Time Management

​Juggling Work
 
We all may have said it, or at least thought it at one time or another: I wish there were more hours in a day.  Between working between 8 to 10 hours a day (sometimes more depending on your occupation) and keeping up with any other obligations, sometimes it can feel like there is just not enough time in the day.  I mean, there are 24 hours, but we must sleep some time, right?
 
But aside from outside obligations, maybe you are a person who is looking to have multiple streams of income.  Most of the success stories we read about or come across online in articles tend to discuss how they have multiple streams of income or the “Side hustle”.  But we only see them after a significant amount of work is put in.  After a website has been created and is now just making passive income.  After the book has been published so they just had to determine what they wanted to do next.  
 
So how do you learn how to manage your full-time job, your home life, and your ability to make a lucrative income with a side gig?
 
Prioritize.
As with anything in life, priorities are key.  They are important in helping you determine what will be the best avenue to take and what will yield the highest return.  Having your priorities in order ensure you won’t make a decision that will jeopardize your livelihood and well-being in pursuit of something that does not yield that high of a return.  For instance, if you are starting a new blog, you wouldn’t want to spend so much time being consumed with your blog that you neglect your family or even begin to neglect the current job you have that is providing income in the meantime.
 
 
 
Set Goals.
Finding your niche when trying to find a lucrative side hustle can be difficult.  It doesn’t usually hurt to try new things.  You do, however, want to set goals for yourself.  Give yourself a time frame on when you are looking to see return on investment (ROI). These goals, along with your priorities, can help you determine if what you are trying is or is not worth your time.
 
These things can help in not only ensuring you don’t waste your time, but also that you can determine how much time you should be spending on work efforts.  Work is a great thing as it brings in finances that can help your day-to-day and month-to-month expenses. It is also important to know when it’s time to stop working, and the equally important, when is the most appropriate time to work or take a break.
 
Online Courses
 
I have heard the question asked several times. No matter if it is a student fresh out of high school, or an older individual looking to further their education. Are online courses for me?
 
I have finished a degree online. I enjoyed the convenience of online courses, and how I was able to finish my degree at my own pace, sort of.  If you are looking in to furthering your education, and are considering online courses, there are several things to consider. All these things will help to determine if online courses are the best option for you.
 
Price.
Depending on what courses you are looking to take online and where, price can vary. Obviously if you are looking to complete a full degree plan the tuition would cost more than if you were to just obtain a certificate.  But even in that case, it is still wise to determine what school and program provides the most value for the best price.
 
 
Time Management.
On top of whatever obligations, you may currently have, such as work or family, you must determine if you have good enough time management skills to allot time for these courses if you were to be enrolled in them.  Without having an advisor in the room with you for a specified amount of time, it may be more difficult for you to determine when the best time to complete assignments is.
 
Discipline.
Time management goes hand in hand with having self-discipline. If you aren’t going to be disciplined enough to complete assignments and turn in work on time, doing courses online may not be the best option for you.  If, however, you believe that you would have no problem in taking the time to essentially teach yourself the material, it’s a more convenient alternative.
 
Class Length.
Online programs can vary as far as their course length. For instance, the classes I take are only 8 weeks, while a friend of mine only has 6-week classes.  Even some courses in my program are offered for a full semester, about 16 weeks.  This is something you want to consider when looking at online programs, especially once you look at the price, your time management, and your self-discipline skills.  If you won’t be able to handle a large workload in a short amount of time you may need longer courses.  Whatever would allow you to be the most successful.
 
Online courses aren’t for everyone, but for those that take them they can be extremely convenient and appealing. It’s up to you to determine if they best suit your needs.
 
Maintaining the House
 
Whether you are a stay at home parent or have a full-time job.  Whether you are married or single.  Whether you are male or female.  No matter what category or demographic you may fall in to, maintaining your home is something that you are responsible for. There has been a common misconception that a woman is responsible for maintaining the household.  The reality is, anyone who is in the home should contribute to the maintenance of that home.
 
So, what does it mean to maintain something like a house?
 
This could mean different things to different people, but for the purposes of this post maintaining the house is referencing the upkeep of the home as well as the financial aspects on what it takes to maintain a home.
 
Of course, if I were to ask, most people would say a clean house is important.  Now we all know that most houses also don’t stay clean all day every day.  Clean is also relative to individual people’s preferences.  Clean to one person may be organized clutter (like some room sin my house), while to others it may be completely spotless, everything in its respective place.  No matter what your preference is for clean, it is still your responsibility to contribute to that cleanliness in the house.
 
