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There are not enough hours in the day. How often do you say this phrase? If your day is anything like mine, then you are trying to fit too many things into it. I sometimes wish there was a way to have a 25 hour day in order to check everything off of my to do list. You can by using the right time management techniques add an hour to your day. Here are 10 ways to add more time back to your life.

1)Cut down on television viewing. Turning on the tv in the morning in order to watch the news or morning programming while you drink your coffee can be a huge time drain. Sure it is nice to keep up on current events and fun to see what the celebrities are wearing, but that can take an hour or more from your day. Instead spend five minutes perusing a news website or celebrity blog in order to get your news.

2)Consolidate errands. Grocery shopping, trips to the post office, dropping the kids off at school and more can consume a lot of time every day. See if you can set up a carpool schedule with a neighbor to cut down on the number of days you drive your children to school. Stock up on groceries to keep trips to the store at a minimum. See if there is a grocery delivery service in your area. You can even print postage online and have your postal carrier pick up in order to reduce the number of trips you need to make to the post office.

3)Limit extra-curricular activities. Baseball, soccer, piano lessons, ballet. Children are overscheduled these days, often with a different activity every day of the week. All of these activities mean more driving around for parents and time spent waiting during practice and rehearsals. While you may be able to work during this time, that isn’t always possible. Cut back on the number of activities to one or two a week. You and your children will probably be much happier.

4)Work first, have fun later. Mixing business with pleasure is never a good idea. Trying to get work done while perusing your favorite blogs and message boards is not a good way to be productive. And the quality of your work will suffer. It is best to get your work done first and keep some fun activities as a reward for your hard work. You will probably get your work done in half the time.

5)Block meal planning. Spend one Sunday a month making dinners for the rest of the month. You can prepare, cook and freeze meals for eating later. This may only take a few hours of time with proper planning. There are books and websites devoted to this idea. You will be able to pull a meal out of the freezer in the afternoon and have a home cooked meal for dinner. Look into meal preparation stores near you too. They generally have all ingredients, recipes, and containers assembled for you. All you have to do is put everything together and freeze. This can be a great night out with a group of friends as well.

6)Keep a Calendar. Planning and scheduling out all the activities that you have for the week can mean little time is wasted. There is nothing wrong with having a free day here and there, properly planned out of course ;)

7)Cut down on clutter. Clutter can be a huge time waster in your home. If you have less stuff, that means less to put away and less to clean. As an added bonus it will probably improve the mood of everyone in your home.

8)Have a space for everything. One of my favorite adages is “A space for everything and everything in its space.” Clean up can be a breeze if everything you own has a spot. Plus your children are more likely to help clean up if they know where to put things. If everyone in the home pitches in to clean up, then work will go much faster.

9)Enlist help. Whether it is someone to watch your kids, hiring a housekeeper, or utilizing a lawn service, getting some help can bring some time back to your life. Find a chore that you dislike, whether it is cleaning your bathroom or mowing the lawn and find someone else willing to do it for you. Maybe your child is old enough to do it in return for an allowance or hiring a service is in the budget. This can be a great time saving tool.

10)Have fun. A happy person is a more productive person. If all that you are doing is working and taking care of other people, then you will suffer. Make some time for yourself, either every day or at least once a week. Both you and your family will be happier.

Do you find that you do not have enough time in the day? What are some time saving methods that you use in your daily life? I would love to hear what works for you and what doesn’t.

Warmly,
Mia