As I am settling into being primarily responsible for taking care of the house, and all of the tasks and chores that go with it, I am finding time management a bit of an issue.  I am also working on developing an astrology practice, continuing my astrological and metaphysical studies, learning Japanese, and blogging. Additionally, I want to be available to visit and spend time with my grandmother, who lives upstairs from me and to maintain social relationships.  There are also several projects I would like to complete, such as cleaning out the closet and the back porch and writing an astrology book.  Oh yes, I am also working on handmade gifts, and I would eventually like to learn how to sew.  Whew!  Strangely enough, I am finding I have less time now that I have closed my previous business, not more!

I wrote a previous article about my time management woes, and I think that part of the difficulty is developing a new routine.  Routines are quite helpful, at least for me.  The reason for this is that it cuts down on the amount of decisions one needs to make.  I know that there have been times that I have wandered about the house from room to room just trying to decide what to do next!

When I was working outside the home, I used time management software to keep me on track.  It finally dawned on me that I can use that same time management software with all of my current chores, tasks, projects, and plans.  I have always liked Microsoft Outlook.  I have tried other programs, but that is really the one that works best for me.  One of the reasons I like it is that I can set up the visual interface Outlook Today to only show me the tasks for each day at a time!  I can also set up tasks on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis, and it will pop up on that schedule.  This means that when I open up Outlook each day, my tasklist is all ready for me, without me having to think about it each day.  I also feel a sense of accomplishment every time I check off a task on the list!

I am also learning to feel comfortable with doing a little at a time.  There are some really big tasks like the project of cleaning out the closet and the back porch which seem daunting and overwhelming.  I am trying to work on them a little at a time each day.

I do not know that I am actually accomplishing more, but I may be.  Developing a routine is helping me feel a bit less overwhelmed and minimizing the amount of time I spend wandering through the house trying to figure out what I am doing!