Last week on the Prime Good Dads blog, we took a deep-dive into work-life balance. This week, we’re continuing our discussion on time management and planning ahead.

Are you more likely to plan everything out or take things one step at a time? In other words: Are you more keen to be on the dot or go with the flow? Does it depend on the circumstance?

Good Dads was joined by Prime driver and father Victor Blackburn to speak about his experience with time management skills. Several people in Victor’s life have different perspectives of managing time.

Have a plan

Time management is tricky, but it’s also important. Even if you’re more keen to go with the flow, having a loose structure of a plan is still crucial.

“If you don’t have anything planned out, you wouldn’t have time for anything,” Victor said. “Birthdays, holidays, or special family gatherings. Being on the job, it’s always time management. Pick up and deliver on time, know where you’re going to stop, or how much further you have to go.”

Victor said that his wife, Teresa, is a textbook example of a serial planner. As a detail-oriented person, he said Teresa likes having everything down to the minute detail. Even if you don’t plan everything down to the second, it’s still a great idea to have a plan.

Be flexible with your time, both over-the-road and at home

Last week’s blog covered how to be flexible with your schedule. Victor provided similar advice, both from a Prime driver perspective and the perspective of a husband and father.

“Plan a trip from beginning to end—but allow some extra time for the ‘what ifs’ and emergencies,” he said.

Right now, Victor and Teresa are restoring a 110-year-old building and turning it into a church. He explained that with old buildings, there’s always something to be fixed and improved, and you need to expect the unexpected.

“We do have timelines, but there’s always something with an old building. Until you know the scope of a certain incident or something that needs to be repaired, that’s kind of hard to gauge. Adjust to that, push the timeline back (if you have to). It’s good to be flexible.”

What Victor has learned about building restorations has turned out to be true in many other aspects of life: Being flexible involves going with the flow.

Victor mentioned his son, Victor Jr., is one to go with the flow. Having a plan is crucial, but not everything is going to go according to plan! Being flexible is a good skill to have.

Be open to multitasking

Sometimes you can’t focus on just one thing at a time. As a Prime driver father, you’re going to have a lot on your plate!

“You do have to multitask,” Victor admitted. “Just be aware of your surroundings and what’s in front of you and make the proper adjustments.”

For Victor, this might mean taking and receiving calls over-the-road to juggle his responsibilities as a driver and as a father.

As a trainer for other Prime drivers, Victor must pay close attention to his hours and his students’ hours to ensure loads are delivered on time. A big part of his job while training is to help newbie drivers understand time-management.

Time management is situational

After working for Prime for over 20 years, Victor has learned that managing your time depends on each unique situation.

For instance, say you get an impromptu call from your son, who wants to know if you can make it to a last-minute get-together. Victor says he always tries to “be flexible and make adjustments.” Even if you can’t be there, it doesn’t mean you’ve dropped the ball.

When driving over-the-road while also having a family, life will throw some unexpected curveballs your way. Do your best to handle each situation to the best of your abilities. Remember: Nobody’s perfect. It’s impossible to plan for every single scenario. At the same time, going with the flow all the time with absolutely no planning doesn’t always work either. As Victor said, it all depends on the situation.

Final Words

Managing one’s time can be a hassle. When it seems like there’s one thing after another of things you can’t seem to handle, Victor stresses the importance of focusing on the things that really matter.

“As you get older,” he said, “try and make it a point to make more time to be with family.”