There's never enough time...

"There's never enough time..." seems to be my mantra lately, unfortunately. With three young children and everything that goes along with keeping a household running, I rarely seem to be able to get everything done. It can be frustrating knowing that if I will just stay on task, I can get a lot more done in a shorter amount of time. Unfortunately I easily get side-tracked and often move on to other tasks before the first one is completed.

Making a schedule has helped with my cleaning schedule. Has it helped you stay on task? I have found that it's easy for me to forget to do things if I don't have them written down. That is why today we're going to talk about using lists to help get things accomplished.

Using Lists as a Tool to Get Tasks Accomplished

There are many pros and cons to lists. Lists are great in that they can help you use your time more efficiently. They help you keep your thoughts organized and remember what needs to be done. Lists give you something to cross of when you've finished a task which can give you a wonderful sense of accomplishment. Unfortunately, lists can also overwhelm you with everything you need to do. Also, lists can get lost resulting in you forgetting something potentially important. In my opinion, though, the benefits far outweigh the negatives if lists are used properly.

If you're a list-maker like me, pick one place to keep all of your lists - your computer, phone, or notebook. Keeping your lists all in one place helps eliminate clutter and helps you ensure you don't lose anything important. I keep all of my lists in my phone so I'll always know where they are.

Because I often have more than one day's worth of tasks to remember, I like to have a couple of lists - short term and long term lists. I tend to start each day by making a short term list of everything I want to accomplish that day. The trick here is to make sure you don't over estimate what you think you can get done, because having too many things on the list can be very overwhelming. My long term list generally includes tasks that need to be done but can't get done that day. Having two lists allows me to remember everything without feeling like I have to get it all done today.

As I accomplish tasks, I like to cross off or erase the task. It's silly, but I get a very satisfying feeling of accomplishment when I get to cross tasks off as completed.

Time Wasters

I have found so many time wasters that sometimes I think I've become a professional procrastinator - you know, if there were such a thing! Anything that is a "black hole" of productivity or keeps you from accomplishing your goals is a time waster. My biggest time waster is the internet. Believe me, I can find plenty of reasons why I need to be doing things on the computer to keep from getting things done. What are your biggest time wasters? Take your time and consider what they may be. Having this knowledge will help you with this week's challenge.

A Challenge for Myself

I have two goals for myself this week. My first goal is to actually complete one task on my daily list before moving on to the next one. (This is huge for me!) My second goal is to avoid getting on the internet until each of the tasks on my list is done. If one of my tasks requires me to be online, I will commit to doing nothing other than that task until my entire list is complete. Now it's your turn... I challenge you to stay on task and finish all items on your list before giving in to your time wasters. Hopefully we'll all learn to work more efficiently by sticking with this challenge.

What do you do to help you stay on task? Do you have any tricks? I'd love to hear them - I could always use more ideas!

Time management task for this week: identify your biggest time wasters, each day / week (whichever you prefer) create your list of tasks to be completed, commit yourself to completing your daily task list before giving in to your time wasters.