CLEVELAND — Most parents struggle finding time to do all the things that need to get done in the day, between work, chores and activities. In this week's Mom Squad Pod, Maureen Kyle talks to a nationally recognized time management specialist, Kelly Nolan about her calendar method and how she puts everything - every chore - into a shared family calendar.
“You might use to-do lists and post-it notes and email in your head. Like all these action items lived in so many different places and so we don't have a clear view of everything on our plate much less how we're going to get it all done,” says Nolan.
She left her job as an attorney to help high level executives with time management. What she found was “time blocking” within a calendar helps people realize how much time they actually have for a certain task or chore and then committing to that task.
Nolan says the biggest mistake people make is not factoring in all the little chores we need to do to make the day run smoothly while making our to-do list. So, she has people allocate time specifically for things like showering and getting ready to leave for the day, packing kids lunches and other tasks on the job.
“All of those things never make it onto a to-do list. So, if we ignore them and take our to-do list and shove that in our calendar, we are not realistic in what kind of container of available time we have to give after we've done all the stuff that is kind of the foundational stuff.”
Nolan says the most surprising feedback she gets from helping clients is that their relationships improve due to better communication and dividing of the chores.
To listen to Kelly Nolan’s entire calendar method and how you can adopt it for yourself, check out the Mom Squad Pod anywhere you get your podcasts.
EDITOR'S NOTE: The video in the player below is from a previous story.