Store My Library
About Contact

9 Powerful Ways To Boost How Your Family Manages Time

9 Powerful Ways to Boost How Your Family Manages Time Today

What You Will Learn

  • What is work-life balance?

  • Opportunity Cost

  • Self-awareness

  • Habits

  • What Are Values?

  • What are principles?

  • The Difference Between Principles and Values

  • Core  Values

  • 9 Powerful Ways to Boost How Your Family Manages Time Today

  • Teaching Values to Your Children

 What is work-life balance?

In a book about time management, I read that work-life balance means creating a consistent routine that helps you stay healthy and feel good about your work and life. 

Opportunity Cost

Opportunity cost is choosing one thing over another. Regarding time management, every choice we make has a price because time is limited. For example, if you spend an hour watching TV, that’s an hour you could have used to read with your child or work towards a goal. Deciding how you want to spend your time means understanding the value of your choices and deciding what’s most important to you at that moment.

Self-awareness

We are where we are today because of the choices we’ve made. If you don’t like what you see, you can choose a new path through self-awareness. When I was nearing sixty-five, I asked myself, "How did I get here?" I reflected on my beliefs and past experiences that shaped my decisions and considered how to see things differently to create the life I wanted. I discovered our past choices often form habits that keep us from reaching our full potential. Becoming self-aware helped me recognize unhealthy habits and start to work on changing them.

Habits

Habits are routines we build through repeated actions. Whether good or bad, a habit is formed by what we consistently do over time. For example, if we always start our day with exercise, it becomes automatic. The same goes for less helpful behaviours—like scrolling on our phones when overwhelmed or bored. 

The more we repeat an action, the more it becomes fixed in our daily life, and we do it without even thinking.  Changing a habit requires recognizing what we do regularly, self-awareness, and consciously replacing old patterns with new, healthier ones. Aristotle: We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence is not an act but a habit. Just as habits shape our daily actions, values guide our choices.

What Are Values?

Values are like a lighthouse, steady and unwavering, providing direction when life feels overwhelming. As parents, our values impact us and shape our children. Kids watch how we behave and react, and they absorb the values we live by, often without us even realizing it. That's why it’s so important to know your principles before you can teach them to your kids. 

What are principles?

Principles build a strong foundation for everything in life. They are the unchanging truths that guide our decisions and actions. While trends or opinions can change over time, principles stay the same no matter what’s happening around us. 

The Difference Between Principles and Values

Values are the beliefs that guide what you find important in life, while principles are the actions or behaviours that show how you live out those values. For example, if spending quality time with your spouse or children is a value, a principle might be to set aside dedicated, distraction-free time with them each day, even when life gets busy. 

Core  Values

As the lighthouse lights the way for ships in the dark, your values serve as your guiding light to make decisions at the moment that best align with your goals for yourself and your kids.  I started doing this a few years ago, and now I make more decisions based on my values. 

Here are a few ways to discover yours:

  • Reflecting on pivotal moments can help you manage time by identifying your core values. Think of a time when you felt proud of your decision—what value guided that choice? For example, if you put down your phone and gave your child your undivided attention instead of half listening and giving an occasional nod.
  • Notice any discomfort in your body. When something feels wrong, and you get an oh-oh feeling, it often indicates a challenge to your values. Are you upset because you bought something to make yourself feel better? This discomfort reveals what you truly value. 
  • Examine who you admire and respect for their ability to balance responsibilities. Their qualities may reflect the values you want to adopt. 

