|
Pre-Wedding Time Management
As you've no doubt discovered, managing
your time is very challenging during the pre-wedding period. There
are a million things to do (on top of the demand of your normal
life!).
Time management is a means of asserting
greater control over your use of time and energy, rather than allowing
tasks and demands to control you. It's a given that you'll never
be able to do everything that you think you should. By using time
management techniques, you ensure that the activities that
you don't do are those of your choice--your lowest priorities.
Time management uses two primary tools:
·
Lists
of activities and tasks; and
·
Schedules
These tools allow you to analyze,
understand, organize and prioritize your use of time--not to make
you a schedule and task slave, but to make you the master of your
time.
Lists
Lists are a key tool in effective
time and task management. People without lists are often plagued
by worry over whether they've remembered all their important tasks.
You can't possibly hold everything in your head, and you'll drive
yourself crazy if you try.
Make lists of everything you need
to get done. Take advantage of the many prepared wedding planning
check lists available on bridal resource sites like the Knot and
the Weddingchannel. The most effective time managers have multiple
lists: a list of work tasks, a list of wedding tasks, a list for
social activities, a list for today, a list for tomorrow, a list
for next week, a list for someday... You get the idea.
Prioritize the tasks and activities
on your lists. Mark items H, M, and L for high, medium and low priority.
Increase
your motivation and get a sense of accomplishment by checking off
items as you get things done. Your lists help you decide what to
do at the moment, what to schedule for later, what to get someone
else to do, and what to put off for later.
If
you can't stand to face a particular task or activity at the moment,
don't worry over your avoidance. Instead, agree with yourself to
tackle the difficult or unpleasant item when you feel stronger.
Shift temporarily to another priority item. You can get two or three
other items done in the time you might have spent fighting yourself
over the difficult item.
Schedules
Schedules allow you to understand
and plan your use of time. You won't have to stick to any particular
schedule, but having a schedule is important in gaining control
over your time. You can vary and alter your schedule as you see
fit. The schedule allows you to do so by choice and to understand
the consequences of scheduling choices that you make.
Use a daily or weekly planner. Write
down appointments, activities, and meetings in an appointment book.
Always know what's ahead for the day. Go to sleep knowing you're
prepared for tomorrow. You also need a long term planner. Use a
monthly chart so that you can always plan ahead.
You can use your schedule and lists
in order to organize and prioritize your pre-wedding tasks and activities
in the context of competing activities of work, family, etc. You'll
be able to use
time management techniques to avoid becoming swamped.
Plan for an effective schedule:
·
Allow
sufficient time for sleep, a well-balanced diet, and leisure activities.
·
Prioritize.
·
Prepare
for activities and tasks ahead of time.
·
Plan
to use "dead time."
·
Schedule
a weekly review.
·
Be
careful not to become a slave to your schedule. Remember, you are
in charge of your schedule.
·
When
you decide to substitute an activity in your schedule, just be sure
to reschedule the original activity or task to a new time.
If there is very little or no blank,
uncommitted time in your schedule, you will need to reevaluate how
you are allocating your time. You need uncommitted time to allow
flexibility, accommodate unanticipated events, tasks and activities.
Evaluating
Your Time Management
Analyze how you are spending your
time. Knowing how you spend your time should aid you in planning
and predicting project completion:
·
How
much time have you set aside to meet your pre-wedding goals?
·
Does
your time allocation reflect the priority of your pre-wedding and
other goals?
·
Can
your uncommitted hours be reallocated to meet your pre-wedding and
other priorities?
·
Reflect
on how you spend your time
· Are
you doing what you planned when you said you would?
·
Know
when you are productive
·
Be
aware of when you are using your time unproductively, but not relaxing
either
If all this time management seems
like a lot of work, it is! But it's even more work to live a hectic
life without at least some of these techniques. An investment in
time management will pay off for you beginning the very first week.
Use the time you save to enjoy more time with your partner. And
have a great (and more relaxed) wedding!
Click
here for more time management.
Consider
spending a bit of your better managed time attending a Marriage
Success Training seminar with your partner. MST helps couples handle
the increased stress of the pre-wedding period in a much more healthy
way, so that they can use the pre-wedding experience to deepen their
intimacy--not stress their relationship-- during this special time.
Click here to learn about the benefits of MST.
Copyright
2003, Patricia S. & Gregory A. Kuhlman. You may copy this article
for non-commercial use provided that no changes are made and this
copyright notice, author credit and stayhitched.com source citation
are included.
|
