Do for You: Build a Reserve of Time

[paige]

My name is Paige Riley, a current Independent Arbonne Consultant, and trained Life Coach (Inactive at this time). When Coaching, not only did I write this article for my newsletter and various freelance websites, I also practiced the exercises with clients that are included in this article - enjoy!

DO FOR YOU: BUILD A RESERVE OF TIME

In keeping with July’s theme, Do For You, August focuses on building a reserve of time. What does it mean to build a reserve? Building a reserve means you have more than enough of something. How would it feel to have more than enough time for you and spending it as you choose?

Why build a reserve of time? Because if you have more than enough time, you will not feel like you are neglecting yourself. Your inner-self will be at peace. Even if you are being pulled in a million directions, you will have the energy and strength to effectively manage your day because priority number one (YOU) is being met.

When I hear clients say “There isn’t enough time in the day for me,” I work with them to refocus on how they are spending their time and reframing their perspective on taking time for themselves and doing what they enjoy. There is no right or wrong way in how you spend your time. What is wrong is if you are not happy with how you use time available as well as if you don’t have adequate time to do what you want. Focus on building a reserve of time that allows you to fill it with activities, thoughts, stillness or whatever you enjoy for you and with others.

Exercise One: Keep a daily log for seven days tracking what you do in the day and evening. Review your activities and write down the answers to the following questions:

 How much time was devoted to things I wanted to do, not had to do?
 Did I devote time to at least one pleasure for me every day (See July’s Daily Pleasures)?
 How much free time did you have each day and what did you do with it?
 Are you happy with how you spend your free time?

In the age of dayplanners, palm pilots, and online calendars, we have our day filled with business meetings, appointments, errands, kid’s activities, etc. If you use one of these items, do you schedule in time for you? If so, do you meet and honor those appointments with yourself as you do for your business or doctor appointments? If yes, terrific. If not, get out your calendar and let’s start building a reserve of time.

Exercise Two: Get your calendar and reserve a daily block of time for you. Why am I being so literal in having you schedule this? Because if you aren’t accustomed to thinking of yourself and doing for you, scheduling time will help build a reserve and eventually will become natural and part of your mindset. You’ll be able to throw out that calendar soon!

1). For the first week, schedule one hour of time a day as “free space reserve.”
2). When you honor that time slot, fill in the “free space reserve” with what you did.
3). For the second week, schedule two hours of time a day as “free space.” Do step two.
4). For the third week, schedule three hours of time a day as “free space.” Do step two.

There are no rules, but it is important to schedule in time for you and leave it open. Fill it with what you want, with whom you want, and doing what you enjoy. Please don’t be discouraged if your days are so hectic and you can’t imagine having three hours of “free time” for anything. This is your life and you are free to live it how you choose. Start with one hour a day and begin building your reserve of time.

Please share your comments and results. Let us know how you are building your reserve of time. Any questions regarding this or other topics are welcome so please send your emails to paigeriley@myarbonne.com.

Have a wonderful August filled with more than enough time reserved for Doing For You!

Sincerely,

Paige Riley, Life Coach and Arbonne Independent Consultant
paigeriley@myarbonne.com
www.paigeriley.myarbonne.com

[Audrey]

Paige,

Really nice article :) Thanks for sharing it here. I am big on my personal time. If I don't get my personal time each day, I turn grumpy ;)

Sometimes, my personal time is having dinner with a friend, going for a walk with a friend, or maybe talking on the phone with a friend.

Other times, my personal time is alone time, either watching a DVD, playing a game, crocheting, scrapbooking or reading.

That alone time, or personal time is so important to me.

Again..super article.

[paige]

Audrey,

Thanks for the feedback. I'm with you, I feel it physically and mentally when I don't spend the time on me. Fortunately, I've been practicing this since 2003 and my reserve is well plenished. Now I need to work on my efficiency during the day with my home-based business. When you are at home with kids, balancing time with them and starting a business is a challenge. I need to actually plan the time for my biz as I do other things so I get something done towards it, preferably productive activity.

Thanks again, enjoy your evening.

Paige
paigeriley@myarbonne.com
www.paigeriley.myarbonne.com

[Audrey]

Paige,

I've written a few articles on working at home with kids. Here's one of them:

Working at Home With Young Children

When I speak to moms who work at home, one of the most frequently asked questions I hear is “how do you run a business with small children?”

I have several suggestions on running a business with small children. My kids are grown now, so I’ve lived through running a business with infants, running a business with toddlers, running a business with school aged kids and running a business with teenagers.

The amount of children you have and the amount of time you put into your business are going to affect the amount of help you need with your children. “Help” can mean many different things. I had various forms of help over the years.

