Are You Taking Santa’s Advice? Time Management Tip #1

Posted on December 14, 2013 by viviankirkfield

It’s the end of the year. So much to do and so little time to do it.

In the oft-heard jingle, ‘Santa Claus is Coming to Town’, Santa is MAKING A LIST and CHECKING IT TWICE.

One of the most important time-management tools is a list. Every day. Of what you need to accomplish.

Without the list, you will probably waste a lot of TIME, trying to remember what needs to be done.

Without the list, you will surely get distracted by other tasks.

There are several types of lists you can use:

Daily to-do
Long-term projects
Yearly or life-time goals

On my daily to-do list, I put an asterisk next to the items that are MOST IMPORTANT and I try to do these first. I also have a small section of the daily to-do list that itemizes what I need at the store…this part of the list can carry over to the next day. I try to go shopping only once or twice a week. That saves time and money!

What’s on my to-do list today?

Finish reading the entries to Susanna Leonard’s Holiday Writing Contest (over 100 submissions (you can read my entry here) – don’t forget to come back on Monday for the link to VOTE for the winner!
Read Marcie Atkins post, We’re All In This Together (WAITT) – I’ve been participating in her blog feature this year and today’s post is a wrap-up of our 2013 accomplishments.
Send out Christmas cards and mail out a couple of copies of Show Me How…ON SALE for $24.99 on AMAZON.
Work on revising the manuscript I just got back from author and life coach Alayne Christian. I won a professional in-depth critique from her because of my participation in Sub Six and I know that with the suggestions she has made, this will be a powerful story to resubmit to a publishing house that was interested in it. I also gave it to both of my critique groups and will incorporate their feedback as well.
Straighten up the house – we had company yesterday – our son from Chicago had to be in Boston for business and come to spend the day – he got to play with his nephew, 5-year old Jeremy.

What’s on your list today?

Have You Abandoned Your New Year’s Resolutions: Healthy Habit Thursday

Posted on May 12, 2011 by viviankirkfield

Image via Wikipedia

If you’re like me, you start the New Year off with good intentions.

All of us probably KNOW what we should be doing to stay healthy.

Every January 1^st, I make a list of New Year’s resolutions or goals.

Many of them focus on good health habits like walking every day, drinking 8 glasses of water, eating nutritious foods and getting 8 hours of sleep each night.

Then, life gets in the way!

We all lead busy lives and many of us have so many responsibilities that we often push our own needs to the back burner.

Can you believe that 2011 is almost half over?

I’m revisiting those resolutions and goals to see how realistic they were and whether or not I need to revise them.

Taking a time-management class would probably be a great thing for me to do. I know that 24 hours should be enough time to accomplish what I want to do…the problem is making sure that I am devoting the right amount of time to each task. Blogging always tends to take more time than I thought it would, but I love connecting with everyone. 🙂

I think what I need to do is write down a schedule of how I think each day should go…and then keep a log of what is actually happening…I’ll then see where I am spending time that might be better used in some other activity.

How do you plan your time? I’d really appreciate your input because right now, unless I give up sleep, there is no way I can fit everything in. 🙂

I do know that I must walk and exercise…if I let a few days go by without doing it, my muscles tighten up and my back hurts.

I do know that I need to stay hydrated by drinking enough water…if I don’t, I wind up eating more…my body seems to tell me it is hungry when really all it wants is a glass of water.

I do know that I have to get at least 7 hours of sleep every night…if I try to make do with less sleep; I have a lot less energy in the morning and am less productive throughout the day.

I do know that I need to watch what I eat…if I eat “fast food” or highly processed foods, my body complains.

So I am rededicating myself to my 2011 New Year’s resolutions and goals that focus on staying healthy. The warmer weather is here, the birds are singing, the flowers are blooming…it’s time for my walk!

Please stop by tomorrow for Follow-Me-Fridays: Where’s Miss Vivian? I have several exciting upcoming local events (Summer Soulstice in Monument, CO – June 18, and PBS kids Fun Fest in Acacia Park, Colorado Springs – June 11) to tell you about and also a new special book offer that will go up on my website this weekend.

Daily Routines: Rut in the Road or Road Map to a Balanced Life?

