Utilizing Time Blocks to Organize Your Life

I am a stay-at-homeschool mom that manages a very small real estate company, works overnight to provide my family with insurance, and is 90% responsible for all household duties (cleaning, budgeting, shopping, children, etc).  To put it mildly, I'm overwhelmed.  What's a mom to do?  Go back to school of course!  Why not?  

When I think about the things that I'm lacking in my life; exercise, organization, and a clean house, for example, I wonder how other women do it all.  How do working moms do their jobs, take care of their families, find time to exercise, and maintain personal hobbies?  How do other moms seem so collected when they're in a similar position to me?

We all have the same 24 hours!

We all the the same 24 hours?  How cliche can you be, Leslie?  Think about it.  It's so true.  We all have the same 24 hours, some people are just better at managing their time than others.

What is working for me, is the implementation of the "time block" routine.  I thought long and hard about what is most important to me during my current "season" of life.  I came up with the following list:

1. Homeschooling my kids
2. Going back to college
3. Exercising
4. Maintaining my home (cleaning, budgeting, food shopping)
5. Relaxation/hobbies

Next, I determined how many active hours I have in my day.  I wake up at 9 AM, but don't fully become coherent until 9:45ish AM.  I start getting ready for work around 9:45 PM.  That gives me 12 hours of real working, productive time.  

After I took a good hard look at my goals, and determined how much time I had to work with them, I brought out my calendar, and worked each of my goals into my day by blocking out time.

Here's an example of my ideal, stay at home day (which only happens 3 times per week, max):

9:00 Wake up

10-11:30 Exercise and shower (kids do independent work)

Lunch

12:30-3 Homeschool

3-4 My own personal studying or real estate work

4-5:30 Clean and cook

Dinner

6-7 My own personal studying or real estate work

7-7:30 Do something fun with the kids

7:30 Get the kids ready for bed, do a read aloud

8:00-9:45 Relax or work on hobbies