Time oh wherefore art thou time?

You will never find time for anything. If you want time you must make it.
Charles Buxton

Time and the lack of it is the curse of mothers everywhere. We spend so much time faffing around looking for shoes, mopping up spills trying to stem the tide of toys and clutter that by the end of the day we may feel exhausted but we haven't actually done anything. Then add in employment or self-employment and it makes for a very tired, frazzled mum if you're not meticulously organised with your time.

Excellent time-management skills have to be the key to juggling home and work but how do you acquire this magical concept? I write lists, then a list of lists but I still seem to be treading water when I should have completed three lengths of the pool.

Working mainly at home is especially difficult as you cannot just leave the dirty dishes or the unmade beds behind a locked door as you head off for the day but they are staring at you, mocking you until you feel compelled to tidy up before you get really annoyed. Then there's other deadly tools of procrastination readily available- Facebook, television, Mumsnet to name but a few. If you have a little one still at home it's nigh on impossible to get anything done during their waking hours without the help of Cbeebies, which in turn induces feelings of guilt.

So what is the answer? Well to be honest I don't know but I have written another list to implement and to help me organize my time and myself more efficiently.

1. Set a specific amount of time to do social media, answering emails for business and stick to it.
2. Keep on top of housework by doing dishes straight after dinner; making sure toys go way before bedtime so it doesn't become overwhelming; keeping clutter to a minimum; not letting the washing build up...etc
3. Deal with bills/paperwork as soon as it arrives and have a proper/storage/filing system.
4. Make sure I spend a couple of hours quality time everyday with the kids where I'm not multi-tasking with business, housework, dinner but focused fully on them.

That's enough to be getting on with but any other suggestions will be gratefully received!

“A wise person does at once, what a fool does at last. Both do the same thing; only at different times.” – Baltasar Gracian

January Blues

Christmas has been and gone in a blur of tinsel, a flash of red while a faint jingle and ho ho ho echoes down the hall. This is the first Christmas that both my Wee Wonders have fully understood the magic of Christmas and it was lovely although I am still at odds with Granny's opinion that 'it's Christmas' so therefore perfectly acceptable for a two year old to consume nearly a whole selection box in one sitting half an hour before bed time!

Roll on to the New Year and as the last firework sprays the final shower of light thoughts turn to the dreaded words- tax return. Once again I curse myself for not being organised or proactive enough to get it over with in April, next year, I promise myself, it will be different, I will hire an accountant!

January is proving to be a very busy month with marketing for new classes starting in three locations, party bookings coming in, getting the books sorted, lesson plans, equipment ordering, social media... More hours in the day are definitely needed! I have decided that I have a choice- I can either become overwhelmed and procrastinate or I can just get on with it, as Theodore Roosevelt said 'With self-discipline most anything is possible.' Although I have definitively chosen the second option I'll still take a few minutes now and again to look up exotic holiday destinations- a girl can dream in January can't she?