For the first time in 12 years (well almost) I have all my kids in school. It’s amaaaaazing. I love my kids but finding that work/life balance is so much easier when there are a few hours everyday when nobody is telling me they went poopoos, nobody says they are bored despite me giving them a list of things to do from legos to scrubbing floor boards, and messes aren’t magically appearing. Whether your kids are all in school, away at childcare or home with you (been there, done that for all three), a to do list is the key. Otherwise before you know it you have spent three hours retouching something that should’ve been done in thirty minutes or you spent the day sucked into a Friends marathon on netflixs.

Not only does the list help you stay on task but it also helps you calculate how long tasks are taking. If you are repeatedly not finishing up tasks on time you have to consider a few things:

1. Am I working while distracted? Turn off facebook, shut down your internet, have a glass of water close by so you don’t need to get up and just focus.
2. Am I trying scheduling too many high concentration activities together? We need a break everyone in a while. Schedule in your breaks and try not to get sucked away with social media. Going for a walk is a great way to refresh and recharge.
3. Do things take longer than I think? If so we need to either consider hiring out the task or making sure out pricing correlates with the time we are putting in.

So get started on your daily to do. Add in both personal and business tasks because that’s life.