Kate Bregovic
Blogger | Mom
Facebook

Did you know that the families of today barely spend any time together at all? This means no bonding, which means bad relationships, pain and mental health issues for everyone involved.

And yet parents are not doing this through malicious intent, they are simply too busy trying to provide for the children and keep their heads above water. The solution therefore lies in learning some nifty tricks which will allow them to spend more time with their kids and lead a fuller and more satisfying family life.

5 Tips on How to Save Time While Leading a Healthy Lifestyle and Working at a Busy Job

1.     Spring clean your schedule mercilessly

Take a look at your daily schedule and be honest with yourself – how many of these things need to be done today? What can you postpone? What can you reschedule so that you don’t have a dozen meetings in a day? What can you delegate?

Go through your schedule several times asking these and other similar questions, and removing unnecessary tasks until you are left with a much more manageable number. If the list is still too long, prioritize it and restrict yourself to tackling the first three issues – then add more, one at a time, after you are done with your “core” duties for the day.

2.     Lose weight and exercise while at home

Two in three adults are overweight or obese, so it is frankly unlikely that you don’t need to lose weight. If not for the sake of your appearance, you need to do this for your health because every extra pound increases the risk of developing serious issues such as type 2 diabetes or heart disease.

However, a busy parent has little time to focus on a weight loss program and even less for undergoing proper workouts. This means that in order to save time while getting results it may be necessary to exercise right where you are. Work out at home using your own household equipment and turning your chores into dynamic cardio sessions. You should also use different ways to include your kids in your workouts. Don’t forget to try exercising together while watching TV and bonding before going on a family run, which you should have time for now that you don’t need to waste time commuting to the gym and back.

3.     Get help from professionals

Remember that not everything is about time management. You should also seize every opportunity to free up some time by “outsourcing” some of your chores to others. Research indicates that hiring others to do some of your work (read “buying time for yourself”) makes a person happier than purchasing material possessions. Add to that the fact that you’ll be able to use the time to work toward your personal goals or bonding with your family and you’ll see that using specialized home services, like grocery delivery, are not a whim but a necessity.

If you worry about not being able to afford services such as these, take a look at your budget. For example, groceries. How much time will you need to go grocery shopping? How much money could you make during this time? How much will you spend on gas for this shopping trip?

Now, how much will the grocery delivery service cost you?

Compare these scenarios and you’ll see that using such services is actually sensible as long as you use the free time they provide you with wisely.

4.     Do not multitask

Have you ever noticed how a 2-in-1 product always provides inferior results? That’s because multitasking never leads to anything good. If you want to save time and your sanity, always focus on one thing and move on to the next only after you have completed it properly.

Note that for parents “not multitasking” also means “drop the worry”. You shouldn’t be thinking about what to make for dinner while working on your monthly report. If there are other things you need urgently to think about, take a break and focus on those before clearing your mind and getting back to work.

This method of going through life might seem slow to begin with, but once you have trained your mind to focus properly your productivity and effectiveness will increase exponentially, thereby affording yourself more free time to spend with your family.

5.     Say “no”

How often do you say “no” to people who come harassing you for advice, extra work, or to simply waste your time with idle gossip?

Now consider that every time you entertain these people you are missing out on an opportunity to bond and play with your kids, as well as on working for achieving your dreams.  Will you say “no” next time? Bear in mind there will always be more work, and annoying friends and bosses, but you need to have your priorities in order. Family should always come first.

About Kate Bregovic

View all posts by Kate Bregovic here.

Save

Save