--- title: "STYLE Savvy: Taming Time" description: Lisa Hess shares three time management strategies she's working on adopting. image: https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/taming-time.jpg ---                                           [![catholic-mom-logo-v2](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/images/catholic-mom-logo-v2.svg "catholic-mom-logo-v2")](https://www.catholicmom.com/) [![facebook](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-facebook.svg)](http://www.facebook.com/CatholicMomCommunity) [![twitter](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-twitter.svg)](http://twitter.com/CatholicMomCom) [![instagram](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-instagram.svg)](http://instagram.com/catholicmomcommunity) [![youtube](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-youtube.svg)](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAuUqHCVPDzyMgSMaMZxxug?view_as=subscriber) [![search-icon](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/search-icon.svg)](https://www.catholicmom.com/articles/style-savvy-taming-time#) [WORK](https://www.catholicmom.com/articles/tag/work) # STYLE Savvy: Taming Time Nov 11, 2020 11:30:00 AM  |  by [Lisa Hess](https://www.catholicmom.com/articles/author/lisa-hess) ![featured image](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/taming-time.jpg) *Lisa Hess shares three time management strategies she's working on adopting.* My last article, **[Testing Time](https://www.catholicmom.com/articles/style-savvy-testing-time),** was long on confessions and short on solutions so, today, I'm going to share a few basic time management ideas I should practice, and am therefore working on adopting.  #### Build in a buffer.  My default productivity setting is "one-more-thing-itis." Never willing to waste a minute, I regularly try to get just one more thing done before I start dinner, switch tasks, leave the house -- you fill in the blank. This inevitably makes me late for the next thing, whatever that may be. #### Schedule down time/me time/self-care.  I have a bad habit of thinking I need to work till I drop and then I can take a break. Heed my warning: don't wait until you have nothing left. We'd all be much more productive (and less grouchy) if we built short breaks into the schedule as much as possible.  #### Honor my schedule even when others intervene. If I have laid out my schedule intentionally, I should have no reason to feel guilty when I don't dump my plans for someone else's but, then again, I'm a wife and a mother and the guilt runs deep. I feel as though I should stop what I'm doing to pay attention to the family member standing in front of me, especially when I'm working long hours and everyone’s feeling shortchanged, but that only lengthens the day. Every interruption I succumb to not only takes me out of what I’m doing, but requires up to fifteen additional minutes (beyond the interaction or distraction) to get me back to where I was when I stopped. Finding a polite response or, better yet, heading off the interruption before it happens by communicating “do not disturb” time, would probably benefit everyone involved.  > [CLICK TO TWEET > Managing time and managing stuff have many things in common. #catholicmom](https://ctt.ac/VQwf0) As a flexible-schedule girl in a structured-schedule world, I suspect these things will continue to be an uphill battle. As I contemplated my time management challenges, I was intrigued to discover that managing time and managing stuff have many things in common, not the least of which is one enduring fact.  It's a process. --- Copyright 2020 Lisa Hess Image: [Pixabay](https://pixabay.com/images/id-2980689/) (2017) ### Share this article [![Share on Facebook](https://static.hubspot.com/final/img/common/icons/social/facebook-24x24.png)](http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.catholicmom.com%2Farticles%2Fstyle-savvy-taming-time%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Dfacebook) [![Share on Twitter](https://static.hubspot.com/final/img/common/icons/social/twitter-24x24.png)](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?original_referer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.catholicmom.com%2Farticles%2Fstyle-savvy-taming-time%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Dtwitter&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.catholicmom.com%2Farticles%2Fstyle-savvy-taming-time%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Dtwitter&source=tweetbutton&text=STYLE%20Savvy%3A%20Taming%20Time) [![Share on Email](https://static.hubspot.com/final/img/common/icons/social/email-24x24.png)](mailto:?subject=Check%20out%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.catholicmom.com%2Farticles%2Fstyle-savvy-taming-time%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Demail%20&body=Check%20out%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.catholicmom.com%2Farticles%2Fstyle-savvy-taming-time%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Demail) ** #### About the Author ![Lisa Hess](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/Lisa%20Lawmaster%20Hess.jpg) ### [Lisa Hess](https://www.catholicmom.com/articles/author/lisa-hess) Transplanted Jersey girl Lisa Lawmaster Hess is the author of a blog compilation, three novels, and three non-fiction books, including the award-winning Know Thyself: The Imperfectionist’s Guide to Sorting Your Stuff. A retired elementary school counselor, Lisa is an adjunct professor of psychology at York College of Pennsylvania. She blogs at [The Porch Swing Chronicles](http://l2hess.blogspot.com/), [Organizing by STYLE](http://www.orgbystyle.blogspot.com/), and here at Catholicmom.com. [Read all articles by Lisa Hess](https://www.catholicmom.com/articles/author/lisa-hess). [**](https://www.facebook.com/L2Hess/) [**](https://twitter.com/orgbystyle) ## Related Blog Articles [ STYLE Savvy: Second Time's the Charm Read ](https://www.catholicmom.com/articles/style-savvy-second-times-the-charm) [ Flipping the Question Read ](https://www.catholicmom.com/articles/flipping-the-question) [ STYLE Savvy: Pretty and Functional Read ](https://www.catholicmom.com/articles/style-savvy-pretty-and-functional) ## Comments ## Donate now [![Support Catholic Mom](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/275132/10016573-1c5c-4aa5-baba-c2ac91fe7545.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/275132/10016573-1c5c-4aa5-baba-c2ac91fe7545) [![CatholicMom_hcfm_logo1_pos_871c_2728c (002)](https://www.catholicmom.com/hs-fs/hubfs/CatholicMom_hcfm_logo1_pos_871c_2728c%20(002).png?width=1806&height=731&name=CatholicMom_hcfm_logo1_pos_871c_2728c%20(002).png "CatholicMom_hcfm_logo1_pos_871c_2728c (002)")](https://www.catholicmom.com/) ##### Subscribe to Catholic Momcast on iTunes or Spotify [![itunes-logo-black](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/logos/itunes-logo-black.svg)](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/catholic-momcast/id1362352357)[![spotify-logo-black](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/logos/spotify-logo-black.svg)](https://open.spotify.com/show/15CoipHL7z61IDcYErV0b8?si=hqaQJSxDQgq7S1hxCwsoxQ) ##### CatholicMom on Social Networks [![facebook](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-facebook.svg)](http://www.facebook.com/CatholicMomCommunity) [![twitter](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-twitter.svg)](http://twitter.com/CatholicMomCom) [![instagram](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-instagram.svg)](http://instagram.com/catholicmomcommunity) [![youtube](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-youtube.svg)](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAuUqHCVPDzyMgSMaMZxxug?view_as=subscriber) ##### About Catholic Mom [Who We Are](https://www.catholicmom.com/about-us) [Contact Us](https://www.catholicmom.com/contact) [Support CatholicMom.com](https://www.catholicmom.com/support-us)   ##### Associated Links [Holy Cross Family Ministries](https://www.hcfm.org/) [Family Rosary](https://www.familyrosary.org/) [Family Theater Productions](https://www.familytheater.org/) [Congregation of the Holy Cross](https://www.holycrossusa.org/) [Father Patrick Peyton, C.S.C.](https://www.fatherpeyton.org/) [The Peyton Institute for Domestic Church Life](https://www.peytonfamilyinstitute.org/) ### **Stay connected!** Don’t miss a thing! 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