This month, we have another guest post from Zoraida Basaldu of Empowered Fem. As someone who is a #1 Productive Procrastinator, this one hit home for me when I read it. When it comes to doing things for myself, I have always put it off and wasn’t great at managing my time well to ensure I left time for me in my schedule. I started to make changes in this area during a weekend last month when I realized I was putting off spending time organizing my space, preparing meals, and exercising because I was so busy with client work. Next thing I knew, I had a fully organized space, a week’s worth of meal plans, and my client’s work completely done with a great energy behind it. The key? I took control of my schedule like Zoraida mentioned in her blog!
Take some time to read her post and implement the tips she shared and you too will be feeling the success of a job well done with a clear mind, organized space, and healthy body! Of course, it doesn’t happen in a weekend, but the first step is the best step. You can’t finish what you don’t start!
Manage Your Time Like A Queen
If you are like me, most of the time you are running around like a chicken without a head. There are always 101 things to do and only one of you. Pre-COVID, the world seemed to demand so much more time from us than what we could offer. I vividly remember having to take dress-up clothes to work for an event after work that I could not wear my uniform to. It seems as if there was always something going on, from presentations and board meetings to community events and family commitments. Girl, you name it and I probably had a commitment to be there.
I have noticed that most of the demands from our social lives have drastically diminished during Corona times. Nonetheless, a lot of those demands have now been replaced by digital engagements. Our presence is always required for one thing or another. Either by choice or by pleasure, your highness always has something to do.
As the queens of our castle and rulers of our empire, we are called for absolutely everything. I mean everything. It almost seems as if no one can do things without us. As wives, mothers, sisters, daughters someone is always depending on our time. I know that keeping it all together is not easy.
Before coming into my purpose-driven mindset, I never managed my time—never. I remember letting television consume my time. I used to watch novellas (Mexican soap operas) every evening from 7-10 pm. I used to sit there with absolutely no purpose but to cry, laugh, or get angry at the story line. I remember my husband looking at me so perplexed when I would cry at the story and him passing by asking me what the eff was wrong. I would try to explain through a teary-eyed sentimental face that the main character of the novella had died in a burning car by the hands of the jealous next-door neighbor’s stepson who was really her son. My gawd!!! It is funny to look back at the things that I used to place as priorities with my time.
It took me a long time to realize that every day had to be filled with purpose. That running like a chicken without my head was not productive. My goals were going to be on a standstill until I made the time to get around to them. It was my fear of getting older and not having achieved the things that I had always wanted that drove me to have a shift in mindset. The game changed when I started to put priorities on the things that were only going to help me reach my goals. I no longer binge-watched television. I no longer had time for things that did not align with my purpose, such as spending hours at the mall or waiting to be seated at a restaurant. Realizing that my goals were going to take front row and center to all my time is when I started knocking them out.
I remember being asked how I squeeze 32 hours in a day by a coworker one day. When she asked me, I did not realize how much I was doing. It took her pointing it out for me to even see how packed I’d made my days. I started to look at my calendar and saw that almost every single hour was already taken up by something. I run a non-profit organization, have a full-time job, raise three kids, mentor the teens, sit on community boards, volunteer, write a blog, and live my glam life. AWWWW!!! It might seem overwhelming but I was managing it all.
To take control of your time, you will have to make changes in your habits and mindset to maximize productivity rather than leaving things to be left undone. As they say, work smarter not harder. Here are the methods that I use to squeeze those 32 hours into a 24-hour day. They are so simple and I encourage you to apply them to your daily routines.
Steps to Managing Time Like a QUEEN
Step 1. Make a plan. A queen has her entire life planned out before she is even born. We need to be able to plan at least our day/week. Start by taking time to fully plan out your week and do a brain dump of everything that has to get done. After you have made a to-do list, go back through it, and identify the priority for each of the items. There will be things that have to get done (like going to work or taking care of the family) and things that could possibly wait (like organizing the pantry). Be sure that you absolutely rank the items on the basis of priority. It is so easy to fall into this trap. You have the day off and you know very well that a homework assignment is due but you also have to clean your room. All of a sudden, you are cleaning your room, then organizing your closet, then posting clothes for sale on the internet, then you have to go and meet the buyer. Before you know it the day has gone by and you are rushing to get your assignment completed. When you could have taken the first two hours of your day to finish the assignment and cleaned your room. Make sure that you stick to the to-do list and priorities for that day.
