Social networks, instant messaging, travel time, personal <(especially for parents with children) and professional occupations... our available time has become scarce in recent years.
Contents 1 The scarcity of available time 2 5 tips for saving time on a daily basis 2.1 1) Streamline mobile use 2.2 2) Make good use of schedules and to-do lists 2.3 3) Do your steps online 2.4 4) Optimize grocery shopping 2.5 5) Optimize shoppingHowever, the days always have 24 hours. So how did we get here and how do you save time on a daily basis?
As parents with 2 young children, and also living in Ile de France, we spend our days chasing time. Travel time to go to work, working time, there is little time left during the week to enjoy special moments with the children. Fortunately, there are weekends and school holidays to compensate!
In reality, the time available is only a question of priority and organization, because we always have the same number of hours in a day!
How much time are we wasting on our cell phones? These small devices are useful to us on a daily basis (gps, communication, camera, calculator, etc.) but are also “time thieves” (facebook, instagram, Youtube, games…).
How do you take back control of your time? We share our tips with you
Young French people spend an average of 4 hours on their mobile phone! If we consider a day of 16 hours (8 hours of sleep), this represents 1/4 of the time awake, which is huge!
To better control your use of the mobile phone, start by becoming aware of the time of use and the distribution of this time.
If you are using an Android phone, go to “Settings” then “Digital well-being and parental controls”:
A similar feature is available on iPhone. You now know how much time you have spent on the different applications on your mobile, and how much time overall on your mobile today.
What action are you ready to take now to save time? Disabling notifications from certain applications is one of the most effective measures in this direction.
As a parent, also consider setting up parental controls for your children if they are old enough to have a mobile phone.
To get organized, make a to-do list of things to do and plan them in a diary or schedule (weekly or monthly).
We recommend that you use paper rather than to-do lists and digital diaries, otherwise you will fall back on the problems seen in the previous point! The distraction is too strong on mobile, so abstain and use a good old method much more effective! And what a pleasure to be able to cross out the tasks once done 🙂
There are many sites to save time, especially on administrative tasks (eg vos-demarches.com). Monitoring of bank accounts, electricity and telephone consumption, insurance, everything can be done online now! You can even print your stamps online.
Do you still do your grocery shopping? Stop wasting 2 to 3 hours a week on this chore, place an order or opt for Drive shopping (same price as in store)!
If you are not a fan of Drive (more limited choice), you can very well combine this mode of operation once or twice a month with, in addition, shopping in the local markets and/or fruit and vegetable baskets to collect.
Finally, if you are a fan of shopping in stores, opt for shopping lists organized by department to save time (and money by focusing on the products you really need).
You should generally save a few hours a week to avoid burnout (cf:article on maternal burnout)
Unless you like window shopping, shop online to save time! All the major brands have their e-shop online, or you can opt for generalist shops to make a global order for the whole family. Optimize time there too!
