Time management is a tricky, yet crucial, skill to learn in today’s busy world. Setting goals is another skill that eludes us busy people. Between jobs, schedules, kids, and various activities the common cry is, “But I don’t have time to set goals!”

The problem with that mindset is that you end up running around in circles, getting nowhere in life and never coming close to achieving what you really want. You have to re-prioritize and make time to set goals. Where can you find that time? Give up television for the rest of your life a couple of evenings. Say “no” — just one time — to the weekly Sunday brunch you have with friends. Get up thirty minutes early for a week, and dedicate that time to goal-writing.

See, you can find time to make and write goals if doing so is important to you.

As it should be. Without goals, you cannot effectively manage your time, because you don’t really know what you want you (or your family) to accomplish.

Sure, you can create arbitrary schedules. “Wake kids at 7. To school at 7:45. Pick up groceries before work, because I have carpool this afternoon. Go to work at 8:30. Business lunch at 12:30. Etc. Etc.” But this isn’t time management. It’s schedule management. True time management goes beyond the basics of day-to-day living and moves you toward the achievement of specific goals.

For example, if one of your goals is to write an article for a popular magazine, but you work a day job, you might manage your time this way: spend an hour before work and an hour after work Monday and Tuesday brainstorming and researching for the article, then on Wednesday through Friday spend those hours writing the first draft of the article.

Or, if you want your family to spend more time together, you will make sure that everyone has the hour of 7 to 8p.m. free at least three nights a week, and make plans to spend Saturday morning (or afternoon) having fun together. Those are examples of time management, rather than schedule management. You’re making time to achieve your goals, rather than just focusing on a daily routine of a stressful and/or boring life.

As a work-at-home mom of a busy toddler-turning-preschooler, I’ve found time management to be especially challenging. Benjamin is extremely jealous of my laptop, and prefers to play with Mommy (or at least sit in her lap) over entertaining himself. And now it seems he may be giving up his naps. *Sigh.*

The problem is, writing this blog isn’t the only thing I have going. I’ve set other goals, have other projects on the back burner that I want to move to the front burner.

And I have, maybe, a total of two-and-a-half hours during the day and evenings that I can work. Something’s gotta give.

My initial plan for this blog was to be able to write one post a day for every weekday, occasionally taking Wednesdays off. In the interest of being able to forge ahead with other projects without frustrating my son (or husband), I have decided to post on TheCrunchyCoach blog four days a week, using Wednesdays to work on other things.

That might be just as well. After all, I’ll be able to continually come up with fresh posts on new topics if I’m not posting every day, right?

Anyway, here’s the point: make time to set goals, then make time to work toward those goals. And if real life ends up not matching with your ideal time management system, modify it (the system, not your life ).

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Like the main Crunchy Coach website, The Crunchy Coach blog is dedicated to encouraging you to be healthier, naturally, while learning to live a more sustainable lifestyle.  I’m excited to have the opportunity to share with you the principles of natural health and green living. In this blog, you will get information on living naturally. You will also get a glimpse into my life, as I meet the constant challenge of living simply in the midst of our modern, materialistic world.

Sometimes, I will exude humor; other times, I may seem to be getting in your face. Forgive me, then; at those times our opinions and beliefs may be clashing. So let’s just agree that I’m right to disagree on those occasions, since we both are headed for the same goal: a healthier us and a healthier planet.

Mostly, I will share ideas on how we can improve our lives–and the world–in a holistic way. Below is my posting schedule. I plan to post at least four, perhaps sometimes five days a week, Monday through Friday. I am assigning to each day a generalized topic.

Just to be cute. And balanced, too. Okay, really, it’s because I tend toward perfectionism and I get lost in a sea of chaos without lists and schedules. Understand that I am a mommy and general household manager. Some weeks I may fall behind due to unexpected life events. Ninety percent of the time, however, I will adhere to this schedule. Here it is:

Green Monday: Articles and comments on all things green.

Tasty Tuesday: The truth about healthy eating. I may even throw in a recipe now and again.

Wild Wednesday: I will bring up topics that will help improve your health and sustainable lifestyle, but which don’t fit in anyof the other four categories. Or I will go really wild and take the day off.

Tip-top shape Thursday: Articles on keeping your body beautiful, inside and out, using natural means.

Family Friday: Information on natural parenting, from homebirthing to teaching your kids to live green.

The schedule will begin the week of August 31, 2009. I look forward to seeing you around.