What I do as a dev parent to code, study, create content, and run a business with little to no free time.
If I were to give myself a tip when I first embarked on this journey of self-learning development, starting my own business and brand it would have been:
Don’t think about it! Just do it!
When I first started my self-learning journey I would think about everything I still had to learn and feel like I was never going to be good enough or never know enough.
When I became a parent my free time became a rare commodity. Some days I felt like I couldn’t even take a shower or go to the bathroom, lets be honest I still can’t do that without little hands reaching under the door or little voices screaming “mama where is mama!!!”
Realizing that my free time was limited pushed me to make the best of what I had.
In this post, I will be sharing with you all my time management strategy. How I get things done with limited time. Whether you are working full time, a parent, or just don’t know how to manage your time I hope this post helps you.
My Strategy
First off, I have a planner on Notion where I plan my year, month, weekly and daily tasks and goals. Therefore. Mentally I know what I need to get done. This provides an overall structure or outline of my life.
Every morning I sit down on my computer and make a list of what I need to do. I have a daily task planner template on my notion calendar so I do not have to create this every day. I only add tasks to it. This usually takes maximum 5-10 minutes. I start the list with important things and keep going until I get to the least important.
I have 2 lists “Personal Todo List” and my “Work Todo List”. My studying and content creating goes into my work todo list because I take that task seriously and it is a priority.
Since I have a list already, throughout the day I hop on my computer any minute I get. If my kids run off to their room and start playing I jump on my computer and get to it. If my baby sleeps I jump on my computer and get to work. If my kids are sleeping I jump on my computer and get busy.
I hope you see where I am going with this. Sometimes my work sessions only last 25 minutes but 25 + 25 is 50. So, basically an hour of work if we round up.
When it comes to time management every minute counts. A lot of people think that if they do not work or study for 3 hours straight it is not worth it or it does not count. Once you start planning your days, and not wasting too much time thinking about what you need to do you will be a lot more efficient with your time.
In the beginning, it will not be easy to just switch your brain from “lazy chill” mode to “get it done” mode but the more you do it the easier it will be.
I created a template from my homepage on the Notion App that I use every day. If you are interested you can duplicate the template, customize it and use it to organize your life. If you have any questions feel free to contact me.