Using Time Wisely

Organized to save money, energy, and time

You are here: Home / Archives for Miscellaneous / Time Management

Time Management: 7 Ways to Recharge your Energy

by

Photograph Credit: Flickr (Ligia Santos Rodrigues)

After dealing with car issues all last week on top of congested children, I found myself worn out and exhausted by the end of the weekend. In preparing for house guests and continuing to purge, clean, and organize our home, my energy has slowly been depleted.

Since my energy battery needed to recharge fully before taking on another project, I took a little break yesterday. When you need to replenish your energy, try one or more of these seven options:

1. Complete a maintenance task

I chose to complete two loads of laundry. In taking my time folding and putting away, I maintained the laundry pile without overworking or over-thinking. By finishing one task, you will not feel that your day was in vain. Choose an easy, but necessary, household task to keep you on track.

2. Play with your children

My girls overflow with energy, and I am either rejuvenated or exhausted while playing with them. To stay relaxed, I held items my toddler brought to me and watch my preschooler play an X-Box game. Both enjoyed the time with Mom while Mommy replenished.

3. Exercise

Take your kids for a walk. The weather was nasty yesterday, so we stayed indoors. But just getting up and moving around will improve your energy level.

4. Fix simple meals

In keeping to the basics yesterday, I fed my family without exhausting myself in the kitchen.

5. Take a warm bath

After each day, I enjoy soaking in a warm bath. A few moments of quiet and relaxation prepares me for a great night’s sleep.

6. Read a book

After putting my children to bed and checking e-mail, I turned off the computer, took a warm bath, and crawled into bed with a blogging book. In the quiet, I can read, think, and exercise my brain.

7. Get your rest

Oh, bedtime . . . what a nice time of day to rest and recharge for the next day. Choosing to retire an hour earlier than usual, I fell right to sleep. With my energy replenished, I awoke this morning ready to take on the day.

Mommies give and give and give. Remember you need to recharge your energy for yourself and your family. Taking a little break may restore your energy for the next round of activity. My little break was worth using time wisely to recharge. Now off to wake up my little sleepy heads. Happy relaxing!

Question: How do you recharge your energy? Please add your answer to the comments.

Using Time Wisely: Counting my Blessings (24-34)

by

Photograph Credit: Flickr (Eric E. Johnson)

Taking a moment to reflect on the blessings I enjoy each day will remove hints of discouragement, discontentment, and self-pity.

In getting back to my gratitude report which was last posted in November, I need to remember how blessed I am.

Today I am grateful for how quickly I can do daily tasks because of the great inventions I have within reach. For this grateful report, I am counting these blessings:

24. My Mr. Coffee tea maker that completes 3 quarts in less than 5 minutes

25. An automatic dishwasher that spends 30 to 40 minutes washing all the food, grease, and liquid from our dishes, pots, and pans

26. A washing machine that takes 25 minutes to wash a load of clothes

27. A dryer that warms our clothing in about an hour

28. The microwave to defrost frozen meat in about 20 minutes

29. The crock pot that slowly cooks our dinner all day long

30. Reliable vehicles to get from place to place saving valuable time from walking or riding

31. My KitchenAid that blends the mix in about 3 minutes without constant attention

32. Light bulbs that illuminate my home at night while I work

33. Electric can opener that saves me energy from using a crank-handled opener

34. Cart on wheels to move many items from one place to another in few trips

Just using time savers for these few items, I save a minimum of 2 hours each day. My heart overflows with gratitude as I realize how much time I have saved by using these inventions.

Finding ways to get the job done in the least amount of time remains a favorite game. As I shave off time from one area, I can bank those minutes to spend more time with my kids while counting my blessings.

Question: For what are you grateful today? Please add your answer to the comments.

Errands: Adding Breaks to your Schedule

by

Photograph Credit: Flickr (Seenu)

After spending a few days last week sorting through the mound of paperwork that “appeared” on my desk, I had a day full of errands to run. With little ones in tow, adding breaks to my schedule is a must.

Errands

My list of errands included:

    • Bi-Lo – grocery store
    • CVS – drugstore
    • Credit Union
    • Publix – grocery store
    • Post office
    • Eye doctor appointments

Breaks

These errands are necessary, but boring for little ones. To keep the outing a fun adventure, I just added in breaks and treats along the way.

    • Bi-Lo – accepting the free cookies – yes, it was before lunch. 🙂
    • CVS – scanning extra care card, searching for sale items, and walking without the cart. (These activities are big deals for my little ones.)
    • Credit Union – choosing lollipops and a toy from the treasure box for making deposits into their accounts
    • Publix – receiving another free cookie for the girls
    • Post office – running around in the play area while waiting to send off a few packages
    • Lunch – purchasing $.79 cheeseburgers and $.49 hamburgers at our local McDonald’s. The girls loved the special lunch, and mom enjoyed the under $5 price.
    • School – climbing on the playground before brother’s class ended
    • Eye doctor appointments – playing with electronic toys (brought from home) while waiting for the doctor
    • Snack – redeeming coupons for free cookies at Zaxby’s. Yep, another free cookie before dinner.

