Time management is one of those ongoing and heated topics of conversation amongst single parents–how do we get everything done and still have time to pay loving attention to our selves and our kids? One of the issues that comes up for single parents is how to manage household chores and errands like grocery shopping–do you save it up and do it on the weekend? Or do you try to squeeze them in during the week so you can spend weekends with your family?
I confess that I try to get as much as possible done during the week so that we can have a more “typical” weekend. I figure that my kids and I all have so much going on during the week–school, work, sports, and other activities–that I want to make myself available for a more leisurely pace on the weekends. This means that the weeks are usually quite packed. I do occasionally do work on weekends–especially if my teens are all of and busy (I find I’m doing more of this, the older they get), but I don’t want to be burdened with a bunch of “have to dos” when I could spend time decompressing and being with my kids. I think I started this years ago when my kids were all in elementary school and day care–if I had shopping and such to do, it was much easier to squeeze it in on a lunch hour or right after work (before picking up the kids) than to try to do it with three cranky kids in tow. This also goes for housework–it was easier for me to do it after the kids went to bed on a weeknight or while they were doing homework, then on a weekend when everyone was around and wanting to hang out and play.
Other single parents have such stringent work schedules, that doing things like cleaning house, laundry, or grocery-shopping just has to wait until the weekend. Then you can either turn it into something fun that you do with your child along, or you may have to get a sitter or arrange some other activity so that you can get the work done. This can mean more time away from your child, but it can also be an efficient and effective way to take care of things without being too overwhelmed and harried.
How do you organize your to-do list? Do you do it during the week, or do you save up chores and errands for the weekends?
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