One way to find time for yourself as a caregiver is to organize. A little careful planning and attention to details can make any day flow more efficiently. The steps and time saved often can be stacked together somewhere in your life and used to help keep you feeling fresh and nurtured. Here are some suggestions that worked for me to get you started.

· Create a regular daily flow of activities (in your head or on paper). Balance efficiency with good sense.

· Consider your own energy level. Ignore what someone else seems able to "get done" in a day. Don't try to be the world's most efficient family day care provider. Be kind to yourself.

· Focus on one change at a time. Let time and consistency do their magic.

· Find ways to minimize distractions. Be Strong! Take the phone off the hook. Turn the TV off. Choose times for visitors.

· Plan whatever you can in advance on a regular basis: meals, activities, errand times, laundry, etc.

· It feels so good to cross things off!

· Reserve time for planning. Choose a time when you can really concentrate.

· Consider what needs doing daily, weekly, monthly. Be realistic. Break tasks down into manageable pieces.

· Consider what you would do if you had NO household responsibilities.

· Find ways to include children in things you enjoy doing, and make that your curriculum. Both you and the children can have fun with music, cooking, walks, books, sewing, woodworking or plants.

· Find out how area preschools plan for learning activities.

· Avoid planning things that you hate doing, no matter how educational they may seem.

· What would you do if you had no little ones creating distractions in your day? Be reasonable. Remember- YOUR MAIN JOB is to PROVIDE CARE for the CHILDREN.

· Save major tasks that need full concentration for after day care hours. Break others into small steps. Tally up the time each step takes. Fit pieces into your daily flow.

· Plan to accomplish only one basic chore a day.

· Lots of 'chores' are fun to children. Let them help. But, don't make them help. Make helping fun!

· Think of ways to help parents see the educational value of children's helping with chores. Folding laundry teaches shapes and following directions. Setting the table teaches math sills, etc.

· Plan for successful help. Show the children how to do things the way you would like them to be done. Notice when they succeed. Don't allow them to do things that you are very picky about or would have to do over.

· Combine what you need to do with something fun for the children to do in the same room. Art projects can be done in the kitchen while you do dishes, dancing time while you clean, or water play while you weed.

· Keep activity supplies together and in the area where they will regularly be used. Make it easy for children to help with cleanup.

· Keep forms together where they can easily be updated each day.

· Make up theme boxes (circus, birds, rainy day, airplanes) that can be pulled out and used quickly. Save ideas from year to year, and add new ones.

· Put eating utensils where children can reach and help set the table. Have something in every room that the children can touch. This helps keep their attention off the things they can't touch.

· Set up an environment that encourages independent learning- low shelves, special interest areas, child-proof rooms, etc.

· Attach something they like to do with something they may resist: "First we clean up the toys, and then we can have a snack."

· Notice when they are helping you remember to follow routines. Let their natural interest in a predictable order keep the flow going. Remember that children need both directed and free play activities. Plan for both. Organize one or two special activities that you do together; do your chores while they have free play.

· Become conscious of the difference between the have-to's and the want-to's. Be realistic about what is possible to get done in a day. Put caring for children first; chores can squeeze into spaces.

· Don't expect magic! Change one part of the day at a time. Once one part begins to move smoothly, add another small piece.

· Expect days when nothing gets done. Choose to let go of the flow on purpose now and then to see if you can regain it easily.

· Pamper yourself. Take regular breathers in your busy day care day.

· Never forget that you are working. You are not simply sitting around watching kids. keep a professional image in your mind. Plan for breaks and time off- you would have this time in an outside job.

· Hire a substitute and household help on a regular basis if possible (or at least now and then). Keep the number of children you care for as small as possible. Keep their hours reasonable.

· Plan in "unplanned" time during your week. Hoard chunks of free time.

· Focus on one special need or activity you want for yourself.