Top Time Tip #118
Managing School Holidays and Back To Work Blues!
9th April 2009
Many of my readers in many countries, especially those with children or involved with universities, are either coming into a holiday season or just finishing one. And of course, if you're in a country that celebrates Easter, you'll have the Easter break happening this weekend as well. So this issue you'll find some stress-reduction tips to help you finish any holiday refreshed rather than frazzled!
If you are taking a break at Easter, I do wish you every best wish and blessing. Mike and I are slipping down to Wellington for a few days. On the way we'll visit our two newest grandbabies, born in the last six weeks to two of my sons.
 Apart from friends and family I'm also really looking forward to a leisurely exploration of the Monet exhibition currently at Te Papa, the Museum of New Zealand. I still remember my first sight of an original Monet - an excited single mum on welfare heading to her first university experience - a vacation course at Massey University, Palmerston North. It was about 1985 and I'd scraped together enough pennies to see the wonderful Monet exhibition then showing in Auckland. For most of us life has changed dramatically in those 24 years, but those wonderful paintings have not.
Here's to delightful meanderings down Memory Lane.
Happy Easter
Cheers,
Parenting Sanity Strategies
If you're a parent, try this short collection of useful tips from top Australian parenting expert Michael Grose http://www.parentingideas.com.au/
'It may be strange getting a parenting tip from a male, but hey, we can do it too. The following time-saving and nag-reducing tip has saved me hours of unnecessary 'nag-time' over the years and also saved my children, particularly my son, the pain of listening to a parent sounding like a broken record.
- 'Use lists to help children be organised. Oh, make sure there are no more than five things on the list.
- 'If you have a child who always seems to forget what to do in the morning, then put five things they must do before they put a foot out of the door each day. Be specific and stick to the important stuff. It may read: Make Breakfast, clean teeth, pack school bag, etc...
- 'Place the list in a prominent place and make it attractive or at least easy to read. If you have pre-readers then use symbols or simple pictures.
- 'This is hardly ground-breaking stuff but it works. Get the kids to tick off each activity when it is done or just make a mental note of it as it is done. Some kids like to tick the box once something is done. It is like a reward and works well with boys who tend to respond to short-term goals.
- 'If you want kids to have a tidy bedroom then list the five jobs that they need to do to make a tidy room and place it on the back of their door. Let's face it, kids have their own version of tidy so you have to spell it out for them.
1. Make bed.
2. Empty your tidy bin
3. Place bags on the ....
'The use of lists helps kids to be organised and takes the onus off you to always tell them what to do. It works particularly well with boys and children with ADHD. These kids need a great deal of help to stay on track and simple lists are a great aid.'
On Getting the most out of life.
'Never let go of the child within - children have endless curiosity.
Start each day as if we're going to open a present, that it will be a surprise, that we will learn something new and exciting, or have serendipitous wonderful events happen to us. Nine times out of ten, whatever we expect, will happen'. (Source unknown).
How to make weekend fun, and the next week less stressful.
Here are a few strategies used by Bronwynne Bandiera from Brisbane.
- I NEVER take work home.
- I always plan at least two outings or projects for the weekend.
- I always take an hour out on the weekend with a cuppa to plan the menu for the coming week and the shopping list. This takes the 'What are we going to have for dinner' drama out of each evening. It also ensures that I have everything I need to cook each meal on hand.
Daily planning and 'to do' lists!
Here's a really useful tip to help with the 'back to work' blues that assail most of us after returning from holidays. It came, as so many of my best snippets do, from a participant at a speech, Martin Russell. (We'd been talking about daily planning and 'to do' lists).
'Robyn, you've given us some great advice about writing a list of all the things to do for the day, identifying just the top five, and working on them. The action of writing down definitely takes away some of the stress, but sometimes, especially if there's pressing deadlines and you can feel a panic attack coming on, the list of 'absolute must do's' still seems too long.
'If you also quickly jot down, beside each item, an estimate of how long it will take, it has several benefits:
- Clears the mind clutter.
- Focuses your attention on what's really important.
- Helps you be more realistic about what you really can do, instead of pushing ahead blindly, maybe on things that you've got no chance to achieve.
- Probably the most important - helps you realise that, almost always, the issue is what's in your head, rather than what's on the list. Our mind plays funny tricks! It's amazing how quickly you get through the work once you push the anxiety away, and there's almost always enough time.
In fact, both Michael's and Martin's tips about lists have a similar theme, don't they. Get the 'stuff' out of your head and down on paper and you'll feel less stressed.
And let me finish with one of my favourite sayings: 'Out of structure comes freedom.'
If we've got some structure and ways to focus we can be also very flexible.
All the best with your freedom in whatever way it manifests for you - planned for, brimful and joyous.
Did You Get Your Free Report
We found a wee glitch that may have affected new registrants to this ezine. If you didn't get your promised f.ree report 'How to Master Time In Only 90 Seconds' you can download it here with our apologies for any inconvenience.
(And if you've been a reader for a long time and haven't yet seen this quick easy-to-read summary of my core time management principles, of course you're welcome to download as well, and pass it on to anyone you like - my gift to you.)
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