One thing I feel more qualified than most to talk about is time management. But this may not be the type of time management you’re used to hearing about.  

I really don’t have amazing tips. What I can tell you is how I do it. I’ve tried so many things over the years. At one point, a plain old agenda, like what you get for free in high school, was all I needed. Then, I went to university and had a job, exams, friends, etc. Life, as they say, happened.

I thought things were busy until I finished school. That was when the wheels fell off my organizational system. I began to covet organizational products. Each time I saw something new, I found myself inevitably drawn to it, only to find pretty much the same thing I’d seen before in varying forms. 

During this time, I bought a few, turned many more down, and discovered that the one thing any good organizer or system has in common is, at the end of the day, for it to work, you need to use it.

I discovered, to my immense disappointment, when I use a good old-fashioned paper and pen organizer my brain remembers better. I have backup systems with calendars on my phone and share important events with my husband in the hopes that if I forget perhaps he’ll remember, and I also set alerts to that system. 

But that is my system for not forgetting. 

The common challenge everyone faces is how to decide what’s important, and what do you need to do to get it done.  This is where I may know a thing or two that can’t be bought. Are you ready? Here it is!

1) Consistency and routine

Start each day the same way. A routine saves so much time that once you begin one, you’ll feel wrong all day if you don’t keep to it.  

2) Find your best time    

If you’re a night owl, that could mean your best work happens at midnight. I’m an extremely early bird, as I often wake up 15 minutes before my alarm goes off at 4:30.

3) Remember that change happens slowly

My children used to wake up around 3:30 when they were babies to feed, and as I went back to work while they were infants, I began using that time to exercise. I fed them, put them back to bed, then I began my day.  

Gradually, my bedtimes became earlier to compensate for my early starts, and I noticed that I became more and more productive with very little effort.    

Over the last eight years, I’ve found a system that works well for me. As you may gather from the fact I said the last eight years, it has actually taken me much of this time to get into a rhythm.

4) Exercise daily if you can

Daily exercise makes the mental exertion required in writing, thinking, and even going about an average day so much easier. A healthy mind in a healthy body is not a new concept. Pretty sure Mr. Franklin recommended this back in the colonial days.    

I still exercise in the morning, although what I do depends on if I’m training for something or just for general fitness. I’m not as rigid at the moment about exercising every morning, but I do like to start the day off with something, whether lifting weights, running, yoga, or going for a walk.     I find morning exercise not only keeps me more alert throughout the day but it acts to make my sleep at night far sounder.    

There’s a lot to be said about a healthy body when your job and your passion both involve thinking.

5)  Don’t get too caught up in one project to make sure your health isn’t failing   

A common trap many of us fall into is casting aside exercise and nutrition in favor of spending long hours in front of a computer or a notepad.     Sitting has been recently deemed by the World Health Organization as almost as deadly as obesity and smoking.    

Even if it’s just a few minutes a day, getting up and moving around can really help you focus. I move around a lot during the day, as my job takes me to a variety of locations, but I can tell you when I spend the weekend editing for eight hours straight, my neck hurts, and I feel sluggish after.    And don’t even get me started on the heartburn when I get lazy with my diet!

6) Do the hardest things when your brain is the freshest, and let yourself have downtime

When I get home from work, this is my time to not think. Preparing supper, spending time with my children, and reading together are my priorities. Once the kids are in bed, my husband and I will sit down and either watch a show or read together.    

If I have a deadline coming up, I might continue to work on it, but I stop if it isn’t going well without guilt. 

7) Go to Bed!!!!

This is a huge issue! Another place people often lose time is by staying up too late and being “mombies” the next day (equally applicable to men).     I consider the time I spend watching shows with my husband important to our relationship, but I turn the TV off after an hour.    

Most of the time, my eyes are drooping, and I’m not enjoying myself or paying attention by the time that happens anyway. Sleep is our most precious health gift and requires no extra hard work. You don’t need to train, everyone can do it, and nothing makes you feel better than a good night’s sleep.

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  In a nutshell, that’s seven tips for getting through my day, and they can work for you as well. I work for eight or nine hours at my day job, spend about three hours a day during the week with my family, and I can usually squeeze at least two hours in for my writing.    

Many people say they don’t have enough time. But I challenge you to sit down and see how you’re using the time you have. We all have the same 24 hours. Could you set aside ten or fifteen minutes to do something? Write, paint, learn a language? Change can be small.   

When we say we don’t have time, we’re really saying we don’t want to make time for something over other the things we are already doing. I want to emphasize there’s nothing wrong with that–but if there is something you want to do, make a place for it in your daily schedule. You’ll be amazed by how much you can accomplish.     

I think life is richer if everyone finds out where their passion lies then works to make sure it is part of daily life. It’s possible to manage even the busiest life if you look at the things you waste your time without a return in happiness and replace them with the things which do bring you joy.

I hope this helps reexamine your day, and maybe, just maybe, you’ll discover a space to achieve your dreams.

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H.M. Gooden is a full-time worker bee, mother, and writer by the wee hours of the day. She writes all the time if she had her way, but life and family come first!

In the last few years, she has managed to carve out just enough time to write the trilogy that has spawned it all, based on a recurring dream she has had since her teen years.

You can find more about her and her books on her website.

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