This series on time management for parents of kids with special needs is for anyone who ever feels like the person in the picture. In Part 3, guest blogger Amy Stout is back with five more strategies for parents like you and me. (Click here for Part 2 of the series which showcases Amy’s first five strategies for managing your time. Click here for Part 1 of the series.) Amy passed along these strategies to be included in a workshop I recently presented at the Accessibilty Summit in Washington, DC. See what you think.

Strategy 6: PPPPPPP

PPPPPP stands for proper prior planning prevents poor performance, one of Amy’s husband’s favorite military acronyms.  How does it work? Amy and her husband lay out their clothes the night before. Amy buys or makes birthday and Christmas gifts way in advance.  The one thing she says they haven’t mastered is meal planning. She calls their family a work in progress.

Strategy 7: Take Time for Yourself While Multitasking

Amy takes time for herself, but it usually involves multitasking. She reads while her nails dry or in the bathtub. She composes emails while watching TV, Facebooks with international students while drinking coffee.

Strategy 8: Choose Imperfection

Amy’s house is very small. Her front door leads into my living room which is also the family room, TV room, toy room, dining room, and the laundry folding room. She says it usually looks like a hurricane hit it. Things are clean, but people are living in it.  Sometimes, it bothers her that this is the first room that everyone sees and that by looking at it, they will never guess how organized she is.  But Amy made a difficult choice for her personality type. She chose imperfection and reminds herself that her daughter will only be young once, to be thankful she and her husband are crowded into the same room, and that folded laundry isn’t so bad.

Strategy 9: Educate Others

Worrying about what other people think really inhibits time management.  Therefore, Amy eliminates educates others about “Kylie World”.  She creates lists of how to prepare Kylie foods, how to put her to bed, how to calm her, her favorite toys, her likes and dislikes, what sets her off, phrases that she uses, and how they are interpreted. Other lists explain how to administer her medications, describe favorite activities and toys, and contain emergency contacts.

Strategy 10: Be Diligent about Paperwork

To make waiver renewal time go easier, Amy says it helps to be diligent about filing important paperwork for the previous three years. Papers to file include reports from doctor’s offices, pay stubs, insurance reports, medication changes, incident reports, therapy reports, growth charts, and immunization forms.  Looking for all of that on the fly can be a nightmare!!

Time for Your Two Cents

Okay, now that Amy shared her tried and true strategies, how about you? Leave a comment about time management techniques you’ve discovered. Or comment about the tips Amy shared. We’d love to hear from you. While you wait for tips from two more guest bloggers in Part 4 posts next week, check out Amy’s site at www.histreasuredprincess.blogspot.com.

Managing Your Time Without Losing Your Mind: Part 1
Managing Your Time Without Losing Your Mind: Part 2
Managing Your Time Without Losing Your Mind: Part 4
Managing Your Time Without Losing Your Mind: Part 5

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