Managing Time Wisely

It isn’t uncommon that today, more than 50% of households include two working parents. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2005, 83.8 percent of two spouse households have at least one spouse employed and 90.2 percent of families with children have at least one parent employed. With this in mind, how is it possible to find time to do the smaller things in life? Washing dishes, grocery shopping, typing up correspondence, and picking up the dry cleaning are important, but little time is to be had for these projects. It is hard enough, getting up, getting the children off to school, and getting out of the house for work. So why do so many people stress over getting the small things done?

It is important for families to find the time to spend with each other and complete necessary household chores. It is a misconception that hiring outside help is more costly in the end. Studies show that stress, both good and bad have an effect on the body. We all know that bad stress has a negative effect on the body. In the long run, stress can cost you your health. Instead of stressing over the small but important things in life, why not hire outside help? Delegating the smaller but important responsibility to an outside source leaves more time for the more pleasant things in life-family outings, a hot meal at the table together, a movie in on a rainy day.

Here are things that you can do to alleviate stress and make time for the important things in life:

Learn to say no! It isn’t absolutely necessary that you work that last little bit of overtime. Give yourself a limit of how much overtime you will work per week and once you have hit your limit, just say no!!

Re-evaluate your daily activities. Evaluate your daily routine and see if there is anything that you can cut out or do differently. For example: doing one load of laundry daily may work better than doing laundry all day Sunday.

Delegate smaller tasks to outside sources. Consider hiring outside help to do your grocery shopping, laundry, errands, and other small, essential tasks.

Take time for yourself. Schedule time each day to do something to pamper yourself. It could be ten or fifteen minutes in the bathtub or a few minutes soaking your feet. Do something that makes you happy and do it uninterrupted.

Exercise! Exercising is good for your health and makes you better overall.

Remember, stress can be alleviated! It is up to you to create a schedule that works for you and your body! Live today as if it were your last day.