Time Management for the Workaholic

Are you a busy-body workaholic that's struggling to figure out how to better manage your time so that you can do everything energetically, meet all of your deadlines and expectations, and still have time to spend with your family, relax, and enjoy more of the activities you love?

This article is for you!

   I was inspired to write this because of a recent conversation I had with someone I consulted for my business. The conversation wasn't even about time management or measures to improve my processes either... I was just asked to share all that I do and the list was exactly this:

- I write for Empath Confessions (this blog) every other week

- During the opposite weeks, I write for my business blog

- I create content so that I'm active on social media 24/7
- I spend time every week freelancing for one of my past mentors
(which includes co-hosting at least one online class each week)
- I write a monthly article for Brainz Magazine

- I spend a bit of time every month reviewing my website to make any needed improvements

- I spend time every month reviewing my offerings and creating new workshops

- I'm currently a student in an online program for ongoing business development
AND

- I'm a student in a course for web development

- [Last but not least:] I spend time every week connecting with and serving my clients

PLUS

- I work 20 hours/week (albeit remotely) as an Office Administrator & Content Editor!

And let's face it: This list doesn't include the fact that I workout regularly, cook a lot of meals (usually from scratch since I've leaned away from prepared/packaged meals), work on ongoing small home reno & art projects, and manage to stay on top of the household chores including gardening & yard work on my half-acre property. While it's true that my husband and I split the chores and tag-team the big ones, it's still a long list of responsibilities on my plate!

   So after shedding light on this list, I was faced with a jaw-drop and the question of "Ashley!! How do you manage all that?? Do you have any downtime?".

I had to laugh...

because, yes! Believe it or not, I actually do!

Frankly, one cannot survive and hold their head high with this list of responsibilities without enjoying at least a couple of hours of downtime every single day - which I hold myself to.

It's easy if you follow these guidelines that I've used myself...

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First of all - it helps that you ENJOY everything that you're doing!

Most workaholics LOVE their job(s), make their passions a priority, and find ways to make the less-enjoyable tasks easier to tackle. I can tell you that even though I sometimes sacrifice a bit of sleep to stay up later and enjoy a bit more downtime, and that I never get a weekend off unless I'm on vacation, I'm happy because I enjoy doing everything that I do.

But if this isn't the case, you may have to ask yourself what tasks/responsibilities you have that would be better taken off your plate. Are you not thrilled about waking up and going to your job? Maybe it's time to start looking for a new one! In the meantime, it'll help you to look forward to the prospect of changing your job. Do you need more help with your chores? Sit down with the people that can help, explain your situation & how you feel, and see what can change. There's always room for compromise if you just be honest, and calmly state your needs to see what can shift. Just the thought of taking one chore you hate off your plate can help you to feel better about how your time is spent.

Create a relationship with scheduling / a calendar!

A lot of people are used to inputting their appointments and important events in their phone's calendar, but why not take this a step further? You can better manage your time by scheduling out everything you do. It seems tedious (but it only takes a few minutes), but it can help in ways that you wouldn't even imagine. Just like how writing out your goals, conflicts, etc can help you process your thoughts and solidify action, the same applies to scheduling your time.

The most important thing is to not look at it and stress. Instead of having times where you're running around juggling 5 different things/thoughts and can't finish one because you don't know what to do first, you've designated times for each task. I took this lesson from planning my marketing 3 months ahead of time - so that at any given time, I can look 1-3 months ahead (on my biz calendar) and know what I'll be posting. So I took this a step further and block off a time period on Sundays where I schedule my SM content for the following week; and similarly, I block off a couple hours on Mondays for getting my content together for the next week; and so on for things like blogging, etc. I think you get the idea, but the point is that with this organization of your time, you can focus on only one thing at a time, allowing you to get through your tasks faster and more efficiently.

Have fun with everything - including the tasks you don't enjoy!

Vacuuming while playing fetch with the dog? Check. Cooking & cleaning the kitchen with music playing on the Google Home? Check. Doing laundry while watching TV? Check. Frankly, I don't mind doing any of those tasks without the fun factor mentioned but these are just a few practices that have become the norm in our house. Either way, I hope you get the idea... because the truth is that unless I'm with a client, on a Zoom call, or need silence to think about something, I'm also always listening to music while I work.

Not only do I find that music helps keep me upbeat (literally, haha!) but it helps stabilize my pace with whatever I'm working on. Whether it's music, essential oils, talking to someone (in person or on a call), whatever you think of that could help you... consider this when you're doing tasks that make it feel like time is dragging or cause you to feel like your time could be better spent differently.

Help to better manage your time through not getting sidetracked!

I know this can be really hard when you like to keep busy, but keep in mind you want to spend your time wisely! Sometimes I'll be doing one thing when I get an idea for something completely unrelated.. but I don't want to lose that thought, so I immediately stop what I'm doing to write it down. This is one of many reasons why I believe having a couple of notebooks kicking around - wherever you go - is a must. This way all I have to do, during the designated time where those ideas are appropriate, is look at what I have banked in my notebook and start plugging away at it.

This is how I'm able to plan ahead on my marketing, blog topics, and even projects around the house. If someone like me were to not have my trusty notes to refer to, I'd sit down to these scheduled periods of work only to spend the first however-many-minutes trying to figure out where to begin. So if you look at it this way, you're saving yourself time; all thanks to banking thoughts for later through notes! And since you're only taking very brief breaks to note things to do later, you're stopping yourself from dropping & not completing one task all because you want to do something else before you forget about it.

   Well, I certainly hope this list helps you.. or in the very least, gives you some considerations on what you can do moving forward! Returning to the list of responsibilities I have at the top at this article, noting that I still manage to accomplish my daily & weekly household chores and errands.. and still have 2-4 hours each night to relax with the family, watch TV/play a video game, and unwind in preparation to sleep.. I can tell you that it's completely possible and doable to be that busy and still have enough energy to do it day in and day out. But of course, and I feel this goes without saying, is that every once in awhile you want to schedule a block of time-off that's at least a day long. In order to counterbalance staying on a schedule like this, I have to have (1) vacations, and (2) a day every month with zero tasks scheduled to look forward to!

Happy time management endeavours my fellow hardworking busy bees! :)

Ashley Tilson is a Holistic Trauma Recovery Specialist that helps adults who are struggling with triggers, and the inability to feel free, safe, and purely happy by guiding them to break free from the past, shift their mindset, and heal their childhood selves so that they can begin to live the life of their dreams!
Check out her website for more information.