Archive for Time Management
Do you work through lunch?
Posted by: | Comments
Do you take a break?
Do you take a lunch break or do you madly work through without a break from the time the kids go to school to when they get home?
It can be tempting to work through without a break, suddenly realising that you’re hungry around the time you pick the kids up from school. Or taking your lunch to your desk and work while you eat.
Ask yourself this - in life before children, did you take a lunch break then? When I was working BC (before children), I would make a point of going to the corner shop for my lunch. If I had brought my lunch to work, I’d go and get a hot chocolate. This would give me a change of scenery and short work and a break from work.
Recently I’ve started having a lunch break. Usually I sit and watch Dr Phil or some other trashy thing on TV because it’s been too cold & wet to go for a walk. I wish there was a coffee place near me… Other times I’ll go up to my brother’s cafe or somewhere in between to have lunch or a hot chocolate for a change of scenery and a good break. Sometimes the break is for an hour, other times shorter, other times longer.
Having a break is important. Often great ideas will flow, but more often than not, the break helps me come back in the afternoon refreshed and ready for the next task.
So, do you take a lunch break? If not, it might be time to start.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------- For your daily dose of business mums websites and blogs, check out Business Mums DailyTake the weekend off
Posted by: | Comments
Enjoy your weekends
I know I normally have a Marketing Monday tip on a Monday, however today is a public holiday - the Queen’s birthday. I wasn’t going to post, however I spotted something on the weekend that had me shaking my head.
On Facebook, I saw a number of business pages posting apologies that they wouldn’t be around as they were spending time with their families!
I have noticed this a lot - many business mums don’t take the weekends off, instead continue to work frantically in their businesses.
Think about it - if you were working for someone else, you wouldn’t be working on the weekend, instead you’d be spending time with the family, doing housework, or whatever else you do on the weekends.
I know of many husbands complaining about Mums spending the whole weekend working, not to mention kids complaining.
So, the point of this post is to remind all the business mums out there to remember to take time out. Take a weekend and enjoy some quality time with your family.
Oh, and a weekend doesn’t have to be Saturday/Sunday. I know of some business mums who have husbands who do shift work and have Sunday/Monday as their weekend.
Depending on your business, you may need to be at a market or do a party plan presentation on weekends, just don’t let these take up all weekend every weekend. Take some weekends off and enjoy them!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------- For your daily dose of business mums websites and blogs, check out Business Mums DailyDoing “Mum Stuff”
Posted by: | Comments
As a business mum, there is a certain amount of “Mum Stuff” I need to do in a day. This could include helping out at school, doing some baking, housework, washing, and tidying, not to mention being “Mums Taxi” taking the kids to extra curricular activities and friends places after school and on the weekend.
So, what do you do, and how do you get it all done?
I aim to get as much business work done while the kids are at school as possible so much of the “Mum Stuff” is done while the kids are home after school or on the weekends. Occasionally there are days like today when I’m not feeling particularly motivated, I’ll do some of the “Mum” tasks.
So far today I have done some baking and changed the sheets on the bed. It’s a beautiful sunny day, so I”m hoping to get all the washing on the line so it will drive before the rains come in the next couple of days.
“Mum Stuff” can also be an effective procrastination tool - if you let it. It can be easy to see the pile of washing or the kids toys around and deal with them before you do any work for your business, especially if you work from home. It can be easier if you work in a shop or office outside home as the constant reminders are not right in front of you.
Schedule in your Mum tasks as you would any other task. You may put aside an hour a day, or whatever works for you, to do these tasks, or even a morning or day a week.
If these tasks are getting too much for you, then outsource. I have a cleaner who comes in on Friday mornings to clean, all we have to do is make sure everything gets tidied. I know of some Mums who outsource their ironing and gardening.
Doing “Mum Stuff” is important, but it can be tempting to let it take over so nothing else gets done.
What are some of your tips to help you get all the Mum Stuff done as well as your business tasks?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------- For your daily dose of business mums websites and blogs, check out Business Mums DailyTime Management - a question
Posted by: | Comments
Last week, my Mum attended the Monash Council Women in Business meeting. Their speaker was talking about time management. Mum came back with a lot of ideas and was all fired up.
Talking with my Dad the other night (my parents work together in their business), he made the comment that most time management experts tell you how you can get more done. He would rather get less done and have space to think and plan.
This let me to the question - do you want to plan your time so you can get more done in a day, or would you rather plan it so you can get things done in a smaller amount of time so you can do less?
I’m not sure if all of this makes sense, but if you can make any sense of my rambling, I would love to hear your thoughts.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------- For your daily dose of business mums websites and blogs, check out Business Mums Daily