The great thing is, the way individuals contribute may also be completely different as well.  Some may choose to pay a professional cleaner once or twice a month, while others may choose to pick a day out of the week and clean it themselves.
 
Maintaining could also be the actual maintenance of the home.  For instance, ensuring light bulbs and air filters are changed, making any repairs, etc.  Again, this is something that you may or may not have to do on your own depending on what type of home you live in, as well as if you rent or own.
 
Another major contributing factor to the maintaining of a home is of course, finances. No matter how clean your house is or how often your air filters are changes, if the mortgage isn’t paid or the utilities are disconnected, it won’t matter one bit.  Maintaining your house also means managing your finances to effectively maintain the home.  No matter how you chose to manage your money, or even how you chose to maintain the financial integrity of the home it’s just important that it is done.
 
Dealing with Family
 
It’s safe to say we can all agree that we love our families.  If you have kids, then yours are the best kids out there.  Our parents did the best they could with what they had, and we turned out great, some of us anyway.  But what do we do when our family is getting on our last nerve?
 
Often, I speak with people who have the most issues with dealing with family members as it pertains to their in-laws.  In-laws tend to get a bad reputation for being mean and any other adjective you might have heard someone use to describe them.
 
So, let’s say you just so happen to have one of those in-laws.  Or even if you have some distant cousins, nieces, or some other family members that just are hard to deal with. How do you manage?  How do you handle it if they can’t be easily ignored?  What about family holidays?
 
Dealing with family can be stressful enough, even without those individuals who seem to be a pain.  There are a few things you can do to help yourself deal with them to make your life a little less stressful!
 
Know your relatives.
In most things in life, you can fix your own problems and deal with things just in the way you think about them.  We can sometimes get ourselves in trouble by having different expectations for people who have proven themselves to us time and time again.  It’s important to know your relatives and set your expectations as such.  Having your mind pre-prepared with the expectation of who your family is and what they do allows you to handle them a little better when you must encounter them.  Why?  Because your expectations aren’t so high.
Love them from a distance.
Not all family members are created equal.  Some of them you must know when to keep at arm’s length.  Just because you are in the same vicinity, or at the same family event doesn’t mean that you are absolutely obligated to spend a significant amount of your time with them.  Instead, find a way to be polite and cordial, without making yourself miserable.
 
Put your foot down.
Sometimes we find ourselves in a position where we are miserable, and we don’t have to be.  Dealing with family can often be as simple as putting your foot down when you refuse to be treated a certain way, talked to a certain way, or even taken advantage of. Don’t allow yourself to be walked over to “keep the peace”, sometimes things need to be said. Action needs to be taken.  Your sanity is important.
 
No matter what degree you find yourself needing to “deal” with family members, it is important to know that there is always something you can do to ensure you are not in a position of stress and discord for a long period of time.
 
Social Life
 
Social media has become all the craze today. While social media can be a great and effective tool, is it putting a damper on our actual social lives?  You know, the ones we have in real life, not just virtually.  But even today, how much of a real social life do we really need with all the resources available via internet?
 
For some of us, our social lives are our livelihood.  We depend on that social life to general clients for our business.  We may even depend on that social life to give us an excuse to put our home and family obligations on hold for a few hours.
 
No matter what the reason may be, having a social life, even if it’s a small one, can be extremely beneficial.  When we think about a social life, or minds may go straight to night’s out and cocktail parties. This, however, doesn’t have to be the case.
 
Your social life is essentially the friends you hang around, the events you attend, basically whatever life you live in a more social setting.  Typically, this life is separate from your work and home life, though they may overlap from time to time.  As I mentioned, this is where you typically are with friends, relaxing, and having a good time. So, the question is, do you need a social life?
 
I’d say yes!  You may not have to have the most extravagant social life possible, but those few faithful friends who get out with you from time to time can be all you need. Your social life shouldn’t be something that consumes most of your time, unless you are social influencers.  Instead, it should be something that affords you the opportunity to put your obligations and responsibilities on hold for a moment.  Make an opportunity to stop and enjoy yourself.
 
Your social life also may have different sections. For instance, you may have your own friends that you spend time with alone.  If you are married, you may also have other married friends that you spend time with together as couples with.  Then there is also the friends and events you may have or participate in if you have children.  All these areas can be a part of your social life.
 
Whether you are a party animal or are more life me and prefer to just head to a restaurant for conversation from time to time, your social life is important.  It’s what gives you the opportunity to get away or express yourself in ways you might not be able to in your normal business or home setting.
 
As mentioned earlier, this social life may also come in handy when it comes to your business.  Depending on your occupation, the connections you make in your social life can be very beneficial for your personal and professional development.