Posted on January 23, 2011 by viviankirkfield

Image via Wikipedia

According to Catherine Pulsifer, “We need to maintain a proper balance in our life by allocating the time we have.”

Have you found a way to do that?

For me, it’s simple. I set up a schedule and try to follow it. Of course there are times when the schedule goes out the window. Someone is sick or you have company visiting for a few days or you win free tickets to vacation in paradise. Barring those unforeseen events though, life becomes so much less stressful and so much more harmonious when we have routines that we follow on a daily basis.

At least, that’s how it is for me.

When my children were small, it seemed even more important to have a plan for each day. Life can get really chaotic if you don’t have a plan in place.

IF YOU FAIL TO PLAN, YOU ARE PLANNING TO FAIL

Within the framework of the routine, you can be flexible. Take a look at the schedule I created when my children were growing up and I operated a home daycare for the infants and preschoolers of local teachers. These routines can be applied to a family with one or more toddlers, as well as a home daycare. Perhaps with some modifications for your unique situation, it can provide the framework for a balanced and fun-filled day for you and your children. This supposes, of course, that you are home with your children. And that you have children. 🙂

6:30am to 7:30am: Greet the Day: Wash, brush teeth, get dressed

7:30am to 8:30am: Breakfast

8:30am to 9:15am: Story-time

9:15am to 9:30am: Music and Rhythms

9:30am to 10:15am: Arts and Crafts

10:15am to 10:30am: Morning Snack

10:30am to 11:30am: Free Play (not free-for-all)

11:30am to 12:00pm: Cooking Experience

12:00pm to 12:45pm: Lunch

12:45pm to 2:00pm: Naptime

2:00pm to 3:00pm: Free Play

3:00pm to 3:15pm: Afternoon Snack

3:15pm to 5:00pm: Another round of story-time, music and rhythms and arts and crafts

5:00pm: Dinner preparation: young children love to help…they can pour and mix or color placemats or help set the table with napkins and silverware (no knives, please).

6:00pm to 7:00pm: Family dinner

7:00pm: Bedtime preparations…each family will have their own traditions (washing up, brushing teeth, story-time, song, prayer, etc.).

REMEMBER, THIS IS JUST THE FRAMEWORK FOR A DAILY PLAN. IT’S THE ONE THAT WORKED FOR ME. YOUR SITUATION IS UNIQUE TO YOU AND YOUR PLAN MAY LOOK QUITE DIFFERENT.

Perhaps your child still takes two good naps, one in the morning and one in the afternoon.

Perhaps your child is in pre-school or daycare for part of the day.

Perhaps dinner can be earlier because the family is home and ready to eat, or perhaps it needs to be later because parents work later. As I said, each of you can take the schedule and play with it until it suits your family’s situation and unique needs. The important thing is to have some kind of schedule and be consistent with it, as much as possible. This consistency helps children relax because they know what to expect and when to expect it.

If you are interested in learning more about the activities that are a large part of the routine, please check out my book for parents of preschoolers, SHOW ME HOW! BUILD YOUR CHILD’S SELF-ESTEEM THROUGH READING, CRAFTING AND COOKING. In it, you’ll find story summaries for 100 picture books every young child should hear and an easy eco-friendly craft project and a healthful child-friendly cooking activity for each of those recommended stories. The simple format and fun-filled self-esteem building activities are a perfect shortcut for today’s busy parents.

Library Journal says, “The layout and tri-fold format of reading, crafting and cooking are commendable.”

Katherine Holabird, author of the Angelina Ballerina series says, “What a lovely book! Parents and caretakers will find inspiration in this delightful guide to reading and planning activities with young children.”

Norman Bridwell, author of the Clifford the Big Red Dog series says, “SHOW ME HOW! is a wonderful resource for people who care for their children and hope to better their reading and learning experience.”

The book is in several libraries already…if it’s not in yours, perhaps you can request that your local library purchase it for their shelves. If you can’t wait and want to get started building your child’s self-esteem, developing pre-literacy skills and creating a life-long parent-child bond right away, you can go to my website or to Amazon.

Thanks for stopping by. Please tune in tomorrow for a look at the nemesis of many parents: Bedtime…Routines, Rituals and Can I Have One More Drink of Water, Please! There will be a story suggestion and craft activity as well.