Time goes by so quickly

I think one of the biggest things that everyone struggles with when they move out on their own is time management, because let's face it most people didn't take all those time management tips to heart in high school and college. If you are one of those people who did take those tips to heart well then more power to you, and congratulations on being one step ahead of the game. For the rest of us out there, time management is one of those things that different things work for different people. There are a lot of reasons for this, first and most obviously is the fact that everyone is different, secondly some people have more time than others, someone who has all day to do things have different time management needs than those who only have a few hours every day to do things that need to be done. But I think most importantly when thinking about what you want to get accomplished in a day there you might have different ideas on how to do it. So basically, these time management tips are what I have found to work for me; as I go along I might find things that work better or I might find things that don't work nearly as well, but what is most important is that you try and try until you find something that works for you.

1. Write things down: I personally have a planner in my purse that goes everywhere with me, and a calendar on my kitchen wall. I use both of these to tell me when my bills are due, when people are coming over, when I have appointments, when Alan and I get paid. I also try as often as possible to write down Alan and I's work schedule. This is one of the biggest things that has helped me manage my time because it allows me to see when I have free time and when I need to get things together because stuff is fast approaching. Now don't get me wrong there are some flaws to this write it down system, to begin with if you forget to write it down then you might forget to do it. This is part of the reason I have a planner and a calendar, things pop up and if I am out I can still right them down. Then I just sync up my calendar and planner once every couple of days. Another thing to remember if you use this system is to put your calendar where you are going to see it. I my calendar is in the kitchen near the sink, I have to look at it every time I walk out of the kitchen and it's my friendly little reminder that I might have to get something done.
   
2. Remember there are only 24 hours in a day: Now I know most people see this as a bad thing. Because more often than not 24 hours is just not enough, in fact I am pretty sure that if we could add another 10 hours to each day most of us would be happy. But at the same time eventually that would not be enough, so some of the best advice that I can give is to be happy with what you have, and you only have 24 hours. Now what you do with those 24 hours is up to you. I tend to try and break my day down, especially when I was working 10 hours days and traveling an hour one way and an hour back in awful traffic. First remember that sleep is necessary and depending on who you are you might need more than others. I personally need about six to eight hours to be functional, I can function with less but I don't tend to have a very nice disposition with less. Secondly, subtract your time for work and travel to and from work, so for me say I was getting seven hours of sleep and then two hours for travel and then ten hours of work, that right there gets rid of nineteen hours of my day, leaving me with five hours to do whatever else it is that I need to do during the day, this includes cleaning, cooking, eating, relaxing, and anything else that I need to do during the day. I have learned that I like to cook, but a lot of time the simpler the better, but I always give myself 45 minutes for prep, cook, and clean-up . 30-45 minutes for eating (sometimes more or less depending on what I am eating. Then from there I give myself 30 minutes of cleaning up something around the house, this can be dusting the living room, vacuuming, picking up stuff, unloading the dishwasher, etc. As I am currently studying for my GREs I give myself an hour of study time a day, 30 minutes for getting ready in the morning.
   

   So here is the break down:
   

   7 hours of sleep
   

   30 minutes of getting ready in the morning
   

   1 hour travel to work
   

   10 hours of work
   

   1 hour travel from work
   

   45 minutes of cooking
   

   45 minutes of eating
   

   30 minutes of cleaning
   

   1 hour of studying
   

   Total 22.5 hours
   

   This leaves me an hour and a half to do whatever I want to do, when it comes to relaxing, but it also gives me some wiggle room with the schedule, if I want to clean more or study more, or cook something elaborate.
   

3. Do the big things on the weekend: When Alan and I first moved in together we struggled with finding time to do the laundry, grocery shopping, and all the other big chores. What I cannot emphasize the most is do the big things on the weekend, or your days off. This not only gives you time to do it and do it right but you won't feel like you are playing catch-up. Get all the laundry done in one day, and I know for some people this isn't possible, but this was what I meant about some things work for some people and some things don't. This is what works for me, and it has been a BIG help when it comes to time management.
   
4. Make time for yourself: Time management is very dependent on your stress level. The more stressed I get the harder it is for me to manage my time. What I have learned is that I needed to make a little time for myself at least once a week to do something for me. Now this can be anything and it can take any amount of time. Some weeks I work on some sort of craft, some weeks it involves me dancing around the living room, and some weeks I just go for a little drive away from the noise and traffic. Relaxing helps you focus and stay on task. When you can get your wits about you and you can focus and think then you will be more productive. And productivity is the goal of time management.
   
5. Learn to say NO: One of my biggest problems when it came to time management was learning to say NO. I am awful at this, I want to please everyone, and do anything I can to help, but one of the things I had to learn was that sometimes what I need to do is focus on me, and the things that I need to get done because if you over schedule yourself then you will have to either cut corners to get everything done or not do something that you need to do, and neither situation is ideal.
   
6. Plan it out: This is something that I have learned is important to not only time management but also to budgeting (which I will talk about later). Planning what you need to do will make life easier. I plan everything right now. I plan what I need to clean, I plan what Alan and I will be eating during the week, and I plan a bunch of other little things. When I say plan I guess I should explain what I mean. By plan I mean list. Listing will make life easier; it gives you the ability to check things off to see how close to done you are, it helps you remember what you need and what you don't, and it helps you estimate how much time it will take you to do something. Think about it like this, when you go to the grocery store with a list, you get what you need probably a little of what you don't and you get in and out quickly. Thus, saving yourself time and the head ache of forgetting something you need and then having to go back later.
   

Those six things have made my life so much easier since I moved into my own place. And what I have learned is that when the stress level is down things get done more efficiently. Managing my time leaves me time for the more important things in life, such as spending time with friends and family. But just remember relax, do what you can, and don't sweat the small stuff. Being on your own is hard enough as it is, don't make it harder by worrying about what you can't get done right at that moment.