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Do you often find yourself telling your child (or your spouse or yourself for that matter!) to hurry up? I decided to make a conscious effort to stop saying those two little words and couldn’t believe how hard it was!
Really, it’s not my kid’s fault if we’re running late; it’s mine. It’s grossly unfair for me to tell them to hurry up if I’m the one that woke up late and didn’t prepare my day well.
Of course, there are the times when they’d rather tell each other knock knock jokes that don’t make any sense for a half hour straight instead of eating their dinner, but in that case we have set consequences and they just end up punishing themselves.
I’m a firm believer that our kids are our best mirrors, for good and bad. If you find yourself complaining about how they’re always running late, maybe you should evaluate your own scheudle and time management techniques – I know I had to!
So what’s the answer? In a society with a plethora of tools such as Daytimers, PDA’s, and the ever popular Outlook, I’ve devised a simple yet effective plan:
Every night before I go to bed, I pull out an index card. I write the date on the top left and below it write out any scheduled appointments for the day as well as set items that will definitely happen but may not have a set time (such as quiet time, kids nap, prepare for dinner, etc) – that way I have a “map” for how my day will look.
On the RIGHT SIDE, I write out my to-do list for the day: these are things I hope to accomplish in order of importance. That way, as I’m going through my day and have a free moment (hahahaha), I’m never sitting around wondering, “What should I do now?” I used to find myself so overwhelmed with the feeling of having so much to do but not knowing where to start. This method gives me a tangible and visible plan for my day without making me feel guilty if I don’t accomplish everything because I know I can always reevaluate throughout the day and at the end of the night before making my card for the next day.
Let me know if this helps you or if you have any ideas for organizing your day!
