Time Management: What's Your P.L.A.N.?--Intro

I recently spoke to a group of homeschooling moms about time management and thought I'd share here what I shared with them. I hope this blesses and encourages you.
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Being a homeschool mom is no easy task. As a homeschool mom, you wear numerous hats and have lots to accomplish in a day. And no matter how much we wish it were different, we all have only 24 hours in our day. But we can learn to make the most of those 24 hours. And by learning how to effectively manage out time, we can bless our families and make an impact on our own lives, in our family's lives and ultimately on the world!

By way of introduction, I'm a homeschooling mom of 4 children--2 teens boys, 1 preteen boy and a toddler princess. We have always homeschooled and are active in numerous extracurricular activities. We are involved in competitive sports, competitive speech, music, and church. We have a very rigorous academic standard. We have a busy toddler. And on top of all that, I can't stand clutter. It is a huge distraction for me! And keeps me from really concentrating on the things that matter most in life.

So in order to manage all that I have to do in a day, I've had to learn over the years to have a plan. And throughout the course of these posts, I hope to share my P.L.A.N. with you.

So let's get started....

One of my favorite radio personalities is Dave Ramsey. He is a personal money management expert, who talks to literally millions of people on a daily basis about personal finances. I like how he shoots straight and tells it like it is. One of the very first things he counsels for those who want to manage money wisely is the need for setting up a budget. He says if you want to lose weight, then you need to track calories. If you want to want to manage your finances, then you need to come up with a written game plan. Likewise, I say if we want to make the most of our time we need to have a plan.

Over the next few posts, I hope to share 4 steps to developing a P.L.A.N. for managing time.

1. Purpose--What is our purpose for managing our time?
2. Logistics--What are all the things that a typical homeschool mom needs to accomplish in a day?
3. Application--How can we find a workable solution to fit everything in?
and
4. Negotiate--changing our plan as the seasons of our lives and life circumstances dictate.

That's it in a nutshell and if you stop reading I hope you'll at least consider these few points. But if you decide to stay and read a few more posts, then I'll go into a bit more detail on how to walk through each of these steps. And hopefully, we'll all be encouraged in the end.