Time Management....or lack thereof.

As a young girl growing up, my Father always emphasized "time management". To him, it was essential to success in this lifetime. I grew up in a Gospel centered home, where structure and study were prime. In my young and carefree days, I rarely valued the time my Father spent organizing and planning our lives, and attempting to give us the tools necessary to lead a successful life. A life that brought to us both happiness and family unity.

Now, as mother to four children (well, one still in utero, but you get the idea) I've really come to appreciate the concept of time management. Hand in hand with time management is that of organization...one cannot manage and not be organized.

My natural instincts as a mother, are to plan, prepare and organize. But as any mother knows, there are days when this feels virtually impossible to achieve. But by starting with a strong base plan, any problem can be worked through and any life can become organized.

My Father has always used the teachings of Steven Covey to help teach the fundamentals of good organization and time management skills. The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People was the starting point for my Dad. He read it, and re-read it time and time again, and as a business consultant who teaches effective time management to his clients...this book was quintessential. If you haven't read it and are looking to better organize your personal and family life ...I HIGHLY recommend it. I'll be reading it again shortly myself.

After the birth of my third child, Rhoane, it seems I've lost my organizational touch. When I was a working mother of young toddlers, my boys had a schedule that kept us all in line and helped keep the peace. We were busy, no doubt about that, but we were able to accomplish everything we put our minds to. Now, I feel like some days we are just flying by the seat of our pants. I don't like the feeling, and it does not invite the spirit when we are contentious due to an inability to accomplish our goals. So, I'm putting my best foot forward in an attempt to better organize our family and allow for happiness and family unity. I'm starting small, with simple chore lists. One for the boys, one for our family and one for myself. Since planning is key, this is where I aim to begin weeding out the unnecessary messes and grab life by the horns again (Ooo, I like the way that sounds).

Boy, it sure feels good to get all of that off my chest. I'm determined. If you have any ideas for me in my quest for organization...feel free to comment and let me know.

ps yet another book on the realigning of priorities and time management is...

First things first also by Steven Covey

(these are all self help books that lead to success in all aspects of our lives)