Consumer Case Studies
Keeping track of time puts working mom back on track
Between her franchise cookie business, her husband and their young twins, Jen Shedrick was always running from one thing to the next. Her busy life left little — if any — time between tasks.
More frequently than not, Shedrick arrived late to appointments. Her days were filled with a whirlwind of activity, yet she regularly felt distressed at not reaching that particular day’s goals. Her bathroom was half painted, a playroom was partially organized, and both remained on her perpetual to-do list.
“I pretty much didn’t know what was happening from one moment to the next,” she says. “Although I did have a calendar and I wrote things down, I wasn’t very good at keeping track.”
NAPO Professional Organizer to the Rescue
Shedrick reached out to a member of the National Association of Professional Organizers. With the pro’s help, the busy wife, mother and business owner learned how to fit it all in, even finishing those long-overdue tasks in her bathroom and playroom.
One key to Shedrick’s success was setting aside time each day to plan for the next. That meant if the twins had tae kwon do the following day, she laid out their outfits the night before. “It sounds absolutely obvious,” she says now. “But, I couldn’t motivate myself to do it.”
Counting the Minutes
Shedrick also became concretely aware of the passage of time. An avid telephone chatterer, she often found herself gabbing the hours away without realizing how much time had been spent. The NAPO member suggested that she wear a stopwatch. “That put a number to something that seemed very elusive,” says Shedrick. “Really actively watching the clock brings it down to a manageable level. When you’re not aware of time, it just goes by so fast.”
That notion was not lost on the NAPO member. “She had no concept if she’d been talking for five minutes or 45 minutes,” the organizer says. “The stopwatch was used to get her into the practice of measuring increments of time.”
It also proved helpful with timing the two-minute unloading of the dishwasher — a task that Shedrick had long dreaded and frequently put off. Once she realized how quickly it was completed, it was much easier to buckle down and do it.
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