Make Good Use of Time a Priority This Holiday Season

We are entering the busiest time of the year. You can almost feel the whoosh of stress that comes with Black Friday, even though it is still days away. Want to make good use of time a priority this holiday season?

If you don’t, you will wind up being frazzled and stressed out for the holidays. I am intent on avoiding this at all costs!

Do you ever get caught up in something unnecessary and find that an hour has passed? If I am not paying attention, this happens to me every day.

The way to avoid this is simple but (I find) challenging to execute. The answer is to create a schedule. If you take the time to do this, you are much less likely to waste time.

Identify Your Distractions

We all have our own time eaters and situations that can distract us. Do you know yours? Here’s a list of mine (no judging, please):

• Instagram & Facebook
• My dog
• Tik Tok Dog Videos
• Crossword puzzles
• TV

The day I discovered the screen time tracker on my cell phone was a revelation. I was shocked at how many hours a day I looked at my phone. Have you checked that lately? It was a massive eye-opener for me!

When I am home, I am easily distracted by Tucker, our dog. All he has to do is come to me wagging his tail, and I start petting him, giving him a belly rub, taking him in the yard to throw the ball around, etc. He is just too dang cute for me to ignore!

All I need to do is remember to close the door to the room I am working in so he cannot find me. Such a simple solution that I rarely remember to do. Subconsciously, I probably don’t want to!

Have you discovered Tike Tok dog videos yet? I have my friend Debra to thank for this one. Don’t look at one; they are totally addicting! They are one of the reasons my screen time is so high. Like Tucker, they are just too adorable not to view them.

When I was first recuperating from my breast cancer treatments, I prioritized doing a crossword every day. It was a way for me to exercise my brain. They brought me a feeling of accomplishment that I desperately needed.

I no longer “need” to do crosswords each day. They are time-eaters that can be postponed or dropped way down on the priority list.

My last distraction is TV. I cannot seem to walk past a TV when it is on. Why do I have to look and see what show it is and watch a few minutes and many times the entire show? My husband is perfectly capable of watching a TV show by himself, yet I feel compelled to join him.

What are the things that distract you? Be honest with yourself when making your list. (You don’t have to embarrass yourself by posting your list like me publicly.)

After figuring out where you are wasting time, you can concentrate on curbing those distractions. I factored this in when I made my daily schedule, and you may benefit from doing it too.

Of course, the first thing on everyone’s schedule is work. That is time already dedicated and non-negotiable. Everything after work gets put in priority order. What tasks do you need to accomplish today? Write them down and use them to set your schedule.

Yes, it is that easy! It takes about 15 minutes every evening (for me) to accomplish this. When I do it, I am so much calmer and able to handle my day. And, I always do factor in some screen time and Tucker time. Indulging ourselves is a must!

This system works well for me when I work it. The critical factor is “when.” I need to be diligent this time of year. Otherwise, I will be completely stressed out and miserable. Who wants to feel like that?

Is this something you believe may help you? While rudimentary basic, it works!

How do you prioritize your time? Do you do anything differently during the holiday season? Does anything I’ve suggested resonate with you? Please let me know in the comments below.