Setting Priorities
Having too many things to do in a 24-hour day can be overwhelming and difficult to cope with if you are a teen mom. Balancing your time between school family, friends, and your child may be straining on the mind. To help reduce this stress the key is to determine the things that are most important to you and to prioritize or list them in an order that is most to least important.
Tips on Time Management
- Make a Priority List- Listing out what is most important to you can help you decide what to focus on.
- Set goals - Start with small goals. This helps get things done little by little.
- Get a Daily Planner or Calendar- Listing your goals or the agenda for the day is a way to prioritize what needs to get done. Daily planners & calendars allow you to stay organized, which will help reduce the stress and anxiety associated with everyday tasks.
- Say "No"/ Don't Make Promises- When you are asked to do something that will add to your list of things to do, know that it's okay to say "no". Saying "yes" to everything that is asked of you will only deplete the hours you have in a day, adding more stress to your life. Make sure what is asked of you is a priority before you commit or make a promise to it, otherwise, simply say "no". You have to be assertive with your time.
- Get Enough Sleep- Although it may not seem important, adding sleep to your list of priorities will help you have the energy that is needed to accomplish your daily goals. Teens in particular should get about eight to nine hours of sleep a night. Getting enough sleep will enable you to concentrate and cope with the daily stressors in your life.
- Don't procrastinate - Make yourself a deal. When you do something that wastes time (watching TV, going on the internet or making leisure calls) pair it up with something that needs to be done in the future.
- Don't be a perfectionist - Being a perfectionist equals stress.
Page last updated: July 2012