Already the Christmas and New Year celebrations may seem a distant memory and many Mums will have made a New Year’s resolution to find some ‘me’ time, whether it be to take up a new hobby, start a new exercise regime or simply to reconnect with old, neglected friends. However statistics from the Mental Health Organisation show that 80 per cent of New Year’s resolutions are never achieved. Probably due to the fact that we are all so busy these days trying to juggle family, work and social commitments. So how can we possibly find the time to carry out these new resolution tasks that we have added to our ‘to do list’?
Set achievable goals
Maybe it's better to deal with each day as it comes rather than setting huge, long term goals which may seem daunting and then become unachievable. Breaking each day into smaller chunks can help you manage your time better and this advice can apply at home or in the workplace. It is also vital, but not always easy, to prioritise your tasks and to carefully consider which things you can leave for another day.
Many people find it useful to assign jobs into a Time Management Matrix: a quadrant which helps you to decide which tasks are Urgent and Non Urgent and Important and Non Important. It is quite revealing to do this even in a home environment - suddenly vacuuming the living room or tidying the playroom can move to the ‘do another day ‘list. You can find examples of these quadrant tables easily on the internet.
Source: DaveOnFlickr
Keep in touch with friends
Spending time with friends is as important, if not more important, than filing that report with your boss or cleaning the kitchen. Having a good support network around you means you can help each other out with the school run and babysitting as well as enjoy that all important girls night out to recharge your batteries.
That said it can be difficult to find time to arrange these fun things when your resources are stretched and many relationships are conducted via text, voicemail messages and Facebook posts. Thank goodness for new technology, where would we be without our phones and laptops? Making use of time saving technologies is definitely the way forward as generations before us found out when ground-breaking inventions which we now regard as common place, such as the washing machine, were introduced.
Source: clogozm
Get your children involved
By allocating appropriate chores you can encourage your children to learn to manage money and understand their own responsibilities. A good idea at this time of year is to ask them to donate old toys to charity to make room for their new Christmas gifts. It will make them feel good and help spread the burden of chores too.
Source: MissMessie
Finally, relax
Finally, it is also a good idea to take a few minutes to just sit back, relax and reflect on the good things in life over a cup of tea. Taking time out of your busy schedule for that well deserved break and to chat with friends should form part of every Mum's ‘to do list’.
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