Don't Forget to Make Time for Living Your Life (Ep. 17)

So this time around we are going to talk about ways to help us utilize our time that may help us not to procrastinate.We don’t like the word procrastinate in our lives.  We are going to talk about ways we can get more things accomplished as we learn to multi-task using time that we would otherwise not be doing anything but sitting and waiting. I am going to hit some interesting topics to get your work flowing and time progressing more smooth as you continue on your day accomplishing many things affectively and efficiently. By putting thought into and with the help of technology each of us can become a professional domestic engineer as well as an expert to how we can have a more productive and happy life. And we all want that. 

Be sure to join this podcast on FB, Instagram, Snap Chat, and Twitter. You can follow this podcast on most podcasting sites such as Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music and Stitcher. We will be doing more on YouTube soon.  - Diana Hudgins

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Transcript

Be sure to join this podcast on FB, Instagram, Snap Chat, and Twitter. You can follow this podcast on most podcasting sites such as Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music and Stitcher. We will be doing more on YouTube soon. So this time around we are going to talk about ways to help us utilize our time that may help us not to procrastinate.We don’t like the word procrastinate in our lives.  We are going to talk about ways we can get more things accomplished as we learn to multi-task using time that we would otherwise not be doing anything but sitting and waiting. I am going to hit some interesting topics to get your work flowing and time progressing more smooth as you continue on your day accomplishing many things affectively and efficiently. By putting thought into and with the help of technology each of us can become a professional domestic engineer as well as an expert to how we can have a more productive and happy life. And we all want that.

Life should be enjoyable each and every day regardless of what life throws at us. We feel busier than we should be and wonder if life will ever change. There is always something to do. Being overwhelmed can discourage us and wear us down in every way possible. I want to share some things that have helped me to free up some time and also enhance my social life without having to leave my home. Let me tell ya’ll I love me some Pinterest. You can search any topic and are immediately given all sorts of ideas. If you don’t have a Pinterest account you have to sing up for one. Its free.

One of the problems that robbed my time was that I often times have found myself working and then getting distracted by something else and then I get sidetracked by it and not completely first what I was actually setting out to do until I come back around and discover the original task I had started. I now try to shift my focus on trying to finish one job before moving on to something else. It is easy to get side tracked when you see something else needs something and you are already there. Especially when I was raising my kiddos and then moving into a house that was long. My solution were a few things. I found that a large laundry basket and a plastic container usually one with a handle helped me to put my cleaning supplies in works great and keeps me from going back and forth through the rooms of my house.  I begin and start at one end of the house and work my way to the other.  One room at a time. 

By carrying the supply container I have everything handy like my cleanser for the bathrooms and dusting and polishing supplies, window and glass cleaners and paper towels and dusting cloths handy to do all that cleaning. You can get pretty clever in creating your cleaning supply carrying case and even make a cleaning cart. Whatever makes life easier for you. I may even carrying my broom and vacuum along as I go from one room to another. It depends on what works for you. You may want to do that at all the end to each room as you finish up in all one sweep. Or better yet designate days for such things and just do those floor chores on those particular days . 

Carrying a  laundry basket with me helps me not to waste time moving from room to room so much. As I get to that room I take those things out of the basket that belongs in that room and I put them away. Those things that do not belong in that room I put those things in the basket. At the end of cleaning all of my rooms I can swoop through the house distributing things I may have collected as I went through each room and put them in their rightful place. Having a daily chore list really helps you to not overwhelm yourself. By having a daily list you can devote so much time to cleaning and make time for other things. I have found several daily and weekly chore list already prepared on Pintrest to choose from and print out to pin up for all in the family to see. I find that I will tend to accomplish such things because these chores are line out and prepared for me to follow, it does my thinking for me, and instead of dreading house cleaning and not having accomplish so much all at once. I try to do those chores during the week to free up my weekend time from spending it doing those things I don’t want to do and on to other things I enjoy and look forward too. I have freed up my time that I can do organizational tasks on the weekend or if I find slots of time during the week to do such things. You can even make it fun. The key is to do a little each day and not overwhelm yourself.

