Who knows some really good tips for this? I need to study my Driving Theory, take lessons, work on an Msc, clean the house, do laundry, care for kids, see teachers,shop/cook/budget, train Morse, keep in touch with family and somehow stay sane. The little compartments I try to fit these into leak, and I end up achieving little. HELP.

If you ever find the answer, would you please share it with me? I run my own co, do sales consultancy and work behind the bar for my local, have 2 kids, run a big house, 2 danes, 2 horses, various small & furries and I do not have enough hours or daylight in a day to do what I need to - and still I have to re-fence the front of the field, decorate at least 3 rooms, re-carpet the sitting room, countless loads of washing and cleaning and replaster the wall that willis has eaten...HELP!!

I am the worlds worst I think :rolleyes:
Late for work , late when meeting up with people etc etc etc
Drive my *fiance* wild as he is always on time- ( now I dont have to call him boyfriend - lol :)

I will tell you how bad I am at timekeeping "friends" who have known me for longer than 10 minutes ;) realise I have no sense of time.

I am told by family and friends that nights out etc are 1/2 hour earlier than they really are justto get me there about 15 minutes late :D

Karen

That sounds familiar :D Have very good friend who is always late for everything. Her daughter's teacher at school altered the time on their letter about a trip to London so that it read 1/2 hour early, just so they would be sure that the coach left on time :D

Daisy

Sounds like you are streets ahead of me already Chloe! :)

"Nature Inspired Heuristics, Combinatorial Optimisation, Scheduling, Metaheuristics, Hyperheuristics."
sounds posh but this is just what my son's phd is about,in simple terms "time management",so when he's fully qualified I'll have all the answers ;)

Oh gosh, I would love the cure also... I am up to my ears just now..

Anyway a tip I learned at Uni and practiced it faithfully for a while is last thing at night make a little list for the next day. The next day stick to it , hopefully you will be driven to complete it.

Easier said than done I know.. The days should be 40 hours not 24 ..

Pam

Delegate, prioritise or lower your expectations.
firmness of delivery dates is inversly proportional to the tightness of the schedule??? A wise man once said.

Hi,

Don't know a solution, just know i'm in a similar boat, trying to learn my driving theory, take two lessons a week, study for accounts exams, walk dogs, clean house, decorate before christmas. Where does it stop.

With me just learning too, thought I'd ask, how you getting along. I was trying to learn theory but only doing it half heartedly, now have study plan and going to spend a couple of hours a week.

Anyone or yourself got any idea how long it takes roughly to learn the theory?

How your lessons going?

Hi Caz, Im supposed to be practical test ready before Christmas and the practical bit is easiest for me. Thing is I havent sat me hazard/theory yet and I feel a deadline would be useful - give it 6 weeks and go for it. Have you got a mock test CD to check your progress? You can get some sites on the web as well. Good for you getting a plan.:)

Hi,

Think practical will be harder for me. Took first official lesson yesterday, have been practising in car park for about three months. I'm very nervous and lack confidence so know I'll struggle with practical.

Got a Cd full of questions of a friend whos just recently passed her practical. Also found a few websites with questions on. Going to do three hours a week until I think I'm ready for the theory.

How many lessons have you had?

Get ready to ROFL and LYAO - 1 weekly lesson since last February so about 32! I am over 40 though so that means you need more time to learn apparently. Now booking 2 a week and readiing the blasted Highway Code and book thing every day. You sound very determined and most likely to succeed. :)

Thats not a lot.

Like I say had my first last night and was told that the average student takes 30 to 40.

I might be determined, not sure I'll suceed though,the idea of having to put everything together i.e. look where going, look in mirrors, coordinate and actually drive seems an awful lot to do.

It will poss take me longer aswell seeing I'm nearer to 30 than nearer to 20.

I really wish I'd started when at uni even if couldn't have afforded a car, I could have possible drove boyf's. Kept putting it off cos couldn't afford one, really do wish I'd learn't younger.

Good luck and keep me updating on how your doing. I've opted for 2 a week to begin with so i'll let you know how I get on after my first 10.

It will come together - once you stop stirring soup with the gearstick and doing the accelerator/brake/clutch tango the control is there and you can concentrate on other road users who do weird things. :)

I was told it takes about an hour of lessons for each year of your age.
:)

You need to write down all the outstanding daily tasks and also the one off tasks.

Then write them down in a list showing top priority first to the least important last including the time it is likely to take and when it needs to be done. It may take a while to get them all in a logical order of priority but it needs to be done for it to work !

Then have a look at who does the tasks now and then look at all other beings in the house that have some form of capabilty or the potential to complete the tasks and then set a timetable of who does what and when.

