Being organised when there are multiple demands on your time

I recently wrote a blog post on tools I use to keep organised. It was one of my most popular posts so, keeping with a theme, I thought I’d share with you how I make the most of time. Take from it what you find useful and ignore the rest.

I’ve read we all have the same 24 hours as Beyoncé. That, of course, is true but most of us tend to live very different lifestyles and time can feel very different when there are numerous demands on it.

I also think many tips on productivity seem to be written by (and for) people who are able to get a full night’s rest whenever they choose, have a cleaner or family on hand to help out, or just don’t have young, gorgeous but quite sticky mitts and faces to extricate from work clothes.

So, here’s some of the ways I make it work:

Consider what we’re saying yes to:

I was asked this question by a coach. What are you agreeing to and why? Do you want to be signed up for these things? For example, a lot of women who go on maternity leave end up taking up the slack when it comes to house-hold stuff because they are home. Their main role is supposed to be keeping the new baby alive and content and healing themselves. When they go back to work those tasks don’t seem to be divvied up again. This happened to me too, despite me being the one who works full-time. My only solution so far is to reduce what I have and only buy essential stuff. This makes cleaning and tidying easier.

One thing I have said yes to is walking across campus for meetings. I like to keep this even though it may seem inefficient. It gets me away from the computer and outside for my daily Vitamin D. It also reminds anyone who sees me that I still exist beyond email!

Consider what we’re saying no to:

By saying yes to some things, we are automatically saying no to others. By being conscious of the reasons we are saying no we can do so calmly and without guilt. I’ve been saying no to some things recently. Even though I’d like to do them, they don’t quite add enough value to be worth giving up other stuff I want to do. I know I just don’t have the capacity to take on ‘all the things’ and wouldn’t do the job well. It’s good to keep pushing at the edges (that’s where the interesting stuff happens) but not get to the point where we can’t cope.

Chunking (and protecting) time:

On very busy days I will schedule all my meetings back to back in a centrally located space. It’s halfway located between my office and theirs so shows compromise. If people are late they get less time. If they need more they will then need to make another appointment – currently I don’t have a limit on these but this may change in future. It means I don’t offer an extra well-meaning ten minutes for someone who’s very late. I also chunk marking, email and writing up observation forms.

Using liminalities of time: 

Conversely, there’s always time in between meetings. Time where people have failed to show up. Time in between appointments. I keep a book, a notepad and my phonecharger on me at all times so I can always make the most of those precious few minutes. I don’t start big tasks here or ones that require too much concentration, like marking, but I might start planning something which I can pick up later or answer a few emails. 

Being aware of and using energy wisely: 

Many productivity gurus will say get up at 5am. They'll say use this time to journal, meditate and go for a run. When you don’t know when the kids will wake up and have no-one to watch them while you go for a shower (never mind a run) this can be tricky. I’m generally up at 5.45am every morning (not out of choice) and still get woken up several times through the night (this isn’t as frequent as it used to be) so sleep is a BIG priority. I am also at my most creative and productive in the mornings. As a result, where possible I schedule my teaching, training, planning and writing for then. I aim to have my meetings in the afternoon. I never skip meals as I know this wrecks my energy levels. I can't do large bouts of exercise without being interrupted but can just about do ten minutes of yoga or HIIT with the children and cat climbing on me and joining in - this keeps my energy and sanity levels okay-ish.

Being present with my children

Evenings and weekends are for my children. They are young and need, nay, demand my attention! I’m happy to give it to them. While I still check my phone occasionally to avoid any nasty surprises come Monday morning, I rarely answer email then. This is the time when I take us all to the woods which I find benefits us all. When they’ve gone to sleep, I have about two hours to have dinner then choose to either blog, do my yoga course, plan my coaching business or read. Or just go to bed.

What are your tips and tricks? What are you saying yes and no to? Where are you using your energy? Leave a comment below.