Though our day was full of errands and sugar, we enjoyed the special time together by adding breaks to our schedule. If you have a long list of errands that include little ones in tow, then go for it. Schedule your day around the fun at your errand locations. (If you prefer, limit the cookies and include more errands with playground activities.)

Life is full of obstacles. Embrace them, plan extra time for breaks, and enjoy your little ones while using time wisely. Happy planning!

Question: What errand does your little one enjoy because of the fun?

Guest Post: Reducing your Junk Mail

by

Today, I welcome Jim Wang of Bargaineering.com as he shares how we can reduce the amount of junk mail coming to our mailboxes. Less stuff coming into our homes equals using time wisely doing necessary tasks apart from sorting unsolicited mail. Enjoy!

There’s one thing that most families will do each day, besides eat and sleep, and that’s check their mail. There’s something fun about opening up the mail box and seeing what has arrived, unless it’s a fistful of bills or unsolicited mailings. If you want to save yourself some time, I can share some strategies to cut down on the junk mail you get (the bills are up to you!).

The easiest way to reduce the amount of mail you get, and thus have to open or shred, is to cut down on the junk mail you receive. OptOutPrescreen.com is a site set up as a result of the Fair Credit Reporting Act and it keeps a registry of names that creditors and insurers cannot contact with offers of credit or insurance, unless you initiate it. By signing up, you can opt out permanently or for five years, after which you’ll need to renew again. Signing up for this site has cut down my junk mail significantly because this effectively stops almost all of the unsolicited mailings I would receive.

What OptOutPrescreen.com does not do is prevent mailings from companies with which you have an existing relationship. If you have a Citi credit card, Citibank can still send you offers because that’s an existing relationship. In order to opt out of those mailings, you have to contact the marketing department of each company and ask to be removed from the marketing lists. This will take some time because you will need to call each company individually but it is well worth it.

You can also use a free service like Catalog Choice to opt out of catalogs, coupon mailers, and other large volume mailers. The service will help you find the proper forms to fill out to stop getting useless mailings like your local phone book (who uses these anymore?) and ValuPaks (if you never use those coupon books). In some cases, you can opt out of a service from within Catalog Choice and in other cases you’ll be redirected to the services’ website. I’ve used Catalog Choice to opt out of at least half a dozen mailings.

Finally, if you are still getting a lot of junk mail despite these efforts, the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse has a fantastic fact sheet on junk mail that walks you through specific steps you can take to cut down on your junk mail. They discuss everything from the Direct Marketer’s Association Preference Service to opting out of mailings from your supermarket loyalty card. It’s a fantastic resource.

There’s an extra side benefit of reducing the amount of junk mail you get – you reduce the opportunity for identity theft. Your credit and your identity are two of your most valuable assets in the modern world and keeping both in sterling condition is important, especially if you want to get a loan with a reasonable rate. Maintaining a good credit score and preventing identity theft is much easier when someone can’t just open your mailbox and steal a credit card application you never asked for.

For more financial tips, visit Jim on his personal finance blog, Bargaineering.com.

Question: How bothersome is your junk mail?

2012 Quick Tip Week: Power Off Your Phone

by

Photograph Credit: Microsoft Images

Hope you are enjoying this week of quick tips to using time wisely. Time constraints arise that limit our choices.

By choosing time-saving strategies, we can coast through the busy times until we make through to the other side. Then we can take the time to catch up and plan.

If you have missed any tips, here are the links to each tip: #1 – Designated space for “to be filed” paperwork, #2 – Use disinfecting wipes for quick cleanings, and #3 – Keep your brainstorming notes. The next tip comes from the miscellaneous category, specifically time management.

Quick Tip #4: Power Off Your Phone

Really?! How can I go without my phone? I understand. When you are in the midst of a big project, you need to stay accessible. However, when you need to get that project done and have a block of time to work, power off your phone and start. Without your phone, you can concentrate and produce without distractions by the texts, rings, and beeps.

Besides my phone, I also close out my e-mail and Google Reader on my computer. Seeing the tabs update at the top of the screen tend to distract me. With time to work, I prefer to cut the distractions by closing the extra tabs on my computer and turning off my phone.

In using time wisely, power off your phone and increase your productivity. Set the timer, power off your phone, and work. When the timer ends, check your messages, and examine your work. As I cut distractions, my level of productivity rises. Try it. This tip works for me, and it may work for you. Happy productivity!

Question: How often do you power off your phone?