Infants sleep a lot. Working during sleep time can often give you the necessary hours to run a business. When I was on the phone, I had my daughter’s in their room, so if they cried, I heard them but the person on the phone did not hear them. I really did not need help during the infant stage. I was able to balance work and being mom.

The next stage was probably the most difficult, the toddler stage. At this stage, children nap perhaps two hours per day and the remainder of the day, at least my children were very high energy and wanted to be entertained.

At age two, my younger daughter went to preschool 3 mornings per week. She was there from 9 a.m. until 11:30 a.m. She loved it and I was amazed at how much I could get done in those two hours at home. I NEVER used that time to run errands, clean the house etc. That time was almost always devoted to using the phone. In addition, her dad and I rotated night time routines so that some nights I was able to work from 7 p.m. until bedtime uninterrupted. As she got older, I increased her days in school up to five mornings per week and as she neared kindergarten age, I had her in school from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m.

Once a child enters preschool they begin making friends. I did many play dates. I swapped with other moms. One day the kids would play at my house and the other day, the kids would play at the home of the other child. This can help in two ways. The day your child is with someone else, you have time to work. The day the kids are at your house, the kids play together, which allows you time to work. I could pick them up from school, come home and fix lunch and then actually work while the kids ate. If the kids wanted to play outdoors, my yard was fenced and my computer faced the backyard. I could keep an eye on them at all times. If the kids played indoors, they were either in the same room as I was or in the very next room. I was not always able to use the phone, but I could catch up on emails, complete paperwork and do any other tasks that did not involve the phone.

Scheduling is key here. If the kids were at my home on Monday, I tried to make Monday my day to not do the evening routine at home. I needed that time to make phone calls. If the kids were playing at someone’s home on Tuesday, I knew I had several hours I could be on the phone during the day and so I would take over the evening routine.

We also had an emergency box of toys. These toys only came out when I needed to make a phone call and I needed my toddler quiet for just a little while. My daughter loved these toys and would sometimes ask me to make a call just so she could play with the toys in the emergency box. We did not bring that box out very often and so when we did, I knew I’d have about 30 minutes of quiet time.

My older daughter did not like school and so only went to preschool from age 4 to 5, and then went to kindergarten. We joined several mommy and me classes which introduced her to other children, which then led to play dates. I also had her take longer naps, 2 or 2 ½ hours in the afternoon. She was up longer at night, but that was ok, as I wanted the time during the day to be able to make phone calls.

If you live near a college, check if the school has an early childhood development program. If they do, consider hiring someone to come to your home two mornings or two afternoons per week to watch the kids while you work. You get work time and they get experience with children and some income.

Once your kids enter elementary school, you will always have mornings to work. Afternoons can be play dates, individual play or consider hiring an older child, say 8 or 9 years old who can earn a little money and come play with your child. My kids loved their older friends. They would beg for the days their older friends would come over and play. These older kids can read to your child, fix a very simple snack, play a game with them and even watch them outside. One hour is often enough time to make a few phone calls, and after an hour sometimes the kids are getting a bit restless.

All of these ideas require scheduling. If you plan one or even two weeks at a time, you’ll have a very clear idea of when you can be on the phone and when you’ll just be mom.

****
Audrey Okaneko has been marketing online for several years. She can be reached at audreyoka@cox.net or visited at http://www.recipe-barn.com

[tam2005]

Very nice article to the both of you! :)

I spend time on myself by reading, watching old movies, or just doing things around the house. ;)

[paige]

Audrey,

I loved the article. The suggestions were so helpful. I let you know what I implement as my son starts kindergarten tomorrow and it will be just my daughter and I at home.

Thanks again,

Paige
paigeriley@myarbonne.com
www.paigeriley.myarbonne.com

[Audrey]

Paige,

Take photos!!!! Kindergarten is such a big step.

Tammy,

I'm into the old t.v. shows versus the old movies. I recently bought the first two seasons of Golden Girls which I hope to watch soon.

[tam2005]

I loved the Golden Girls! Do you remember the TV show Maude? lol
She was so funny!

[Audrey]

Oh I do!!! I did not watch t.v. persay for almost 20 years. Yes, I watched an occasional show, or the news, but I did not watch any series for about 20 years. Then DVD's were introduced and I began watching some of the old t.v. shows and loved them.

I watched all 10 seasons of Friends on DVD and love it. I could watch the reruns all day long now. Yet for the 10 years it was on, I never watched it. I've watched 7 seasons of E.R. That's all that's been released up to this point. I've even watched some of the old soaps like Dallas. I've watched about 6 seasons of that, all that's been released. Do you remember the show Quantum Leap? I remember my folks watching that show. I never watched it. I've now watched all of that on DVD also.

These days I even watch t.v. I've watched Survivor, American Idol...we just finished watching Hell's Kitchen.