Make Time for What Matters – Precious Time
My lovely Mum, whose health is frail, has lived with me for 13 years. When I was made redundant from my above and beyond full-time job in 2017, I knew it could be the perfect opportunity for me to spend more quality time with my Mum, and make time for what matters but I was also fully aware of how much time and effort I would need to put in to make sure my new business venture was a success.
The one thing that’s helped me to achieve both of these things is how organised I am. I’m used to juggling multiple projects at once, which has meant that I’ve had a lot of experience in identifying priorities. But priorities aren’t only completing set work tasks to deadlines, they are also home-based too; for example, I wouldn’t have missed my Mum’s smile when she cut her birthday cake as she turned 87 earlier this year, for the world! That’s only going to happen once, so is a real priority!
Scheduling Your Priorities
Like a lot of you, I have a Google calendar full of meetings, events and tasks. I plan out my full week in advance and then each evening, I double-check the next day’s schedule and make any amendments. It means I know exactly what the next day holds in store for me.
My Google Calendar looks pretty and that’s because I colour code my work time for my clients and my own time for me and my Mum. This also helps me to identify, on sight, if things are becoming imbalanced and work is taking over!
It isn’t always that simple, but being aware of your priorities means that you can easily reschedule certain things if others come up, for example, last month I needed to take my Mum to the doctors at short notice; being aware of my workload meant that I could still complete my prioritised tasks and make sure my Mum had my full attention.
While running your own business or managing a company is without doubt difficult and time consuming, I think it’s time we all started to reap the great benefits it gives us. In general, we have greater freedom and control over our time, especially if we can adopt flexible working patterns, set core hours and be time management savvy. Proactively highlighting priorities means that we are able to be successful at work and spend more time with those who are important to us.
This Mother’s Day I will be celebrating my relationship with my Mum and patting myself on the back for ensuring I can always be there for her, despite the pressures of owning my own business.
Sharing Your Workload
If you’re struggling to make time for the priorities in your life, sharing your workload with a Virtual Assistant is probably one of the best and most cost-effective solutions for your productivity. Having someone to delegate your time consuming tasks to is a real bonus, giving you time to focus on the work you love and the people you love.
No one is going to be happy with you if you miss your child’s parent’s evening because you’re working late, least of all yourself. Share your workload so you’re not spread too thinly and you can make more time for the things and the people that matter.
‘There’s only one thing more precious than our time and that’s who we spend it on’ – Leo Christopher
If you are looking to outsource to a virtual assistant, why not take advantage of my free one hour no obligation consultation and see how I could help free up your time. Call 079580 50856 or email info@jleake-va-services.com
#time #mothersday #workload #planning #worklifebalance
