There's not enough time to do it all

Is there really such a thing as true, successful Time Management?

I always thought I was pretty efficient at getting important tasks done. Between being a mom, running kids all over the place, managing a household, ensuring bills are paid, food is stocked , meals are prepared, chores are completed and working outside the home, keeping things on a schedule is important. Establishing a list of priority items is crucial. However, even with a priority list, inevitably, important items on "the list" sometimes got pushed aside and not completed.

I work in a pretty intense job where my daily responsibilities can change at the drop of a pin. The need to be able to complete scheduled tasks as well as assignments that are given at the last minute and needed ten minutes ago is very important. It requires the ability to manage everyday responsiblities with the addition of what I call "emergency minutes" - time set aside for the "this needs to be done yesterday" situation. I always thought I handled this well, then I went back to school. Managing time has now become a task that I am having difficulty completing.

This week I had a complete and total meltdown. Between the pressure of getting caught up with my Accounting class and managing homework from my other two classes and taking over the managing responsibilities of another Division, I found I just couldn't complete one more request or assignment. I literally blew up at a sergeant and told my Lieutenant he could do his own research. Not exactly a good career move, but I did feel better. And after my meltdown, I was able to refocus and reaarange my schedule to get the task accomplished. I even managed to get some homework done.

So here is my advice: Accept that you are not going to be able to do everything for everyone all the time. Make a list everyday of priority items that must be completed. Include any school work you have, or your kids have, as well. Both of these are tasks you have to complete and are just as important, or maybe more important, than doing the wash or scrubbing the floors. Start at the top of your list and complete as much as you can, but understand you will run into problems that push your timeframe back. Just accept it. You can't change it or prevent it, so just accept it.

I would dearly love to attend a Stephen Covey seminar on time management, however, I need the "time" to do it. Here is a site I found that gives some advice and tips on managing time.

Happy Schooling

http://www.amanet.org/resources/time-management.htm

Go to the bottom of the page and click on Articles & Research
Under Article Title, click on the title
"Managing Your Time When You Don't Have the Time"

Barry J. Izak gives some pretty sound advice in the synopsis.

Time Management

Is there really such a thing as true, successful Time Management?





I always thought I was pretty efficient at getting important tasks done. Between being a mom, running kids all over the place, managing a household, ensuring bills are paid, food is stocked , meals are prepared, chores are completed and working outside the home, keeping things on a schedule is important. Establishing a list of priority items is crucial. However, even with a priority list, inevitably, important items on "the list" sometimes got pushed aside and not completed.

I work in a pretty intense job where my daily responsibilities can change at the drop of a pin. The need to be able to complete scheduled tasks as well as assignments that are given at the last minute and needed ten minutes ago is very important. It requires the ability to manage everyday responsiblities with the addition of what I call "emergency minutes" - time set aside for the "this needs to be done yesterday" situation. I always thought I handled this well, then I went back to school. Managing time has now become a task that I am having difficulty completing.

This week I had a complete and total meltdown. Between the pressure of getting caught up with my Accounting class and managing homework from my other two classes and taking over the managing responsibilities of another Division, I found I just couldn't complete one more request or assignment. I literally blew up at a sergeant and told my Lieutenant he could do his own research. Not exactly a good career move, but I did feel better. And after my meltdown, I was able to refocus and reaarange my schedule to get the task accomplished. I even managed to get some homework done.

So here is my advice: Accept that you are not going to be able to do everything for everyone all the time. Make a list everyday of priority items that must be completed. Include any school work you have, or your kids have, as well. Both of these are tasks you have to complete and are just as important, or maybe more important, than doing the wash or scrubbing the floors. Start at the top of your list and complete as much as you can, but understand you will run into problems that push your timeframe back. Just accept it. You can't change it or prevent it, so just accept it.

I would dearly love to attend a Stephen Covey seminar on time management, however, I need the "time" to do it. Here is a site I found that gives some advice and tips on managing time.

Happy Schooling

http://www.amanet.org/resources/time-management.htm

Go to the bottom of the page and click on Articles & Research
Under Article Title, click on the title
"Managing Your Time When You Don't Have the Time"

Barry J. Izak gives some pretty sound advice in the synopsis.

Where does the time go?

Good evening to all.
I can't believe a week has gone by already. It is amazing how fast time goes when you are constantly on the move.

Between working and being at school two nights and Saturdays, doing homework and keeping up with daily chores, there doesn't seem to be enough hours in a week.

As promised in my last post, I have attached an additional link that gives some pretty good advice for adults returning to school. I did not get to read the entire site, but I have it bookmarked to return to later (when time isnt quite so limited).
I hope you enjoy it and find it useful.

http://www.cce.umn.edu/tips/returning.html


Here is a link you may find interesting. On the left hand side of the site are additional links. The links will take you to various community colleges. Most offer on line courses to obtain your Asscoiates Degree. If you really want to get your degree, but do not have the time or confidence to attend on campus, there maybe an option here that will fill your needs. Remember, there's always a way to attain your goals.

http://adulted.about.com/od/teachertoolkit/Teacher_Toolkit_Careers_in_Education_Teaching_Resources.htm

In my next post I hope to be able to give you some advice on time management. This is the one area I am struggling with. I find it difficult to break the little amount of free time I have into manageable chunks; where i can get my schoolwork completed and still have some down time. I know if I am to succeed, I need to get my time under control.

Have a great week and I'll be talking to you soon.

Helpful tips for adults returning to school

Hi everyone.

I can't believe a week has gone by already.

I have a link I want to share. It was actually given to me by one of my instructors. There are some great tips for adults who are going back to school, or thinking of going back. I wish I had seen this befiore I started in August. It would have made the transition to co-ed a little bit easier.

I have found, after 6 months being back, that it does get easier. And getting into the swing of classes and homework really isn't so bad. So, if you are just back this semester, don't let frustration get the better of you. You will find your feet, then discover it isnt so hard to begin the walk toward accomplishing your goal;soon you'll be running.

Here's the link. I hope you find it useful.

http://www.ecampustours.com/collegeplanning/adviceforadultstudents.aspx

How to start

To school or not to school, that is the question I ask of thee.

Or rather, this is the question I had to ask myself. It took a bit of evaluating my circumstances, my goals, my desires and my own self confidence. The first was easy, circumstances are what you make of them. If you want it bad enough you'll find a way.

The second, my goals, was also easy. I want to grow in my career, professionally and personally, and furthering my education will help me achieve that.

The third, my desires, was also easy. I have always wanted to go back to school. For various reasons I was not able to. The biggest obstacle was my children, or so I always told myself. They are now teens and on their way to asserting their independance, so I could not use them as an excuse anymore.

The fourth, my own self-confidence, was the hardest issue for me to overcome. This is probably the biggest obstacle that has kept me from returning to school. Once I admitted to myself that I could, in fact, go back to school and be successful at it, there really was nothing left to hold me back.

So, here I am. An "older" student working towards her Associates degree in business with hopes of going on to get her bachelors.

That is my history. My next post will explain how I started.

Feel free to send your own experiences in going back to school. I would love to share stories and experiences.

Till next time.