Need More Than 24 Hours in Your Day?

Being a Stay at Home, HomeSchooling, Business Owning-Working from home Mom, is not only a mouthful, but quite a challenging position to be in when it comes to getting the most I can from my 24 hour day! That being said, I have taken heed to some helpful suggestions that I thought I would share with any and all who may be in the same boat as I so often find myself in.

• Keeping a daily "to-do" list - Numbering the items according to the order in which I will be taking care of them. Indicating those that are worth spending more time on. Checking off each item as I complete the task, and carrying over any unfinished items to tomorrow's list.
• Scheduling my most important tasks first - I never seem to have any trouble finding time for the less important items.
• Keeping one calendar - This was a life-saver for me. Once I made the switch to ONE calendar (DayMinder-Weekly Professional Appointments - each day begins at 7am with 15 minute slots for entire day until 10pm) my habit of missing something important or double booking an appointment was no longer an issue.
• Admitting to myself that I will not always have time for Everything - Learn to favor the activities that are going to yield the most important results. Allocate as much time as possible to those activities that are related to what you feel is truly worthwhile in light of your personal goals.
• Apply the "Pareto Principle; A.K.A. the 80/20 rule - Often 80 percent of our results come from about 20 percent of our effort. This has application to almost any task we may be contemplating . A task may, very well, be as good as finished after we've given attention to the most important aspects of it.
• Work like a professional - Instead of waiting for the right mood to come along, just get working.
• Don't be a perfectionist! - Know when it is time to move on the next important activity.

Planning Makes Good Sense..

Planning our days and then following through is such an important concept. One that I hope to teach my children well. The following is an excerpt from the publication, "You Can", simply titled, "Things to Do":

"The people who get the most done-and still seem to have the most time on their hands for other things-are the ones who go at their work from a carefully mapped out plan. For in the end, it's the one who conserves and uses to its full, the 24 hours of Time at his command, that Leads and Rules.

The successful are they that See and Do-the Unsuccessful are they that See-and do not Do.

Having Things To Do-and doing them according to Plan has produced sufficient Romance in the Business of the World, which if written out, would remain undying in its inspiration to succeeding generations.

A single illustration here. Hugh Chalmers, Office Boy, then Salesman, then Sales Manager, then Vice-President and General Manager, of the National Cash Register Company-later President of a Concern he himself organized and doing business into the millions! Each night Mr. Chalmers' Secretary writes out on a little slip the ten most important Things To Do for the next Day.

Time used in Thinking out things the night before or at the beginning of each day and putting them into logical order for Action, is Time invested in advance.

Victor Hugo says: "He who every morning plans the transactions of the day and follows out the plan, carries a thread that will guide him through the labyrinth of the most busy life. The orderly arrangement of his time is like a ray of light which darts itself through all his operations."

Incorporating fitness into your home school day

One challenge for home school families is incorporating fitness into their day in a way that is fresh, fun and exciting. Challenging as it is, it is vital that we give attention to this important need for our children.

According to a fitness survey by the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sport, half of all U.S. school children do not participate in enough exercise to maintain an effectively functioning cardio-respiratory system. Dr. Kenneth Cooper's research indicates that today's children are less fit than their peers in 1975.

Being a home school Mom, I feel that I am doubly challenged. And, so, I am very excited to share with other families what we're doing and would be happy to hear from you as well.

That being said, Today I am taking my boys bowling. Bowling uses many primary muscle groups including, quadriceps, calves, shoulder and forearms. The benefits include increased flexibility, muscular strength, endurance, coordination and skill. I'll be taking pictures and will have fun adding one tonight for this post. :O)

"Time" by George Matthew Adams

"Learn to use your Time. For if you don't it passes on, never to return-coldly mindless of your sorrow and your regret. As steadily, silently and smoothly as does this aged Earth move in its path, so does Time move on. It never stops to tie its shoestrings. It never waits.

Time is Effort, harnessed and worked to a full day's portion.

Time has no business, boasts no monied millions, hires no fast-legged errand boys, houses no clerks, thinks no problems, rules no states. Time IS business, money, the errand boy, the clerk, the problem, the state!

Time is but the man in the job put to action and to work. And time used to profit today will accumulate power for you tomorrow just as sure as time goes on. Meditate not on trifles. Attempt big things. Remembering that-This Day Will Never Dawn Again!

And yet, mighty as Time is, priceless in comparison to all else in the world, Time is the freest thing in existence. Perhaps that is why so many fail to grasp it with earnestness and with enthusiasm? Perhaps that is why so few realize its presence and let it pass on?

Think! No matter what your work today, if it is worth while at all-Time to plan it out, Time to do it well, and Time to finish it, is your day's greatest gift and your greatest job. Learn to use your Time."