It has been a really busy few weeks and I don’t anticipate that it will slow down any time soon (maybe in May).  The girls and I will be traveling over their Spring Break so I have a lot to get done before our fun time begins.  If you are like me I want everything to be caught up before I leave on a trip  – bills paid, house cleaned, emails returned, inbox empty, garden planted and weeded,  etc….  however, the “to do” list is generally much longer than the hours available in the day. When I am working on a project I want to stick to it until it is completely finished.  There are major benefits having this personality, however, the downside is that I may get that one project completed but there are 27 other projects that haven’t even been started.

One of the ways that has helped me stay on task and be more productive (I have been using this a lot lately) is to set the timer.   I have a small timer that I can take with me from room to room.  My timer has been well used the past few weeks, I even lost it for a couple days while getting ready for the yard sale!  I anticipate it will continue to be used in the upcoming weeks as well as I prepare to travel with the kids.  I set the timer for an increment of time to help motivate me and keep me focused on getting the task done.  When the timer goes off that means I am done with that project for the moment and need to move onto the next task (which can be very hard for me at times especially if I am really close to finishing the task I am currently working on).  Here is an example of some of the activities I do during a day with my timer (every day is different so this just an example of activities I set the timer for throughout the day):

• 30 minutes – Exercise
• 45 minutes – Quiet Time
• 10 minutes – Prep for Dinner
• 10 minutes – Eat Breakfast
• 30 minutes – Check & Respond to Emails (sometimes I do this 2 to 3 times a day)
• 60 minutes – Blog Posts
• 60 minutes – Work Projects
• 30 minutes – Pick Up the House
• 60 minutes – Fold & Put Away All Laundry for the week on Laundry Day
• 30 minutes – Lunch
• 45 minutes – Homework with the Girls
• 45 minutes – Make Dinner
• 30 minutes – Dinner Clean Up and Wash Dishes
• 15 minutes – Packs Lunches for the Next Day
• 30 minutes – Clipping Coupons
• 30 minutes – Matching Coupons with Weekly Ads
• 30 minutes – Pay Bills & Balance Accounts
• 10 minutes – Power Clean My Desk (or on some days find my desk)

If I get to all the tasks that had on my list that day I will reward myself with 30 minutes of “free” time which usually means spending extra time with the family, reading, writing, or something else rewarding yet beneficial.  A lot of times during breakfast or lunch I will spend time reading or answering emails as well.  I have found that days when I work on the computer I don’t get anything done in the house and days that I spend concentrating on home projects I don’t get any work done so as in my attempt to try and balance life a little bit more the timer has become a fun trick that works well for me.  Although the computer work is important I do have some moments when I get sidetracked by a great article or Facebook or something else and before I know it the time has flown by and an hour has passed (same things happens on home projects).  The timer helps me track the time better and alerts me especially when I have gotten distracted from the task at hand. I do not set the timer for family time or family oriented meals and tasks because those are important for the entire family.

Now if I could only find a way to set a timer for travel time, shopping and waiting to check out, ha!  Although I must say I am becoming a little more efficient in shopping too by only going directly to the items I need and not “browsing” through the entire store.  Not everything works well with setting a timer but there are some tasks I noticed will consume larger amounts of time if I don’t put a time limit on them.

How do you balance it all as a Wife, Mom, Business Person, etc…?  Do you have other ways that help you stay on task?

Photo by ellie