Time Blocking
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I’d never heard of time blocking until a few weeks ago. I thought I was the first to invent the term and the first to create the file and the first to have her stress level totally leveled by this method. Well ok, maybe not THE first, but I sure felt like I was one of the smart ones.
After my business coach told me about how to always come out on top of my mountain of a to-do list, I started “time blocking”. It took a week or so to get out of my “to-do” list rut and fully grasp the freedom of designating a block of time to each category of my priorities. But then I saw Pintrest is full of “the smart ones” and I’m just one of the many. Still, the reason I add my words to the list is because it really is that great! If you don’t get it from one of them, maybe you will get it from my story.
So in case you have not figured it out my now, I’m a mom in perpetual search of an easier, quicker and less stressful way of doing life. It seems like all my blogs have pointed in that direction in one way or another and I love sharing when I’ve found a new “ah-HA” moment. The moment that the lightbulb came on was when my friends and coach, Kim, told me that in fact, I could NOT be 100% to all things at all the time, BUT that I could be 100% present at one thing at one time. That’s when a huge weight rolled off my back and I started to breath again. I even signed up for a yoga class. Or I’m about to. Monday morning after my art class (which I have been longing to start for literally years now) . I can not begin to tell you what time blocking has done for me. So I will simply show you how and let you feel the clouds roll back.
Let’s start with throwing that old over-used over-whelming to-do list out the window. Throw back your head and let the wind blow through your hair. Make a list of categories that are a priority to you. (folding laundry is not one!) Mine are these:
1.Personal time
2. Kids
3. School
4. Business
5. Household
6. Husband
7.Others
Having my husband and others at the bottom of the list does not reflect on their importance. It only shows how much time they take. With my husband gone 5 days a week he is very low maintenance and I try my best to pamper him on weekends. And "others" come after my family has been cared for. I do not put myself at the top of the list because I am the most important no, it’s simply because if I do not snatch an hour before the rest of the family is awake then I get no time at all. So with that disclaimer, let’s see where this goes.
Now instead of multitasking with answering business texts while my home schooled 7 yr old is trying to practice her reading to me, I leave the phone in another room and focus on her for the duration of her school hours. Does that mean I can’t have a load of dishes in the dishwasher already going or the crock pot cooking my supper? No. But it does mean I do not try to check things off of another category while it’s her time. And then when it’s time for my 2 hour block of business, the children know they can play outside or watch a movie but mama has to work now. They respect that. (except the baby. She does not respect anyone’s time. She knows that my lap is hers anytime. Hence- planning my business block during her napping block) They love that I have given them my undivided attention and they feel valued and happy. They are also happy for some alone time and space. At the end of the day, I feel like I have been successful in every area. Each thing got 100% of me for their allotted time. And instead of writing 90’000 things on a to-do list, when my block says “house” I know that means to a quick clean, plus 2 extra projects.
That brings me to my next point. Every category should only have 3 things in it. Like I often used to tell my husband who was a workaholic, (before we moved to GA by a lake that he loves to go fishing on) “tomorrow is another day”. Pick the 3 most important things that need done that day and write them in that block of time under that category.
Then be done. AND CELEBRATE THE WINS! Too many times we forget to take a moment and appreciate what we have accomplished before rushing onto the next thing. What if, just what if, we would slow down, enjoy the journey, and take time to love the life we have?
Print your own Time Blocking form here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vRjr5nUXLqafcxH_hoApTaTWsNVMcvZj0BrYJALVJCSi_aeCgyOigxYh2g9JlERB0lE5NkU3E5FPcUw/pub
Live with a little less stress and a little more joy.
- Audrey's Joy in the Journey
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