Time Management (Create 1.1.1)

One of my greatest skills is time management.  My life is busy: I teach full-time and have a one-year old and a two-year old at home.  If I don't manage my time effectively, I won't be able to prioritize, to focus my attention on those things that really matter, both personally and professionally.

The tool I use most frequently to manage my tasks and the time in which I complete them is a simple to-do list.  I have a notebook at school where I can jot down the tasks I need to complete, and I always keep that notebook on my desk so that I can reference it.  At home, to-do lists can be a little bit more complex, so I've developed a family planner that my husband and I use to keep track of our appointments, tasks, and responsibilities.  When I start to feel overwhelmed by the number of tasks I need to complete, I will sometimes annotate my to-do list with estimates of the amount of time it will take me to complete a given task.  So, for example, it only takes about five minutes to call a parent or to do the dishes.  Sometimes this approach gives me to the motivation to complete the tasks that I don't particularly want to complete because I know that the time commitment is relatively short.  This annotated to-do list also helps me budget my time; if I have ten minutes left of my planning period, I can knock out a few tasks.  If I have two hours at home after my children are asleep, I know that I can best use that time to tackle tasks that may take longer (like the Sisyphean task of doing the laundry).    

I have used online to-do lists such as Remember the Milk or OneNote, but those tools were not as effective for me.  I use a month at-a-glance calendar and a year at-a-glance calendar so that I can work on longer-term goals and tasks.  

One tool that I recently discovered and need to use is StayFocusd, a program that will block online sites that I frequent too often or that are a waste of time (i.e., Facebook).  This tool could keep me from wasting time when I could be doing something more useful.  

When I am more productive, when I manage my time more effectively, I free up time that I can use to strengthen the relationships in my life, relationships with my students, colleagues, friends, and family.  I can maintain work/life balance and can free up time to spend with my children or pursue other goals that are important to me.