University of Hawai‘i at Ma
¯noa • Center on the Family • Family Resource Kit
F A M I L Y F O U N D A T I O N S
It’s About Time
veryone has 24 hours in a day and 168
hours each week; however, everyone
uses this time differently. Good time management
results in less stress and aggravation, more satisfaction, greater accomplishment, and increased
relaxation.
Start With Goal Setting
Mr. and Mrs. Tanaka both work to pay their bills
and save money for the family vacation next summer. They also feel that spending time with their 3
children is essential. Mr. and Mrs. Tanaka’s goals
are to spend time with their children, to help their
children do well in school, and to read with their
children every day.
Now it’s your turn. Managing your time
requires planning and making choices. It helps to
know what your goals are. Use a separate piece of
paper and take a few minutes to list your goals in
the 4 categories below. Think about what you and
your family want to accomplish daily, as well as
in the next few months and years. Keep your goals
realistic and attainable. Be specific, and remember
that your goals may change from time to time.
Then use your goals to help you decide how to
spend your time.
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Photo: Laurie Breede
The Tanakas are a family with 3 young
children. Recently they received a note
from their son’s teacher suggesting they
read to their children every day. The
teacher also felt it was important that
they continue reading to the children during the summer. The Tanakas wondered
how they could add one more activity to
their busy schedule. They decided that
it was about time to take control of their
time.
“Good time management results in
less stress and aggravation, more
satisfaction, greater accomplishment,
and increased relaxation.”
Daily
example: read to children for 30 minutes
Weekly
example: visit library with children
Within 6 Months
example: family outing to Sea Life Park
Within 1-2 Years
example: save enough money to visit Disneyland
How Do You Spend Your Time?
For one week, the Tanakas kept a time diary. On
a few sheets of paper, they wrote down their daily
activities and how much time they spent on each
activity. Before doing this, they had thought that
most of their time at home was spent on chores.
However, their time diary showed that they were really spending many hours watching television and
not enough time doing schoolwork.
Photo: © Tami Da
If you’re not sure how your time is being spent, you might
find it helpful to keep and use a time diary. Here are some
suggestions:
wson
• Record your family’s daily activities at regular intervals
(every 30 minutes or every hour) for a period of 1-2
weeks, from the time you get up to the time you go to
sleep.
• Review your time diary to see how much time is spent on
each type of activity (child care, cooking, eating, sleeping,
cleaning the house, working, doing laundry, watching television, etc.). Also see which are your busiest times, your
least busy times, your most productive times, and your
least productive times.
• Ask yourself the following questions:
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What activities or tasks are major time wasters?
Can anyone else do some of the tasks? Which ones?
Can any of the activities be eliminated? Which ones?
Can any of the activities be combined? If not, can any
be done differently or more quickly?
Plan to Meet Priorities
The Tanakas reviewed all the activities listed in their time diary. Then they decided how important each activity was in relation to their goals. Next, the Tanakas began to see whether
their time was spent on important things, and whether they
needed to make any changes to get priority activities done.
They decided to set limits on television time and to spend
more time reading as a family. They planned reading time into
their daily evening schedule. Not only did the Tanakas enjoy
their time together and the stories they read, they found they
hardly missed watching television.
“Scheduling involves fitting
together what you need to do
in the time you have.”
often helpful to write down what you need to do each day and
each week. A written list can help you remember what you
need to do. You can also check off items on your list as you
get them done.
Develop a Schedule
As part of their new schedule,
the Tanakas decided to
have their older daughter
and Dad wash the dinner
dishes together, while Mom
gave the younger 2 children their bath. This then
gave everyone time to read
together for 30 minutes before finishing other chores
and homework or having
free time before bed.
“Your family can learn to plan together.”
Your family can learn to plan together. Look at your time
diary. Identify your most important activities using the ABC
method. Label top priority items to be attended to with an
“A.” Label items that can be delayed for a while with a “B.”
Label items of low importance with a “C.” Use items prioritized “A” and “B” to create a daily or weekly to-do list. As
you plan how to use your time, it’s okay to eliminate any “C”
items that you feel are not important to do. As you plan, it’s
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More Ideas
Photo: © Tami
Dawson
Share Household Work
• It works well to use regular family meetings to discuss and
plan schedules and divide household work.
• Everyone can share in the work, even young children.
Consider their age and abilities when assigning tasks. Your
children will learn responsibility, cooperation, and a sense
of belonging as they help with family work.
Avoid Procrastination
• Promise yourself you’ll start a task and stick with it for 15
minutes. Once you get started, you may be more motivated
to finish.
• Instead of worrying about everything that needs to get
done, pick one task and just get started.
• Everyone has different energy levels during the day—
some are morning people and others work better at night.
Which are you? Identify the time of your highest energy
level. Use this time to do tasks that require the most attention or effort.
• Break a big job into smaller tasks. Learn to keep tasks
manageable and realistic. If you keep at it, the entire job
will soon be done.
“Your children will learn responsibility,
cooperation, and a sense of belonging
as they help with family work.”
Take Care of Yourself
• Set limits for yourself. Use your priority list to monitor
how you choose to spend your time.
• Learn to say “no” without feeling guilty. Avoid overcommitting your after-work hours or family time to outside
responsibilities.
• Rest between jobs or when you feel tired.
• Exercise regularly and eat healthy meals and snacks.
• Plan a few minutes each day for yourself. Use this personal time to do something you enjoy.
Scheduling involves fitting together what you need to do
in the time you have. As you develop a schedule for your
family, think about how much time each task requires. Be
sure to allow enough time for tasks to be done adequately.
Also consider the personal needs and interests of each family
member when creating a schedule. For example, younger, less
skilled family members may take longer to do a task than an
older member.
You might try drawing a chart for the family, listing the
tasks each family member needs to accomplish. Plan each day
or week with a to-do list. Everyone can check off the tasks
they’ve accomplished. If you find that all of the tasks are not
completed, you might explore why. Was there too much to
do? Were there unexpected interruptions? Was the job harder
and more time consuming than you thought? Make adjustments as needed.
“Make adjustments as needed.”
If you think it’s about time to reduce your stress, improve
your well-being, and have control of your life, then it’s time
to work on time management. You may experience some
frustration as you begin to work at managing your time better, especially if there are lots of changes to make. If you get
discouraged, remember learning to effectively manage your
time takes practice, but you can do it!
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