Time Management for Homeschoolers pg. 2

Time MANAGEMENT for Homeschoolers - Page 2

#2 I think we are very poor judge of how long it is going to take us to do something. I think we need to measure accurately. How many of you have been around someone who you heard say "I will be there in 15 minutes" and you knew for a fact it was going to take 30 minutes. And this person didn’t have their shoes and socks on and still needed to find their keys. One of two things are happening here: If you know that it takes longer to get there than 15 minutes, then you are lying and refusing to live in reality. I suggest spending some quality time trying to figure out why this is an issue for you. If you don’t know that it takes more than 15 minutes and you find that you are consistently late, you need to take some time measuring time accurately.

We often don’t realize how long it actually takes to put a child in a car seat. Those things are only getting more and more complicated as time goes on and can take 10 minutes getting all the bells and whistles, locked and loaded. Or how about driving through two school zones before your destination or the meal that you tell your family will be ready in 20 minutes but you forgot to include the 40 minute defrost time. Some of those casseroles are like ice blocks after they’ve been frozen.

And just a little note: the word "busy" is completely subjective. What is busy to one person is boredom to another. What is busy to me might be insanity to another. Could you imagine if I was complaining about the task of orchestrating the used curriculum fair to the organizers of the Olympics? Being "busy" is a state of mind and your homeschool schedule and life should reflect your family and no one else’s.

Recommendations: Just like you budget money - budget realistic amounts of time for subjects as well as chores, eating, field trips, grocery shopping, alone time, etc. Take a couple of days or a week to move through your day with a cheap stopwatch and an index card. Press start when your child begins to work on their math. Press finish when they are through and write it on an index card. After you have collected your data, then compile it into a schedule. Don’t put the cart before the horse unless you are a good judge of time.

Book Recommendations: "Margin" by Richard Swenson. Excellent book! Love it!

A - Attention Drainers

What steals your time? We live in constant tension between what is urgent and what is important. At the last meeting, I mentioned my favorite place in the mall - the Franklin Covey store. Franklin Covey has a great chapter in his First Things First book called The Urgency Addiction. "Knowing and doing what’s important rather than simply responding to what’s urgent is foundational to putting first things first...Some of us get so used to the adrenaline rush of handling crises that we become dependent on it for a sense of excitement and energy." It makes us feel needed. How does urgency make you feel?

Right now, while you are trying to get a hold of your time and schedule, decide for you what is important and what is urgent. For instance, I refuse to answer the phone 15 minutes before I am leaving the house. It stresses me if I take a phone call during that time. It uses up the valuable time that I need to get out the door. It puts someone who calls me on the phone, ahead of someone or something that I have already made a prior commitment to. Is it right to put someone on the phone ahead of an appointment that I’ve made with you?

It’s like when someone takes a phone call at a store when you are ready to pay for the item. I am standing right there. The person on the phone may not even show up! Lots of people think phone calls are urgent. They’re not. And don’t even get me started on cell phones. Recommendations: Fill in the blanks here: "I am not a slave to ______________ . It is a service/help to me but it will not control my day or my schedule." Decide what will you give your attention to. Phone? Computer? Delegate your time. Frequently ask yourself, "What is the best use of my time right now?"

Book Recommendations:

"First Thing First" by Stephen Covey

"Tyranny of the Urgent" by Charles Hummel

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