2 Ways To Create More Time
Like most parents, I’m sure you wish that you had more time to spend with your baby. So, the question is:
Do you REALLY want to find more time to spend with your baby?
In the last week’s post, we talked about the things we would like to do. Most of us only think about it and never really act to make those goals happen, We believe we don’t have enough time to do it.
I made two suggestions. Suggestion #1 was a quote from Dr. Shinichi Suzuki: “Put it into practice.” So, don’t just think about. Decide to do it! Then, work on finding the time.
Next, Suggestion #2 was use a planner. Write down all your goals and tasks and put them in a time slot. Keep those appointments with yourself. That includes all the things you would like to do with your baby. Keep those appointments to spend time with your baby!
But, I still hear the voice of a desperate parent crying, “I have no time!”
“I Have NO Time!”
So, what can we do about it? First, decide you are going to find more time for your baby. Second, using a planner can really help you avoid wasting time.
I have used plenty of planners over the years. But, I didn’t put them to their full use. I would scribble things in.
You know, the doctor appointment, car repair, the kids’ stuff. I managed to pull those things off (sometimes just barely, however). In my violin teaching studio, I HAD to make and keep a schedule.
So, why was I never really getting things done? It took me quite some time. But, I figured out that I didn’t REALLY scheduled things properly. At least for myself, anyway,
I wrote in and kept appointments with others: CHECK. Studio teaching schedule: CHECK. Practicing violin: CHECK. Okay, Maybe CHECK sometimes. (This seems like one confession the violin teacher should NOT be making!)
I realized that I did not schedule in EVERYTHING I wanted to do. So now, I write in my planner PRACTICE at a particular time. Then, I KEEP that appointment with myself.
I schedule in my daily tasks that I have to do to get FaceBook and blog posts competed and published. I schedule in a time for practically everything I do.
So, if you want to spend more time with your baby, then plan it. You want to read more books, then plan it. In fact, you may want to WRITE a book, then plan it!
Don’t be one of those poor, lost souls crying, “No time! No time!”
The 3rd Way To Create More Time
Now, as promised, here is the 3rd Suggestion for finding more time to spend with your baby. I also mentioned to you that you would probably either grow to love this last suggestion OR not like it at all!!
Are you ready? Really ready for it?! Okay! Here it is!
Suggestion #3: Try getting up early. I mean super early. As in “o dark thirty” early (a military term defining some unspecified, usually unpleasant, hour in the early morning)!
Wow! I can hear the crying turning into wailing right now! Also, you’re thinking I’m crazy! You want to stop reading right this very moment!
But, please don’t! Stick with me. This works!
Are You a “Night Owl” Time Manager?
So, do you do your best work between 8 pm and midnight? I did because I was the proverbial night owl. I could get really revved up and get my to-do list done between those hours. The kids were in bed. No distractions. All was well and good.
Except, I was trashed the next day. The better part of the morning would get away from me. Not much of anything got done that needed to be done. I certainly did not have MORE time to spend with my babies. Going to bed late just didn’t really work at all!
I actually became disturbed about how much time I wasted. It certainly wasn’t intentional. But, it wasn’t fair to me and it was VERY unfair to my kids. (Later in the post, I will share how I found a whole chunk of time!)
Taking Drastic Action
***** DISCLAIMER! I would NEVER advise the parent of a newborn to do the following action.. Unless you are used to this kind of schedule, don’t start it now. Wait for baby to be older and the schedule is more regular.*****
Finally, one day, I took some drastic action. Actually, I should say I took that drastic action one night. I decided to go to bed earlier. Much earlier, as in 10 pm and eventually 9:30 pm.
I was then able to get up by 5 am (for sure by 6 am). I got ready for my day, then went to my planner. My tasks and goals were all written down.
Within reason, I had most of them accomplished by the time the kids woke up. And at that time, I was working two part-time jobs and homeschooling them!
I tell you this because things began to run more smoothly for us most of the time. Of course, life happens! But, with things planned out, my experience has been that it is much easier to re-group.
For instance, this past week, I had an nasty reaction to a pneumonia shot. I had a fever, chills, aches, and, in general, felt bad! Of course, with CoVid raging, I was more than a little concerned.
I had lost two days of getting much of anything accomplished. But, yesterday morning, I popped up out of bed, got dressed, and practiced violin. It was in my planner!
I was also able to catch up on a few things because there was a “cushion” of time built in to my plans. Always plan more time for a task than you think you need.
Sometimes you need it. Sometime you don’t. That is one way that I found extra time for my kids.
Unintentional Wasted Time
Now, about that unintentional wasted time that I mentioned earlier. It blew my mind when I tried this time-saving action. Are you ready for this one?
I rarely, if ever, check my email or FaceBook before 9 or 10 am. Yup! I know you think I’m kidding. But, I’m not. It turns out that I wasted an incredible amount of time checking up on the world and playing games.
But guess what? The world still manages to turn without me checking email or Facebook every five minutes or for an hour! The game world will certainly survive without me. I play a great game of Solitaire, but that really doesn’t benefit anyone.
Not checking my phone felt a little weird at first. I had to stop myself many times in the beginning. But, it eventually became a habit because I had other things planned and wanted to do them.
Stop and really think about all the time you spend on your devices, especially on FaceBook and playing games. Just for the record, I am not a technology-hater.
My intention is certainly not to shame anyone. I have definitely wasted my fair share of time on electronic devices. Most of us would not even be aware of how much time we are wasting until someone points it out to us.
“Leave the Phone Alone“ (A Bonus Suggestion for You)
Someone did that for me very kindly. But, they also very firmly said that the solution to my time problem was in the palm of my hand.
From that moment, I have left the phone alone in the morning until I have marked off each of my tasks in my planner.
Now, I understand that you may be the person who must check work-related email, etc. But if you’re honest, that rarely needs to happen before 8 or 9 am in many cases.
So, if I have been up since 5 or 6 am, that gives me 3-5 hours to take care of tasks and accomplish goals. There is no way I could find that kind of time the rest of the day.
So, I gently and kindly will point out to you that the way to find more time to spend with your baby is to “leave the phone alone”. You have to decide that you WANT more time to spend with your baby.
Get your planner or use the one you may already have and use them in a more helpful way. You may not get it all figured out right away. However, you will figure out what works best for you.
Plan everything and keep those appointments. Especially, keep the ones with yourself and your baby.
Get up early to find more time. Will it be hard? Yes, at first. But, it is like any other habit you want to have. You just have to just keep doing it.
“Leave the phone alone”. Yes, that will be hard at first, too. Maybe even harder than getting up earlier!
On the “Beautiful Heart Musical Journey” Together
My friends, we are all on a journey. First and foremost, you are on a journey with your baby. You both are learning with each other. That journey will not always be easy.
But, it can be made less stressful by planning what you want to do with your little one. More importantly, plan the other things you have to do.
Then you will find more time to spend with your baby. You will have time to read stories, listen to music, do musical activities, play toys, and snuggle!
I am on a “Beautiful Heart Musical Journey”. Part of the journey is to continue to learn to be a better violinist and better violin and Suzuki Early Childhood Education (SECE) Baby Class teacher.
Another part of that journey is blogging about SECE Baby Class on Your Musical Baby and Suzuki Music School of Greater Toledo (OH) websites. I want to spread the word that music can be such a beautiful and important part of your child’s life and yours.
Will you come along, too?
I am on the “Beautiful Heart Musical Journey” with you,
Susan
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