Faith in Parenting

Unfortunately, the audio for our Tuesdays at 2:00 call this week did not record, which is really disappointing, because we had a great conversation! We focused on looking at our own awareness as a huge tool in helping us to manage our time better. Here are some of the topics and questions we explored:

Awareness of Our Energy Level - When are you most energetic? What time of day is naturally best for you to work on accomplishing tasks? You probably already think of yourself as a “morning person” or a “night owl.” But take a moment to think beyond that to your body’s energy level in the late morning, or the late afternoon. For example, if 4:00 is your lowest energy point of the day, it makes sense to prepare dinner earlier in the day (or use a Crock Pot) several times a week.

Something else to pay attention to is pockets of time when you experience an inspired burst of energy. Several moms indicated during the call that this happens for them when they have fifteen minutes to use just before they need to leave the house for an appointment or to pick up a child from school. Simply knowing that these pockets of time work well for you can help you to best use them to your advantage.

Awareness of Our Own Limitations - I know that I’m personally guilty of falling into the “Super Mom” trap. I so much believe the lie that I really can do it all, that I ignore simple constraints like time. It’s as though our natural bent toward multitasking - which we’re so good at, moms! - works against us. One tool to help in this area is to spend a day writing down how long each task really takes you. Better yet, spend a week looking at how long your regular routines - like making dinner, or cleaning up the breakfast dishes - really take.

Awareness of Our Triggers - When are you most stressed out? For me, it’s either when I’m trying to accomplish something and get interrupted, or I’m running late. Both of these are preventable, though, when I pay attention to the cycle. I can prevent being interrupted by intentionally doing the bulk of my writing when my kids are at school, and I can prevent the stress of running late by simply adding 15 minutes to the amount of time I think it will take us to get out the door. When we’re aware of our triggers, we can anticipate them and change the outcome. It’s a simple but powerful truth that can really impact our day-to-day lives as moms.

Awareness of Our Options - Another topic we talked about was brainstorming ideas when there is something we want to change. A lot of what we do day in and day out happens because that’s just the way we’ve become used to doing things. So maybe we’re eating dinner at 5:30 because that’s what we’re used to, but changing it to 6:00 or 6:15 would allow the entire evening to unfold with a lot less stress. Hmmm…

Awareness of the Difference - It’s also important for us to be aware of the difference we notice when we pay more attention to what works and what doesn’t. Specifically, pay attention to how you feel. When I breeze over the fact that running late stresses me out, and just accept it as a fact of life raising kids, I’m really not motivated to make the changes that would be necessary to change our habits. But when I acknowledge how unsettled I feel when we’re late (again!), those feelings stir up in me the resolve I need in order to make lasting changes. How about you? Pay attention to the difference; repeat what works for you, and tweak what doesn’t.

Finally, remember that getting a better handle on how we manage our time is a process. So let yourself grow into managing your time better than you did a month ago or a year ago.  Be as forgiving of yourself as you would of anyone else, and learn along the way.

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 31st, 2008 at 9:54 pm and is filed under time management, support, parenting. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.