I thought I was organized this summer. I felt like I was on top of the family / career scheduling game. But it took an unfortunate turn in the weather to make me realize that I’ve got a long way to go STAY on top of the time management game.
My youngest daughter has been playing beach volleyball this summer for the first time. She loves it and we love watching her play. But the time commitment from a family is a big one! Her beach volleyball tournaments are on Sundays. Only 1 day a week….but it’s an entire day.
In my part of Florida, beach parking is at a premium on a normal day. But when a local beach hosts a volleyball tournament, the only way to get a relatively good parking spot is to arrive HOURS before the tournament begins. Because when the tournament is over, no one in the family, especially the exhausted volleyball player, wants to walk a mile to the car!
So for us this summer that means we get up at 6 am to arrive at the beach by 7:30 am. The tournament starts at 9:00 am and depending on how well a team does and the pace of the tournament….we can be there until any time between 2:00 – 5:00 pm. I heard from a veteran parent that at one tournament last year because of delays, they didn’t leave the beach until 8:00 pm! Luckily, we haven’t spent 12 hours on the beach yet this summer!
What that has meant for me this summer so far, is that on beach volleyball Sundays, that is pretty much ALL I devote my time to (other than the daily chores: laundry, meals and extra laundry from the beach). I purposely don’t put much on my “To-Do” list. And that’s fine because the time we’ve spent at beach tournaments has been great family time!
Unfortunately on this last tournament day the weather did not cooperate. We got up and drove to the beach as normal, through rain and thunderstorms, hoping they’d clear up in time for the tournament. So we waited, and waited and waited…but by 10:30, with no relief in sight (and even more thunder and lightening), we came home. It was disappointing, but out of our control.
But then something strange happened in my home office. I had a whole day ahead of me that was suddenly wide open – nothing was on my To-Do list! So I spent 3 – 4 wonderfully productive hours in my home office getting so much done! That one unexpected afternoon of productivity motivated me like nothing else has all summer!
My unexpected “free” afternoon has taught me several things about being productive in a home office:
Time management only works when we make a schedule and stick to it
Without an overloaded To-Do List and nothing else to distract me from an afternoon in my office, I accomplished a lot. So when I schedule a few hours in my home office, I need to streamline my To-Do List and then stick to it. (And not let anything, especially email and social networks distract me!)
Summer means getting creative with home office hours
Even though my kids are now teenagers, I spend a lot of time during the day driving them places, attending their sporting events and just enjoying their company. So with my kids home for the summer, I have to find ways to carve out the necessary time in my home office – if that means getting up earlier several days a week or putting a sign on my office door “Mom is working” for a few hours – I have to be diligent but flexible in scheduling my office hours.
Plan for the unexpected during the summer
The weather in Florida during the summer can be unpredictable to say the least! If it’s not the weather but other surprises – cancelled appointments, sick kids, home repairs – it can mean you are suddenly going to be home when you planned otherwise. So if I have special projects set aside (maybe not the most pressing in importance, but things it would be nice to get done), I can work on those items when my schedule takes an unexpected turn and I have several free hours available.
And as always, the better my time management skills get, the better quality time I can give to my family.