Time Management for Working Mothers

Make the most of your time at work, at play and at being a mom.
I've been doing a lot of research on time management. Most of the information I've found has the same series of steps to follow...
Establish Your Goals
Break Goals Into Smaller tasks and Set Deadlines
Establish Your Priorities
Make Time to Plan
Delegate if Possible
Have a Flexible Schedule
Use a Scheduling System
Reward Yourself
Some of the applications involved work, going to school or other such tasks. But nowhere did I see this applied to the working mother... the woman whose time is spent in a fragile balancing act that can get knocked out of whack in one second. So, let's see how we can apply these steps to the women who need time management the most!
Establish Your Goals
This is important for the working mother.
Are you at your job to make supplemental money or is this a career and there is a position that is a goal for you? How much time do you want to spend at work vs. at home? How involved do you want to be in your children's activities? You may want to set aside weekends for your son's baseball games, in which case you need to make sure your work doesn't require weekend work. Write down all of the goals that you have as a business woman and as a mother. Make separate columns if you would like.
Break Goals Into Smaller Tasks and Set Deadlines
Typically goals can be broken up into smaller tasks, with smaller goals. For instance, let's say that one of your goals is to be a leader in one of your child's activities. You can break that goal into smaller tasks; researching different leadership roles and what's involved, determing time commitments, figuring out what interests you the most. Then you can start attacking each of these smaller tasks and set deadlines for when you want to accomplish them. If you just had the major goal - your deadline could be a year from now, but you wouldn't think to work on it for the next 11 months.
Establish Your Priorities
Prioritize your list of goals. Your priorities are your own ideas of what is more important to you and what you would like to see achieved first. You don't necessarily need to prioritize them one after the other. Maybe set up a scale of 1-3 and set all of your top goals at 1 and all your bottom goals at 3.
Make Time to Plan
Set aside time each week or month where you can plan out your schedule. Revise activities that are conflicting or don't seem to work out for you. Get the children involved if they are old enough to want some choices in the activities that they do and that you participate in.
Delegate if Possible
If you find yourself with a huge deadline at work, don't ignore the fact that your child needs a ride to her piano lessons. Call up your husband or mother or friend and ask them if they can do it.
Have a Flexible Schedule
Leave ample space in your schedule for interruptions. Try to be flexible so that if your child becomes sick you can take a day off. Your schedule is to help you, not run you.
Use a Scheduling System
Keep track of your schedule in a day planner, calendar, palm device or some other schedule. Make your schedule available to your entire family. Involve your children in creating a magnetic calendar to place on the refrigerator, where they can add in their own activities.
Reward Yourself
As you accomplish your goals, reward yourself! Take a day off from your schedule and just have some fun. It will give you something to look forward to as you're working towards completing your tasks.