Our friends have this amazing springer spaniel who can balance food on his nose.  I’m in awe every time they make him wait with food (anything from crackers to dog food to a chip) carefully resting on his snout.  I’m mostly jealous our dog can’t do it.  In fact, we tried with Milton, but he just snarls his lip and crosses his eyes when you start to put something near his nose…it’s kinda funny!

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About a week and a half ago, I gave a presentation to a group of college students for my day job.  I had agreed to give the presentation on time management.  In the past, I had attended sessions from colleagues on the subject and knew I could easily pull something together.  The funny things, as I was doing so, I started to realize how much I needed to revisit the tips….they were mostly things I heard before, but rarely did in my home life.

How had a I gotten to a place of mis-managing my time and priorities?  I wanted to blame something (like this blog), but know that’s not really the issue. I’ve talked about balance before and my failures at it.  Do you ever struggle with balancing it all?  Every day, there is laundry to do, dishes to be put away, blog posts to write/read, friends/loved ones to spend time with and the list goes on.

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So, as a new month is around the corner, yet again, I thought I’d share some tips with you.  They’re mostly a reminder to me, rather than for you.  I need some accountability in this, and posting things here is sometimes just what I need to kick my butt into gear.

• Time cannot be managed, rather you have to manage yourself.  Time will keep on going the same as it always does.  Being balanced is more about learning to deal with it all.
• Prioritize and re-prioritize often.  Assess what you have to do but making a list and determining what is urgent and what can wait.  But don’t be afraid to go back and reconsider what you’ve done and still needs to be done from time to time.
• Start with the task you dread the most.  By getting the thing done from your to-do list you dislike the most, you’ll have something to look forward to as a reward.
• Create an audience. If you tell someone about what you’re doing, you’re more likely to get it done.  This goes back to accountability.  Allow others to help/encourage you in the things that need to be done.
• Develop a rewards and punishment system.  Remember getting a gold star on your chore chart as a child? Think of this in a similar manner. Allow yourself a reward for when you do finish a big task or reach a goal.