Four Top Secret Habits to Improve Your Time Management

Secret Habits?

Dirty Rabbits, my husband used to call them when our children were small! But no, not those dirty rabbits, useful secret habits that no one even knows you are doing! Maybe you won't even realise you are dong them when you get them engrained as habits. In my article on the Secret To Time Management , I covered finding the critical few things you HAVE to do, to keep things moving. Here are four good habits, that will help too. There are lots more!

Not All At Once

Don't think you have to learn and do these habits all at once. Pick one and try it for a start. If you skip a few days, don't worry, try it again. Try doing that one habit every day. Once you realise just how easy it is and even more, how much easier it is making YOUR LIFE, you will want to keep on doing it.

1. Leave it as you want to find it

OK, I know people usually apply this to the bathroom or some other room but it doesn't have to be. It could be your shoes, for instance. I heard this tip MANY years ago, so I can't take credit for creating it. A colleague came into work one day and announced that the best tip he had ever heard was to shine your shoes as soon as you take them off. Apparently, the wax and polish go on better because the shoes are still warm. I took this tip and applied it to my work shoes. When I came home at night, I changed out of my work shoes into comfy trainers, so I put some polish and a cloth in a drawer in my bedroom (where I changed my shoes) and as soon as I took them off, I polished them and set them where I would be putting them on the next day. No more searching in the dark for matching shoes (I had to get up and leave early), no more realising when I got into the light, that they were dirty. It's not just shoes you could apply this to. Anything you take off and need for the next day could get this treatment.

2. Sort It The Night Before

When I was in work (I am retired now) I had 3 or 4 work suits and a number of tops that went with them all. I took my work clothes off each night when I got home and hung them up (that's part of tip number 1) but I hung that day's suit up at THE END of the row in my wardrobe, so the first suit on the hangar rail was what I would be wearing the next day. I also checked that the top to go with it was hung next to it. That meant that the next morning, I could lift out my suit and top in the dark, without disturbing my husband.

I also set out my underwear for the next day on the top of my dressing table, so I knew before i went to bed that I had clean underwear for the next day, without having to search through laundry baskets at the last minute.

Again, this doesn't only have to apply to clothes. My granddaughter stays with us a couple of nights a week. I take her water bottle, wash and refill it and put it in the fridge the night before. It's ready to pick and go the next morning. The same with her school bag. Talking of school bags, lifting the stuff out each evening means you don't miss notes or party invitations stuck down the bottom!

3. Use a Launch Pad

The launch Pad is the place you put things the night before (see tip number 2) so they are ready to lift and go in the morning. I have a bum bag / fanny pack that I use for my keys, my purse, a pen, etc. It sits in one place all the time. If I need to get out in the morning or even in an emergency at night, I can just lift it and know I have the essentials with me. I use the wooden seat in the hall for my granddaughter's school bag and coat. They are placed there the night before, no rushing to pack it the next day.

4. Use a Calendar

I have a very large calendar that hangs where everyone can see it. It has plenty of space for writing appointments or school closing days or babysitting requests. If it's on the calendar, then no one can double book me. They all know to ask if my calendar is free for a particular day or time. First come, first served. The school timetable of closures and holidays goes on there as soon as it is available.

FOPP timemanagement tips

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