Using To Do Lists When Your Time is Limited

Like many moms, time is limited when a home business takes a back burner to everything else in life. There are so many things that need to be done with not enough workab le hours in the day to get things done. By utilizing specialized to do lists, you can find time to do everything you need to, or at least organize it in a way that easily spells out which tasks need to be done so that you won't forget any.

First, list everything that needs to be done for the week. Then, next to each item, put the amount of time each task would likely take. Once that is done, separate each item into lists - one for items that need to be done outside the home; one for items that can be done while the children are with you (whether they are right with you or working on their own activities); one for items that need to be done while the kids are napping, sleeping, or in someone else's care.

Once you have them separated, put the most important items on each list first, followed by the lesser important ones in order.

For example, here is a typical to do list for a mom who sells on eBay

1. Photograph Baby Gap clothes - 30 mins
2. List 30 coordinating Baby Gap pieces in various sizes on eBay - 2 hrs.
3. Send end of auction emails - 5 mins
4. Process payments and package items for the day - 15 mins

Now, she wakes up in the morning before her kids, so she looks at her to do list for when the kids are napping. She knows she doesn't have 2 hours, and she is unsure if she will even have a half hour, so she goes straight to the item with the least amount of item on her list - # 3. So she goes on her computer and sends out congrats emails for the auctions that ended the day before. The kids are still sleeping so she processes the online payments that have arrived since the day before and packages up the items for a post office visit later that day (which is on her to do list for tasks outside the house). She just gets out the items to photograph when her kids wake up.

That afternoon when her kids go down for a nap, she takes out the items and photographs everything. By the time she finishes, she knows she won't have two hours to list the items, and since she prefer to list everything at once to encourage buyers to bid on more than one item, she decided to wait until she has more time.

That evening, when her kids are in bed and her husband is off the computer, she settles in for the most time consuming task on her list - #1, since she knows she will be able to complete it (if she doesn't fall asleep first!)

By using to do lists that are separated in this way, it makes it much easier to get everything done, and to see which task is best to do at what time in your busy day.

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