Tips For Managing Home Life

This is a useful post, take it how you will - I thought I would post it because as much as I think I'm organized I have days where I slip and I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one, so this entry will be about tips for managing home life. ~

You might find it helpful to use a structure to help you stay on task and manage your responsibilities in a timely manner. For example, you might use time management techniques, like making lists or using day planners, to adhere to routines. These techniques can apply to household responsibilities as well as other aspects of life.

One of the tricks you can use to make sure you stay on track with your day-to-day household responsibilities is to try to estimate the amount of time tasks will take to complete. You can make this fun by turning tasks into a game; have a little bet with yourself about how long you think it will take to pick up the dry cleaning, or call your mother, for example. Then make a note of how long the activity really took, and plan for that amount of time in your schedule the next time you have to perform that task.

It is also important to plan for unexpected events or responsibilities. This is called contingency planning. It involves building extra time into your schedule for the unpredictable - things like traffic jams, last minute long distance phone calls, or a long line at the grocery store.

The key to effectively planning your time is to set attainable goals.

Set Your Goals

There are many ways to learn and develop skills to help keep your household and life in order. To excel at this, you should acknowledge these points:

• Develop realistic goals - do not set too many goals at once or goals that are impossible to meet
• Don't try to do it all on your own - obtain the support you need from other individuals or from support groups

An important part of accomplishing your goals is to know your endpoint and work toward it. Instead of just jumping into a project, approach it in a way that will optimize your ability to finish the job. Here are some tips.

• Use your natural tendencies to make daily tasks easier - or more interesting - make them fun! Involve friends, create games or challenges - anything you can to make the task seem less tedious and more fun
• Work with your mood. If you feel in the mood to organize - work with that. Start a project that you feel you are in the mood to tackle

Organizing yourself with a tool such as a day planner can help you arrange your time and resources so you can reach your goal. 

Use a Day Planner

One of the best tools you can use for managing home, work, or school is a day planner. Listed below are three guiding principles for using a day planner. If you've already tried to use a day planner and you found it didn't work, or have never used a day planner before, you may find this information helpful. 

1. Train yourself to have your day planner with you at all times. In order for this tool to work, you have to teach yourself to take it with you everywhere. 
2. Train yourself to write down everything in your day. Every event, every 'must do'. Even if you keep separate calendars for family and work events, social engagements, or medical appointments, use your day planner as your master calendar. 
3. Keep two main lists in your day planner - a 'must do' list and a 'master' list. Your 'must do' list acts as your personal assistant to remind you of your schedule for that day. You can even break down your 'must do' list into different sections - for example, tasks that can be done in the same place or at anytime during the day, and 'must do's' that can be done at a specific time, no matter what - like healthcare professional appointments or flight plans. 

Your 'master list' contains all the 'must do' items that, while important, are not critical for that day.

Hope this was helpful :)