9 Powerful Ways to Boost How Your Family Manages Time Today

  1. Decide on your values—Now that you know a bit about values, what do you value in life? Values help you prioritize what truly matters, especially when managing your time. By understanding your values, you can make choices that reflect what’s important and, at the same time, influence your children’s understanding of priorities in their lives.
  2. Decide on your principles—Principles are the action part of what you value. They provide a clear decision-making framework, especially when managing time effectively. By identifying and applying your principles, you can make choices that align with your values, guide your actions, and help your children understand the importance of consistency and accountability.
  3. Have a vision and goal. Time is a nonrenewable resource; we don’t ever get back time. Don’t die with regrets—that was me at 65. Time keeps ticking whether we like it or not. To effectively manage your time, you need a clear vision and specific goals that align with your values. Knowing what you’re working toward helps you prioritize tasks and make informed decisions about where to invest your time. When your vision and goals reflect your core values, you stay focused and motivated, ensuring that your daily actions contribute to your long-term aspirations.
  4. Change your habits  - Habits play a significant role in shaping our daily lives, and it's crucial to recognize which ones help us and which hold us back. To reach our goals, we must identify and change bad habits into positive ones. For instance, instead of wasting time on mundane activities like binge-watching TV or endlessly scrolling through social media, you can replace those habits with more productive ones, such as learning a new hobby, exercising, or spending quality time with family. By making these small changes, you can create a routine that aligns with your goals and leads to a more fulfilling life.
  5. Opportunity Cost - if you say yes to one thing, remember you will be saying no to  something else
  6. Organize and plan—Planning and organizing the night before is a new habit that helps me reduce stress and align my daily activities with my values. By taking five to ten minutes each evening to plan for the next day, such as what we are having for dinner or reviewing my appointments, I prepare myself for success. This preparation allows me to start the day with a clear mind. When I plan, I can adapt more smoothly to changes, ensuring I stay calm and focused while honouring what truly matters to me and making healthier choices because I am not suffering from decision fatigue. 
  7. Self-talk plays a crucial role in doing things that matter to me. It's important to pay attention to the messages we tell ourselves because these thoughts can often be negative, making us feel inadequate or overwhelmed. However, we have the power to change those thoughts with self-awareness. One effective way to shift our mindset is through affirmations, which can be powerful tools for creating the life we desire.
  8. Toggl: I have a phone app called Toggl. I have the free version, which helps me know how long it takes to do routine things, such as grocery shopping, cooking meals, driving to an appointment, and personal care. This awareness of time helps me better plan and organize my day because I am not guessing. As hard as it is, I use it to track my time playing games on my phone and watching mundane videos. The trick is to be honest with yourself because the only person you hurt is you, no one else.
  9. Be Gentle with yourself: Self-care is essential for maintaining our well-being, and it's important to be patient with ourselves during challenging times and when we are making positive changes in our lives. We all experience setbacks, whether in our personal lives or time management efforts. 

 Embracing this mindset allows us to learn from our experiences and continue progressing toward our goals with resilience and determination. As we experience challenges and stick to our values to keep moving toward our goals and the vision for our lives, it's equally important to focus on teaching and setting an example for our children to guide them through their journeys to live by their values. 

Teaching Values to Your Children

Lighthouses don’t just guide one ship—they help many. As a parent, once your values are clear, you can share them with your children. It starts with modelling these values in everyday life. If kindness is one of your values, let your children see you offering a helping hand. If responsibility is important to you, show them how you balance commitments.

However, it’s also important to give children the space to discover their values and encourage them to think about what’s important. One way to do this is by having conversations after challenging situations, like a disagreement with a friend or a challenging moment at school. 

Through these conversations, they begin to shape their internal lighthouse—one that will guide them through life's challenges as they grow older. Just as a lighthouse never falters, our values can keep us steady through life’s uncertainties. By discerning our values and teaching our children to develop theirs, we help guide them toward becoming compassionate, responsible, and confident individuals.

Conclusion

As we work towards achieving a healthy work-life balance, it's essential to remain patient with ourselves and embrace the process of growth. The values and principles we live by directly influence our well-being and the values we pass on to our children. By aligning our daily actions with our core values, we create a meaningful, fulfilling life for ourselves and provide a solid foundation for our kids to build their futures. 

Be an inspiration to your children by knowing and living according to your values and teaching them to do the same. You will strengthen your bond with them by helping them navigate their challenges with confidence. Also, your values will change over time as you go through life and have new experiences. I don’t know the origin of this saying, but I have heard it countless times from my mom, and I live by it,  "Your actions speak louder than words.”

 

                                       Change begins with ourselves!

 

To learn more about Cathy or FREE DOWNLOADABLE RESOURCES, check out parentingyoungsters.com

Children’s Books Series: Lessons For Life With Gramma Kate

Finding Lily’s Inner Magic: A Tale of Building Confidence

Lily’s Journey to Forgiveness: Letting Go of Hurt and Anger - Available Oct 8th, 2024!

Follow Cathy: 

Instagram: - https://www.instagram.com/parenting_youngsters/

Facebook: - https://www.facebook.com/tipsforparentingyoungsters

DISCLAIMER

The Tips for Parenting Youngsters Podcast and content posted by Cathy Barker is presented solely for general information, educational, and entertainment purposes. The use of information on this podcast or materials linked from this podcast or website is at the user’s own risk. It is not intended as a substitute for the advice of a physician, professional coach, psychotherapist, or other qualified professional, diagnosis, or treatment. Users should not disregard or delay in obtaining medical advice for any medical or mental health condition they may have. They should seek the assistance of their healthcare professional for any such conditions.