Next step get those involved in the plan to sit and look and agree or change any of the schedule and hopefully you should have a workable plan.

Sounds a bit OTT but helping to look at what you have to do, compiling a list, recruiting help from others will work!
Be prepared to continue to monitor how it is working and adapt it as you find adjustments need to be made changing the goal posts where necessary !

It helps to have rewards for the completion of a task as well as it helps as an incentive for the workers which includes yourself and also in the plan put a time slot in for R[$R as well !!! :D ])

HTH

Lucy
xx

Lucy, can you come round and organise my lot? We tend to bumble along. :P

Mmm I am only like this when I am home as I am a frustrated Project manager but wait til I start to go back to work !! It will all go to pot because if I am doing it at work I tend to do the opposite at home so it will regress into the normal chaos !! :D :D

Hehe LJS, we work in similar fields.

As a strategic planner my advice would be: Spend thousands of hours in tedious meetings sucking a pencil and wondering why everyone else in the room doesn't want to go home. Realise you brought the wrong agenda and papers to the meeting, so say at random intervals: "Hmmm, now before we go any further, I think it's important that we think through the issues carefully here."

Lists are always good. So is a loud, carrying voice. :D

LOL @ JO :D :D

Yes I forgot to say you must have meetings about meetings as this is and essential part of the plan !! :D

Make sure that everybody is aware of their own self importance so they can spout of absolute rubbish which has absolutely nothing to do with what the original plan was trying to acheive ! :D :D :D

Yes carrying lists is also a good idea but it really doesn't matter at the end of the day if the lists are relevant as the majority of the time the real list will be superceeded by a new list at the end of the meetings anyway :D

Lucy

LOL at Lucy and Jo :D You forgot the chocolate biscuits and the fun generated by placing one comfy chair round the table and watching who has the gall to sit in it :D Always a councillor IME

:D :D @ LJS - I can see you've felt the pain and got the teeshirt.

Lorelei - do you work in local government? It's always good to meet a fellow public servant. :) Well, it's always good to have a good old laugh at councillors. :D

Edited to add - LJS - yes, I totally agree - one must never follow the original scope for a project. That would make everything way too simple. :D

Worse Jo, HOUSING :D. Drop the meetings and just let me BUILD houses! :)

Lorelei - Housing? Yey! If I said "ALMO" to you, would you yell at me? :D

Ha ha ha very funny Jo! we dont have ALMOs in Scotland as the Executive is mad keen on LSVT. We scream about Section 75 agreements or Section 106 in Englandshire, especially in Edinburgh where competition for sites is cut-throat. My Msc is on land supply for selfbuild housing.

Lol Lorelei - sounds like you're having as much fun as we are! God bless Section 106s ... :D

Thanks Lucy that helps. I will make the first item on the list "make list" then thats something done!

List everything and prioritize A:Jobs that must be done today
B:Jobs you would like to do but can wait until tomorrow
C:Well that can just jolly well wait till the end of the week!!!!!!!!Good luck,Sandra.

The list is working:) found out where all my time goes - other people's demands. Practicing saying NO without explanations, excuses or justifications and keeping an eye on the clock so tasks dont expand into other time blocks.

Lorelei
Me too am working on final yr of BSc (PT) work 30 hrs week in job have 3 kids full time and 2 pt, hubs, 2 dogs, 1 cat and housework and loads and loads of ironing....plus the voluntary stuff that's supposed to be once every other month (yeh like)...Lat weekend the kids peed me off so much, slouching around the house, dumping stuff like magazines and gameboy games, hubs was in work and I decided sod this, phoned my friend to go and see her, and wrote a list of jobs for them to do, with a couple of extras if they 'felt kind'. When I got home the house was spotless and the potoatoes for dinner had been peeled. Will definately do it again. But will also have a look at the list
Fi x

Gosh I thought that said 2 HUSBANDS - horror! This is why I love my dog, he gives me reasons to escape. I am especially looking forward to Christmas day when SB and I will fight over walking Morse to get out of the wrapping/orange peel/sad present hell. Of course Morse's present will be extra walks he he he:D

Whats your Bsc in?

Yawn....Business IT, at the moment I'm suppose to be designing a user interface for an imaguinary Archaeological Database and I know nothing about Archaeology and the things I'm suppose to come up with (for an imaginary Knowledge Base System) eek :(
Mind you I've learned how to spell it..... ;)

yup, perfect solution......

go make yourself a coffee and sit down and study, if you dont it wont sink in anyway.

the rest will still be there afterwards!