weeks ago from an article on the blog,
Life As Mom

The article was entitled, 'Time Management Without a Schedule'

Basically, this fellow at-home mom/wife/author suggested by observing all the time oriented tasks one needs or wants to engage in every day and allotting them a specific amount of minutes or hours to attend those tasks, a person can then manage the given time in their day with intention without being tied to a rigid hour-by-hour schedule.

When I performed my own time audit to see where exactly my time was going each and every day, I found that like Jessica, it appeared that I was trying to accomplish more than 24 hours of stuff everyday.

So, following her example, I made a list of all the regular things I did (or maybe should be doing - ha!) in my day.

Then, I attempted to assign a time allotment or allowance for each of those activities.

The numbers had to total 24 hours, no more and no less while making sure to allow a few hours dedicated as 'margin ' for error/emergencies/whatever.

Now, in my world, no day is exactly quite the same. Some days I work with a client for a big chunk of time, or a few others my three year old is in preschool and I my time does seem to increase! But, I do have a pretty good idea of typical things I spend time doing more or less.

(my current list in no particular order of application...)

Sleeping :: (7.5-8 hrs)
Bible Reading/Soul Care :: (30 min)
Morning Routine (Dishes, laundry, breakfast, manage children etc) :: (30min)
Checking/responding to Email :: (Two 15 - 20 Min increments through the day = 30-40min)
Reading (for recreation and with my beginning reader) (1 hour)
Preparing for the day (shower, dressing, primping etc.):: (30 Min)
Exercising (some days it's a quick run outdoors, others I can get a class in at the Y) :: (+/-1 hour)
OfficeHours' :: ( 2 hours)
Occasional Hobby or special interest (digital scrapbook, DIY projects socializing with friends)....probably a little more Laundry... :) :: (1 hour)
'Special Time' with children :: (1 hour total)
Meal Planning/Shopping :: (1 hour)
Writing/Blogging :: (1 hour)
Meal Prep/Meals :: (2 hours)
Daily Home Maintenance :: (1 hour)
Margin :: (2 hours)

Some days I may spend more time in another area and less (or none) in another. For example, I typically exercise 3 days a week. On non-exercise days I typically spend more time on business oriented things or perhaps a home or hobby project that I'd like to give more time to.

What I really appreciated about this exercise is the omission of scheduling hard and fast specific times that these tasks ought to occur. I think that Moms with young children need the flexibility to 'go with the flow' than continually feel guilty or chronically 'behind' on a self imposed schedule.

Working within a time budget, however, will serve to help you become more aware of where your time is going

Jessica said it like this:

"I realized in all this time management study that if the important things are getting done, then it doesn’t really matter when they happen or in what order."

Isn't that such a freeing realization?

That is the main reason I prefer a Daily Docket style of cleaning - choosing a handful of tasks to complete each day with the goal of completing home maintenance and cleaning by weeks end rather than having a strict cleaning schedule. Maybe I'll change my mind once both my kids are in school, and I have the luxury of a more predictable daily schedule, but for now it's so much easier to balance my time and tasks in this fashion.

Did you see the handy PRINTABLES I created to help stay on top of the weekly cleaning tasks along with maintaining your morning and evening routine??

They look like this: