What a deceiving heading! There is no way you can get more time because time is infinite (until it becomes finite) but there are ways to outsmart it.
When I was a nursing student in the accelerated BSN program, I had to make 25 hours in a 24-hour period or else I would be five nursing concepts behind. There was no time for dilly dally; little time for breaks. I had to outsmart time so that I could survive being a full-time student and mommy.
Jenille’s 7 Ways to Get and Manage Your Time
1. Make a goal. Whether I was studying for a test or getting chores done on my day off, I would make a plan and make a goal. I would say I need to get these many chapters read or these many questions finished before bedtime. Making goals require a checklist because moms love checklists. There is just something about crossing off those checkboxes that made you feel good despite your belief in your ineptness at parenthood.
2. Step away from distractions. With the rise of social media, we need to try harder to eliminate distractions. Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, and most recently, Pinterest are time suckers. Jason would threaten to turn off the wifi when I needed to study because he knows my vices. Such a good accountability partner he is! If you have a big spring cleaning or project looming, consider dropping off the kids to the grandparents. It’s a win-win for everyone. Yes, kids are distractions – just look at how cute they are!
3. Divide and conquer. In nursing school, something taught in a 16-week semester was squeezed into 5 tiny weeks. You had to shit on the pot or get off. I would spend hours after class with my study group going over nursing concepts I didn’t understand. We would take turns going over certain things and teach it to each other. Youtube was my nursing school BFF! At home, this means to delegate the chores. Kids are never too small to learn and help mom out. This goes for spouses too.
Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime. -Navajo proverb
4. Set a timer. Simple enough, right? The twins need motivation to read every day so I taught them how to set their timers. They read nonstop until they hear the alarm. They don’t read any more or any less which means less fighting for us all. Set a timer and be accountable for that time spent.
5. Take breaks. If you’ve been grinding for some time and feel productive, take a break! Just like how there are designated breaks at a workplace, take 10-15 minutes after two hours of grinding to recoup. Take the pee break; post that IG selfie; hydrate yourself! When you take a break, you rejuvenate yourself and get newfound wind to keep going. Just don’t get on FB, Snap, IG, AND Pinterest – that’s a distraction and make sure to set the timer!
6. Cluster activities. Multitasking is not for the novice and sometimes can be a bigger time suck than just doing one thing. Jason hates when I tell him to do two things at a time. “Hon, can you please make me coffee and wash the dishes after. Don’t forget to take out the trash.” I’m not sure if it’s boy brain processing but the kids similarly can’t take two or more directives from me. Might just be a mom thing. I’m usually cooking, checking email, washing dishes, posting on IG, loading the washer all in one sitting. Is it a gender thing? I’m honestly curious now.
7. Don’t sweat the small stuff and celebrate the little things. Sometimes, you can’t be SuperMom. You can’t check off all the checkboxes on your checklist. The laundry mountain hasn’t even been scaled. You relegate yourself to ordering takeout because you ran out of time to cook dinner.
C’est la vie! Don’t worry; tomorrow is another day!
Celebrate the fact that you were able to take a shower today (albeit kids knocking on the door for 9 of the 10 minutes); kids are killing each other but at least they’re not hungry murderers; and you don’t have to wear the thong from 2004 cuz at least you washed your panties today.
<Adding “declutter ghosts of singles past: panty drawer” to my checklist now>
What are your timehack tips? Do you have a system down?