To help me stay enthused ear buds are excellent when I am working at anything. This lets me listen and work with one in one ear and that way I can hear with the other to any work calls or anyone waking into the room at home or into the office. Also I can sit with anyone who wants to just relax and watch something I may not be interested in, for example a show my husband wants to sit and watch but I can still be there with him and yet listen to and or watch what I want to on my laptop. I like having the type  of ear bud device that I can talk on my phone with, you know a microphone  because I like be handsfree so I can talk and had the ability to walk around and work and accomplish and multi-task inside and outside my home. When I don’t have my ear buds I use my speaker to listen and talk. I can come home and get my garden watered or fold laundry or do dishes while talking to my mom.

I am a list maker. I love making lists because I love checking off things I accomplish. Lists, make grocery list and such by using the notes app on my phone. On some of the phones like we all have iPhones you can share your list with the others in your family so each one can add to the lists. Now while some people will lay a list down and forget it,  just like you cannot go anywhere without your keys to your car most people will not leave anywhere without their phone so your list will always be with you.  Depending on the store for example if it is my grocery store I will attempt to make the list flow just as the aisle do making it easier to find my items. This is why people get upset when the staff at the stores change the aisles around. Am I right?

Setting alarms as reminders on your phone to remind you to take vitamins, medications or to do lists.  Reminding you to call someone at specific times, or time to go for your walk with your neighbor etc. Time to stop what you are doing and its time to stop what you are doing and get ready to go somewhere like picking up the kiddos from school. Sometimes we get so involved with what we are doing we could run late.

Marker boards are awesome. We love them for I love you’s and be safe and have a great day!  Marker boards are not only for leaving notes and reminders, but for making to do list for certain people in your family. This also saves time from you having to remember to tell them to do something. If it is written and out there everyone sees it. Do not overwhelm yourself. Dedicate so much time each day to household chores for everyone. Assign chores to everyone.  Rotate if you like, so everyone learns how to do things. Do be afraid to delegate tasks. Do not worry, stay the course all of this will get easier and easier as you adjust and become mindful in what works best for you and your family. Its your’s so make it work for you.

Use a timer and make it fun to see just how long it takes them to accomplish it and then the next time set a time and see if they can still do a great job and accomplish it sooner. Kids seem to love this but you must stress the importance of not allowing a sloppy job for the sake of beating the clock. Another time saving tip is for those assigned trash duty. There is trash to be gathered throughout the house and taken out. I save my plastic grocery bags and put a couple in the bottom of my small trash cans so it is easy to gather every few days and pull up a new bag right then and there to have that task done and move on to the next room with a trash can and then off to the dumpster it all goes.  

Surely there may be a pet or two probably that needs to be fed and tidied up after by someone. Another chore example is to let kiddos fold laundry and sometimes you may let them get it done during one of their favorite shows while you are doing another task. And do not complain about how they do them. At first it may take you a little more time, but make time to show them how you wish for them to learn how to fold and hang the laundry. This is a life skill and its impressive when kiddos learn to do this.  I make a spot in the closet to put hangers that are not being used so that I may find them easily when I need them for laundry time.  Pause the kiddos show when it is time to put away. My husband will help me as we watch something or while we are talking and we get the job done quickly. This is true when we are both doing the dishes as well. He loves that we have that time and then both have more time to just spend focusing on one another. 

Food prepping also helps with menu planning. You can menu plan and multi-task with your grocery lists. I like to find some of my favorite shows to watch or podcasts or audio books or YouTube videos to listen to while I am food prepping for the week. Do you realize just how much time this saves? And how much this helps my tired mind during the week when needing to come home and make dinners, clean up the mess and then make lunches for the next day. Kids can do homework or reading to you while you prep for the week or you can have them help you as well. Let them learn how to make their lunches if that is something that is required at their schools or if they simply like taking their own lunches. They could help with snack making for at home snacking as well. These are great skills to teach your children and also allows you to spend time together learning and talking and making memories.

While waiting anywhere or while having a break at work and anytime you think of something you need to add to the list you can plan grocery list and place orders from your phone using these store pick up apps. Then on your way when you are out you can show up, park and have your things delivered to your car. If you have little ones you don’t have to get them out of the car as well. Its well worth it.

I love Amazon Prime and how quick we usually get our things delivered and  we know whether they have the items or not verses having to go out and physically shop around to go in and see if they have what we need. It not only saves time but it saves gas.

