A mother-of-three and businesswoman has revealed how parenthood doesn’t have to get in the way of you reaching goals if you manage your time more effectively.
In her new book, Staying Sane And Ahead Of The Game writer Jennifer Cole from Lancashire urges parents not to put their own ambitions on hold and focus all their energies on their children.
Jennifer has three sons under the age of four and runs her own facilities management company, meaning she’s had to become a pro at time management.
She said that as a parent you should prioritise ‘trying to achieve at least one thing towards each of your goals every day.
‘Even it if’s something as small as setting a reminder on your calendar it’s about changing your outlook and consciously drawing your attention back towards your own desires so that you never lose sight of them,’ she explained.
Author and mother-of-three Jennifer Cole has revealed how you can achieve your goals, now matter how busy you are with parenting
According to Jennifer, the easiest way you can do this is through ‘time leveraging’.
Put simply, this means turning some of the hours spent looking after your child into an opportunity to work on your own goals and projects.
‘There will be plenty of moments throughout the day when you are missing little gems of opportunities and mindlessly carrying out a single mundane task when you could be crossing two things from your to-do list at the same time,’ she explained.
‘Of course you can become consumed with always thinking about what else you could be ticking off your list. If you feel you’re falling into this trap, try using your time leveraging tips on alternate days of the week only, to keep everything balanced.
The mother-of-three children under four has become a pro at time-management and her new book reveals the time-leveraging hacks that can help you meet your goals
Bath time
While supervising slightly older children in the bath you can go from being frustrated at the other thing you need to do but can’t until bath time is finished to using the time productively.
You could use it for some of your own personal grooming such as cutting your nails or taking the time to clean the sinks and mirrors.
Daily walk
You can completely switch off for the duration but if you can’t relax use this time-leveraging opportunity to do something on route.
Put in earphones and make calls, practice your speech or presentation for work or download the audio of a book or article you need to finish.
Playgroup and toddler sessions
If your goal is to try to make friends in similar circumstances, go for it. But if you have important things to do, use this time efficiently by reading that article for work or replying to emails.
Grandparent visits
Take advantage of their arrival to go off for an hour and have a long-waited shower or just a bit of peace.
Thinking opportunities
You are now at a time in your life when you’re up earlier, going to bed later and most likely up most of the night too. It’s tough but try to see the opportunity this brings.
There are naps, bath times, lone play times, walks, car journey and night feeds where you are alone with your thoughts and can think about your plans for the future.
Chose one of the above time slots and try to concentrate solely on you.
Do you want to finally start to focus on that business plan you’ve been talking about for years. Now is the time to play around with some ideas and get them on paper.
Sling time
Jennifer’s time maximising tips including doing squats while settling your baby and using sling time to get chores done
If your baby likes to be close to you at all times, strap them in while you get on with some low maintenance household chores. Within half an hour you could have peeled the vegetables, hung out the washing and sanitised bottles, all while bonding with your baby.
Involve your children
If you want to have a go at building a business from home but you’re unsure of exactly what you want to do, you might be worried that finding out what you’re good at may take you away from your family.
Involve them in the journey too and if it doesn’t work out, what have you got to lose. If you want to give writing a shot, try creating a children’s book first and testing it on your children. Have them create potential art work or even role play the characters.
Or if you think photography is up your street take your kids to a beautiful setting and have them do fun things while you do practice shots. Print off photos together, draw on them and make frames. These are great examples of time leveraging where you all benefit from something while spending time together.
Staying Sane and Ahead of the Game: Baby and Toddler Edition – A self-help guide to living a more fulfilling life as a parent by J H Cole, £6.49 is available from Amazon.