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How To Manage Time Effectively Over The Holidays!
I’m writing this post as we move ever closer to the Christmas holiday period. It could equally have been written for any period of time, where suddenly, we go from being time poor to time rich. I can’t even begin to explain how happy and excited I am that we’ll soon be experiencing some R & R, all the spinning plates will slow and life will take on a much more leisurely hue.
Ah…bliss!
But, if I’m honest, there’s a little part of me that’s already eyeing up that expanse of free time with envy. She’s busy plotting and planning all the things that can be done that usually don’t even feature on the to do list, the wish list or even the radar!
But it can be a challenge, because in a few weeks, when the holidays are firmly behind us, I’m wondering will I be looking back with regret at all the time I’ve wasted, or will I be smug thinking about how I managed my time wisely?
Right now, I have a chance to put some plans into action to ensure that I experience the latter feelings of smugness, rather than the damp squib of regret.
Do you want to join me on this little excursion?
The first thing I want to say, is that I’m all for making the most of rest and relaxation. Indeed, I fully feel that I need and deserve it after a year well lived! But, equally, I don’t want to wander aimlessly through the holiday period and then wonder at the end of if where did it go and what did I actually do?
So, to manage time effectively the first thing to consider is what do I actually want to do? I know I don’t want to spend the holiday just keeping on top of the laundry or catching up on mindless paperwork, although they will feature on my list to a small extent.
Get A Rough List Out of Your Head
So, let’s start with a bit of a brain dump – you can do this too. Just take a pen and a piece of paper and let your brain spill all your holiday ideas out. Here are some of mine to get you thinking:
~ Catch up with some friends/family I don’t see often
~ Get the bulk of my tax return done
~ Spend some time reading (my favourite relaxation)
~ Settle into a loose routine around housework
~ Maybe have a wardrobe sort out
~ Buy and set up some new furniture for my home office (mainly shelves)
~ Line up some films to watch on Netflix
~ Draft up my goals for 2018!
~ Go out for some bracing walks – preferably near a beach
~ Learn some new stuff (I have a couple of online courses I’d like to explore)
~ Open our 2018 travel plans tin on NYE and start planning what we’ll do and where we’ll go!
None of this is in any particular order of priority or merit, and in reality, some of them might not even happen, but at least now I/you (if you’ve done a list too 🙂 ) have a starting point.
Start Sorting and Sifting
I guess that’s quite an eclectic mix of things to do, but for me, it’s a good mix of relaxation, fun, exercise and routine tasks coupled with some self development and an acknowledgement that I can’t procrastinate over the tax return any longer!
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What about your list? Is it a bit eclectic too?
So, to make things a little more sensible, how do they balance? To work this out, try a few categories to make sure that you’ve got a balance that you’re happy with. Here’s mine.
Rest, Relaxation and Social
~ Catch up with some friends/family I don’t see often
~ Spend some time reading (my favourite relaxation)
~ Line up some films to watch on Netflix
~ Go out for some bracing walks – preferably near a beach
Work (Challenging)
~ Get the bulk of my tax return done
Routine Home Maintenance
~ Settle into a loose routine around housework
~ Maybe have a wardrobe sort out
~ Buy and set up some new furniture for my home office (mainly shelves)
Self Development & Planning
~ Draft up my goals for 2018!
~ Learn some new stuff (I have a couple of online courses I’d like to explore)
~ Open our 2018 travel plans tin on NYE and start planning what we’ll do and where we’ll go!
Now, that feels more organised!
Preparatory Actions
Of course, some of these will be easy to do, because they’re fun, but, like a lot of things, they won’t happen unless I make plans and arrangements to get them into my days. I also want to ensure that I have some guilt-free pyjama days. These will work perfectly with the reading and films.
So the next stage is to figure out what you need to do to make these things happen. Here are a few things that I’ll need to do first to bring my list to life:
~ Contact friends/family and open dialogue for when to meet up (maybe these could be combined with the bracing walk)
~ Think about and WRITE DOWN (!) the films I want to watch
~ Check out the weather over the next few days/weeks to see when walking could be an option
Choose Your Tools
All the steps above form part of the ‘how to manage time effectively’ ethos, but I’ve found that the major player in time management is scheduling. Frankly, if it doesn’t make it into my diary, it doesn’t happen!
I’m feeling very lucky that I have a whole two weeks of unscheduled time stretching out ahead of me, but I think the main point of putting this post together is that I don’t want to spend the whole or most of that time wondering what to do with myself. This generally results in watching too much tv, eating too much and feeling somewhat bored.
It doesn’t really matter what time scheduling tool you use, it can be your electronic calendar in google or on your phone, or a paper based diary…
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It’s also important to recognise, that time scheduling has two aspects:
1. When you will do the action;
2. How much time you will allocate to the action.
The second point is really important. You’ve probably heard of Parkinson’s law – that work expands so as to fill the time available? Well this is equally (if not more) true of leisurely activities!
The trouble is that when we go from time poor to time rich we have a tendency to think that we have plenty of time to do the things we want to do. But the reality is that we then have a habit of leaving the ‘hard’ things till last, fail to make definite plans and end up trying to cram too much into too few days at the end of the holiday.
But not this time!
Schedule The Time To Make Things Happen
Finally, it’s time to find the time when all these wonderful things will happen.
The best way to start is to schedule in the dates that are ‘fixed’. By this, I mean the dates you’ve agreed with friends/family for a meet up.
Next, set aside time for the thing(s) you know you’re going to procrastinate over. For me, this will be my tax return. I’m planning to make gradual progress on this over the two weeks, so will set aside one hour early each morning, so that I can get it out of the way and then forget about it for the next 24 hours! Schedule this in the diary.
If housework (or maybe a spring clean) is something that you tend to put off, then this can be a good way to get going and make significant progress.
Next, look at actions which may involve other people. For example, buying shelves will mean a trip to Ikea and loading up the car, so my husband will come along to help. A quick conversation with him and it’s in the diary.
Now it’s plain sailing and the hardest decision I need to make is when and how to relax!
But, like a lot of things that benefit us, taking time to relax effectively, ie, by actively doing the things you want to do, rather than passively scrolling through social media or watching whatever happens to be on TV, needs to be planned!
So, using the list of films I’ve written in my Bullet Journal
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Finally I make sure to have my latest books (there’s always more than one) to hand or my latest Audible download set up for when I’m doing a few household tasks.
These last couple of actions will now easily fit around my bigger plans and will be guilt free!
Summary Tips – How To Manage Time Effectively
~ Scheduled dates with friends/family
~ Schedule a regular slot to work on your procrastination task
~ Schedule anything that will involve other people
~ Schedule what you will be doing during your relaxation time
~ Have your relaxation/hobby tools easily to hand
Don’t Be Too Rigid
Of course, the point of holiday time is to relax, have fun and be a bit unstructured. So don’t get too hung up on your schedule! Use it as a guide or reminder of the things you want to do, but, if something more tempting comes along, feel free to do that instead!
The main thing is to enjoy your downtime and reach the end of the holiday feeling relaxed, refreshed and unpressured. By planning how to manage time effectively now, you can ensure that will indeed be the case and you will start back feeling somewhat smug 😉 !