In the busi-ness of all that families have to do at home during the week set aside some time to prep for tomorrow, maybe after each one has had their shower or bath to make sure everyone has clothes picked out and ready, shoes and socks in the shoes, bags ready to go so no one is looking for anything the next morning that could change the tone of a beautiful day. So let’s move on how to incorporate some great resources to helping us to add some good things into our day.

Audio books have made getting some books checked off your reading list very helpful. Audio books such as Audible you can subscribe too and listen from your phone or Google device. Some people do not like to read but they like listening so this is an excellent resource for some. I really enjoy audio if the reader is interesting speaker. I often find that listening is just more convenient and it works best sometimes into my schedule. But these along with podcasts are so great when getting ready for your day   and in commuting to and from work and school. Bible apps and bible studies/devotions are awesome to listen to as well. Find ones that work best for you.  I love the prayers to listen to and agree with on YouTube and such sources. I like playing the long ones on my laptop or tv in our house at a low level of sound while we sleeping or even while we are gone, just simply to have God’s word speaking through our home adding those to my playlist. There are ones that pray blessings over our home. I feel I get an extra dose by doing so. But I advise you to check out those sources to make sure they are of true quality of content.

Learn a new language. My friend Heather learned Spanish by listening to it on Audio in her commutes to and from work in Houston traffic. Commute time is so awesome to have the opportunity to pray, to listen to podcast and audio books. The list is endless of the resources you can utilize in commute time.  Think about time just sitting that you can put to use for any of the resources I am sharing with you today. 

As I talk about learning new things I recall how far we have come. I took my first college class back in the first days of watching an online 6:30 AM 30 minutes broadcast and mailing in my assignments. Then when online courses began I loved them. They were convenient but truly not for everyone because if you are not disciplined enough you will struggle unless of course you decide to make yourself more disciplined. Anymore the online appointments for doctors and zoom meetings also save a lot of time of not having to get ready to go out for the day and you don’t have to spend time in traffic commuting there.

Another awesome opportunity is the app Marco Polo and I use the free version and I have been told it doesn’t store to your phone so you are not adding up any storage space. My family and friends and I utilize it. Its like a video audio text. You can Marco Polo your friends and family and check in. You can record and talk to someone while you are getting ready in the morning, while putting on your makeup, while you are sitting in the pickup line waiting on your kiddos to come out and then it will send it to them to watch whenever they want too and they can chose to send one back. You are notified when someone comes on and you can watch them live if you wish too. It makes it nice when you don’t really wish or have the time to respond but can watch or just send a message you wish to convey at the time. You can also create groups as well. We like to use it when we are busy doing things and just wish to share or even when we are at live events that we wish those people could be at as well. 

Technology has helped us with security and being able to see what is going on at home when we may not be home or in another part of our house. Security cameras help us to see any suspicious or danger going on, as well as deliveries, our kids playing or even how our pets are doing regardless of where we are by via of our cell phones and even laptops. The options and costs offer so many options. 

Used to we had to pay a lot to be able to talk to our friends and family who didn’t live close to us. They called it “Long Distance” but no more. You can simply call one another and not worry about that high long distance phone bill. And now family and friends can put one another into a group text  which helps us all to stay in touch and I love Face Time as well and FB Messenger via live, real time opportunities to see and talk to one another. Of course there are still those international long distance rates that are killers on your phone bill but I love how I can connect with my daughter in Germany via Marco Polo and through audio and video calls on Face Book Messenger which costs nothing. How blessed we are. Utilize those wonderful blessings of being able to connected. 

You can use many of these types of apps to listen this while you do your  daily walk, or working out or working, at the office, around the house or yard. You can listen to scripture, podcasts and yes even audio books. Technology has made it easy to feed your soul good things and keep those good thoughts flowing throughout your day. While many of you may be aware of these items, many of you do not. Sometimes these suggestions serve as a reminder of the resources you have at our fingertips to make your life easier. That is what they were meant to do.

Until next time: use these resources and ask questions of others in your life to see if they have suggestions and tips to help you. And those of you who can answer those questions and help someone else be the light to someone who needs you.  For the one wanting and needing to know remember you never know until you ask. God tells us that “we have not because we ask not.” So ask.