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February 2022 Newsletter

Who’s in charge?  You? The kids? Your job? Something else?

You know the saying… “take control of your life“, to which we Moms all roll our eyes and mumble to ourselves “easier said than done pal”. But what if we just tried to take control of our time? An old-school spiral spine daytimer, an i-something calendar, desktop calendar, wall calendar, however you prefer to organize your days, weeks and months. So this got me thinking. If I can control my time, then perhaps I can regain some control of my life, right? Maybe. But it’s certainly worth a shot! 

A friend of mine was sharing with me this past week what she had learned from an organizational coach she worked with. She said it was amazing! The long and short of it is this … schedule literally everything – get up, dressed, make breakfast, feed munchkins, tidy up breakfast, getting ready to leave, travel time for the munchkin drop offs, the phone call in the car on the way home, park car, get coffee, answer emails, zoom call, pee break, check LinkedIn, return a phone call,  e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g, along with a few more rules to this approach. I confess, initially I thought “what a pain in the @$$” (sorry my friend), but as she continued I came to see the importance of it all. First, you literally have a schedule to hold you accountable. Second, you quickly realize how much time you actually waste in a day. Third, you learn the value of your time and get to choose who misses out – client call or bedtime story with Munchkin #3. You very quickly realize your priorities. Do you want to know why? Because we already know the value of time with our children, and that they will not be munchkins forever. So here comes another saying that we all know and appreciate … enjoy it while it lasts!

 

What are the options if I want to take control of my time?

I myself have always been a pen and paper person. Correction, coloured pens! I have no trouble getting everything organized, colour coordinated, and looking so perfectly perfect. But then I fall off a cliff. I procrastinate about the jobs that intimidate me or don’t want to do because there is always an endless list of tiny tasks to accomplish. Hey, they all need to be done too, but at some point the big one I was ignoring now HAS TO get done, ugh!

Researchers have found that it best if you start your day by doing the one big yucky job you don’t really want to do. First, because you’re fresh as a daisy, right? Ya, okay, we’ll pretend that’s a real thing. 😉  Second, because you aren’t yet distracted with your long list of little jobs. Third, because once you actually finish the big yucky you will feel great! Fourth, you will then bounce through the littles and end your day on a euphoric high and greet your children with joyful exuberance like Mary Poppins. So maybe not quite, but a Mom can dream, right?

Another option, and one which I just cannot seem to get to work for my tech challenged brain, is the i-calendar of whatever variety you choose. Some free options include: GoogleOutlookAppleZohoCoziTodoistDigiCalKeep&ShareMyStudyLifeAny.doDoodle and Jorte. Others (not free) include FridaySavvyCalTimepageFantastical and the list goes on and on. What does this tell me? We are all a bunch of control freaks that want it our way or the highway? Nope. That there are millions of people desperate for a customizable calendar system that works for their individual needs. Perhaps a useful snowy afternoon could be spent checking some of them out. See what is rated the “best” of 2022.

 

Knowing when enough is enough.

As busy moms we can all work endlessly. The pandemic has found that one of the problems that has developed is now that so many are working from home, we have a very poor (or non-existent) ability to draw a line between work time and family time. Where is the line? Do I stop at dinner time, and then go back to work at my desk again? If I can’t sleep do I get up and just start working again? Am I working 9 hour days, or 14 hours per day? We all need a lesson on balance before we burn out! As I have said during our Self Care quarter – burning out helps no one so please please don’t let it happen!

Here are some great articles about the new working from home reality from Forbes, the importance of clocking in and out each day from BioSpace, and working at home moms WAHM.

 

Time is the most precious commodity.

Time. The ever-elusive commodity that we cannot save, borrow, trade or purchase. Having said that, one can pay for certain things to get done without our involvement which thereby would give us some time back. If this is an option for you, do it. If not, I encourage you to trade resources to get things done. In that regard, I hope to be announcing a new Trusted Partner next month that can help in this way. I’m super excited, so stay tuned! I can, however, announce the fabulous addition to our Trusted Partners of Michelle Ryckman of Go4 Girl, and my goodness can she save you time getting all kinds of jobs done like data entry, home and office organizing, running errands, packing and party assist. Michelle can do just about everything. You can find her in our Trusted Partners bank.

Here at The Cove Global our mission is to save Moms time simply because it is so valuable. Less wasted time means more time to spend making memories with the munchkins, more time on well earned and much needed self care, or more time building your business that you have put your heart and soul (and money) into. Keep track of your time, take back some time, and make great use of it for your benefit. Sounds like another great goal for 2022!

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We love hearing from you, so please keep your stories and comments coming in. Share with us on our facebook page, or email us at admin@thecoveglobal.com. We look forward to hearing from you soon!

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Take control of your time and use it the way YOU want to.

From your Cove Team Moms,
Athena, Aleka, Michele & Heidi