Crash Test:
A ‘Mum’s Time is Precious’ workshop, run by Debbie Marks of The Edge for Mums.
Why?
Credit: Time Management by lyoungwellness on Photobucket
I sometimes find it hard to reconcile my decision to be a SAHM with wanting to be productive and use my work skills and experience. The result is I try and do it all at the same time and rarely seem to be 100% present for the CrashKids, CrashHubby or myself.
So even though I’ve done time management workshops before and was pretty good at it in my life BC (Before Children), I was pretty keen to have a night off and spend some time learning how to do it when you’re a mum.
Test Conditions:
A quiet corner of a friendly pub (I had forgotten what a pub was), amongst friendly time-challenged mums just like me. However, I arrived late because CrashHubby forgot I was going out to a ‘Mum’s Time is PRECIOUS’ workshop – sheesh!
Crash Test Results:
Debbie got us thinking about how we spend our time and how little is left for us at the end of the day. Some excellent SMART guidelines for goal-setting and barrier-busting had us all on our way to developing an achievable goal to find time for ourselves.
I struggled to even think of something I could do for myself at the start. However, I ended up setting a goal to rejig the family routine to separately define family time vs my time, to be completed by the end of the following week.
If you can’t get to one of Deb’s workshops, she has a great series of free videos that you can sign up for.
Condition Report:
I came away from the workshop feeling a little less hopeless. I wasn’t the only one struggling to juggle everything. It was really nice to be in the same boat as other mums. One week later we had a family routine that actually included me in it! Time when I could check email and social media, time when I could work on projects, and time on my own without the kids.
So what am I going to do with this free time? A deluxe pedicure and manicure thanks very much!