Step 2. Delegate. A queen has an entire court of people that she has access to. Start to use your power and delegate items to other people. Sometimes we take on more than we could handle without even realizing it until we have to do it all. If you find yourself cleaning the house all day by yourself while the rest of the household is out and about doing their own thing, you can delegate specific chores to each member of the house. This will cut the time that you have to spend doing that chore and allow you more time to do other items on the to-do list. Never be afraid to use your power, queen.
Step 3. Block Your Time. As a queen, the world revolves around you. Blocking time off is essential for you to be able to get things done. Set a certain amount of time to complete a task or goal that has priority to get completed. In your schedule, you will block off time for each day or however long you need to complete a task. Say you have to do your taxes and you have been dreading doing them so you put it off. When you block off time, to just concentrate on one task, you disempower your mind to think that other things are more important. You prepare your mind in advance to know that you will be concentrating on nothing else but your taxes for an hour every day this week until you submit them. Using a time block allows you to shift your focus to solely one thing.
Step 4. Get Down to Business. In your kingdom, no one has more power than you. You are not average; you possess great character, determination, and drive. After all, not everyone could be a queen. Become laser-focused on your goals and stop messing around. If you are fully committed to a goal you will not let anything get in the way. You will make time, put in the time, and do the time. No great queen ever turned down a challenge. Take on the challenge to put your goals first before distractions. Your future self will thank you.
Managing your time like a queen is easier than you think; you just have to apply yourself. Let me tell you, if Queen Elizabeth can handle her crown at age 94 so can we, sis. So can we!! Do not let anything stop you. You are in control of your time and how you spend it. You and your time are valuable don’t waste it. Practice the steps above and see how your productivity is going to increase.
Beauties, it’s time to run the world…but before you do, take a moment to listen to this song and remember how powerful you are just by being you.
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About Zoraida
Zoraida Basaldu, founder of Empowered Fem, is a passionate communicator and self-esteem enthusiast who is making a positive impact in the lives of girls, young women, and the people who care about them. Being a women leader in today’s world is tough and Zoraida gets it. Having grown up in Mexico in a single parent household. Zoraida knows firsthand the obstacles and challenges that one can face. Now passionate about the life-changing results she experienced in her own life, Zoraida is on a mission to impart confidence, coping skills, and positive social skills to women everywhere. She coaches girls and young women to gain confidence, character, and class by helping them to learn how to truly love themselves, understand healthy decision making, appreciate inner beauty, and so much more. Learn more about her here.
This post was originally shared on the Empowered Fem blog at https://empoweredfem.org/2020/08/06/manage-time-like-a-queen/. To get the full Empowered Fem experience, please visit the site: www.EmpoweredFem.org.
That headline got me. I’m pretty sure everyone wants to manage their time, even though we rarely ever make something as simple as a to-do list.
I enjoyed your metaphor of a queen in the last four tips, which were really to-the-point and helpful. Mighta laughed my head off at the part of the novellas. The main character of the novella had died in a burning car by the hands of the jealous next-door neighbor’s stepson who was really her son. Sounds like a soap opera, all right!
Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for coming by! Zoraida has some great analogies, doesn’t she? I always enjoy her humor and her way of seeing things because they are usually from a different angle than my own.
Interestingly, I’m a list girl. I LOVE lists. My biggest problem with them is I enjoy filling them and them become overwhelmed with too much to do so I procrastinate by doing other things. :/ Progress though… that’s our goal and that’s what we make when we start applying what we learn.
Have a great day!
✍Ah, writing lists! I’m not gonna lie here, I don’t do lists. Maybe I will from now on, though 🙂
True, Zoraida did a good job on this guest post.
Thanks once again for sharing the post, and great day to you too!
One thing I am good at is managing time. Not to toot my own horn, but I rock at time management. 🙂
I think you totally can toot your own hand on that Bill!