A Mom's Time Management Tips for Journalists
By Rebecca Coates Nee

Adopting a 1-year-old two months ago has brought backmany memories of my days in TV news. I wake up in the morning never knowing what to expect and by the end of the day, I've heard at least one round of inexplicable crying and screaming. I also have very little extra time and energy to complete my ever-growing To Do list.

When I asked several people for advice on how to juggle a toddler and a coaching practice, one friend of mine - a pediatrician with three of her own children - told me I'd learn to be an efficiency expert. She was right. So, I thought many of you broadcasters could benefit from what my 1-year-old has taught me about time management:

1.) WRITE EVERYTHING DOWN!

Keep an Ideas/To Do notebook handy at all times. This should be separate from your regular notebook. Every time you come up with a great story idea or remember that you have to buy a birthday card for Aunt Martha, write it down with a deadline next to it. This gets those nagging thoughts out of your head and onto paper. That way, you can clear your mind for more important things - like the task at hand.

2.) HAVE A WEEKLY PLANNING SESSION WITH YOURSELF.

This could take 10 minutes or an hour, depending on how overbooked you are.
Get out your ideas notebook and your calendar and decide what you WANT to do
and what you MUST accomplish during the week ahead. Prioritize those tasks
and plot them on your calendar. Keep in mind which deadlines are real and
which are self imposed.

3) UNDER PROMISE - to yourself and others. Let's say your assignment editor
asks you how long your shoot will take and you guess about an hour. Have you
accounted for traffic and other delays? If you estimate two hours and finish
in 90 minutes, you're a hero. But if you promised one hour and it takes 90
minutes, you've ended up looking slow and feeling stressed. See the
difference?

4) ELIMINATE TIME THIEVES.

These include the Internet, email, negative people and telemarketers. Your
phone is there for your convenience, not the caller's. You don't have to drop
everything to answer it. The Internet is the new version of the remote
control. It's easy to intend to spend only 10 minutes and wind up mindlessly
changing channels for hours. If you see sites you want to check out later,
jot them down in your ideas notebook.

5) TAKE ADVANTAGE OF YOUR WAIT TIMES.

Are you waiting for someone to return a phone call, stuck in traffic or
standing in a long line at the bank? Pull out that article you wanted to read
from the Internet (the one you printed for occasions like this) or write in
your ideas notebook.

6) DON'T MULTITASK

If you're trying to complete one project, don't stop halfway to finish
another. You'll be left with a lot of half-finished, poorly-done projects.
Rely on your ideas notebook to remind yourself what you need to do next.

7) ASK FOR HELP/DELEGATE

When people offer to help you, let them. Martyrs never prosper.

8) LET GO OF ALL UNNECESSARY OBLIGATIONS

That committee you promised to advise, the chairmanship you thought sounded
like a great idea but isn't - resign from extracurricular activities that
bring you more stress than pleasure or find a way to consolidate them. Work
at learning how to say no in the first place without feeling guilty.

9) GET YOUR TO DO LIST DONE DURING THE FIRST HALF OF YOUR FIRST DAY OFF.

That way, you can enjoy the rest of your weekend.

10) SCHEDULE TIME TO PLAY.

I found I was so busy doing mommy things, like feeding and laundry, that I
wasn't actually being a mom! Do you really want to spend your evenings
watching bad TV or people yelling at each other about the day's events on
cable? Schedule a bike ride or a dinner out with friends. The more fulfilling
you make your free time, the less stressful your work life will be.