Planning Your Day | How to Manage Your Time

I don’t know about you but I wish I could plan my time so much better. There should have been a class in school on how to manage your time and get the most out of your time.

There are some days when I feel like I’m just struggling to keep up, struggling to maintain, and I’m running around like a chicken with its head cut off because there is too much to do and too little time to do it in.

1| Manage Your Time

One of the problems was, I had a running to-do list that never went away. There always was a list of things that I wanted to do so I wouldn’t forget. but the to-do list always made me feel overwhelmed because it would never be done.

I finally came across a podcast by Brooke Castillo called Throw Away Your To-Do List and I was like what?! What is this lady talking about how can you throw away your to-do list?

I decided to give her method a try, which is once a week on Monday morning or I usually do it Sunday afternoon you write down everything that you need to do this coming week. For me that looks like: the girl school drop off and pick ups, meal planning, grocery shopping, cleaning, working, laundry, errands, appointments, exercise, and that’s all I can think of off the top of my head!

Once you write the entire list down you keep digging in your brain for more that way everything is out on paper. Next, you prioritize the list from what’s most important to least important. Then, you start scheduling it in on your calendar. The list of things that you need to do for the week is scheduled for certain time.

So when I set up my planner, I created a column for all the things that need to be done this week. I even have a section for things that need to be done next week so then that way I don’t forget to schedule it the following week.

When I take that to-do item and schedule it in the calendar, I will put a checkmark next to it so I know that is is already scheduled. Then when it’s accomplished, it gets a line through the center so I don’t have to worry about it anymore.

If I need to reschedule I will erase it and move it to a different time but for the most part, I try to stick to my pre-planned schedule at least like 90% of the time. I know that the best part of my brain planned my life out. It’s the “toddler” part of my brain that doesn’t want to do it when it comes to that time in the day.

I am trying to block some of my time: like work time, cleaning time, etc. But I don’t think my schedule is super consistent enough to where every day is going to look the same.

2| Setting a Timer

This is something I’m going to work on this year and get down. Setting a timer for how long I want something to take. When the timer goes off, I’m done.

I think that not only will this help me stop dilly-dallying, but I will also become more focused and possibly reduce the time it takes to do something.

If I give myself 15 minutes to do my hair and makeup, I have to be done whenever the timer goes off. (Is 15 enough? Maybe I’ll go for 20 minutes!)

I’ll update you on how that goes!

3| No Time for Perfectionism

I am such a perfectionist when it comes to putting out any type of work. I want my cleaning to be done a certain way and look a certain way. I want my posts and emails and pictures to look a certain way. But all this takes up too much time.

Back in high school and college, I would re-do notes and papers if my writing was messy. It just bothered me. But it cost me a lot of time to actually study.

So if I’m going to set a timer for myself, I can’t expect everything I do to be perfect. I’ll have to settle for medium quality but at least the work is done and I can move on to something else, right?

FINAL THOUGHTS

The hardest part of this process is sticking to and following through on the goals that you set for yourself. I want this year to be like none other. This year is going to be a brand new start for me and for you.

I know I’ve had a very slow start, but that’s okay it’s better to start from today than to never start at all.

Do you sometimes wonder what life would look like now if you stuck to the schedule that you set for yourself in the past?

Like, where would my life be today, if I stuck to the meal plan that I laid out? How much healthier would I be today? If we stuck to the budget that we set at the beginning of the month, where would our finances be today?

So my wish for you and for me is to start sticking to what we say we want for ourselves. Staying consistent even when it’s hard will make the biggest difference of all.

I would love to know how you set up your planner and how you manage your time. I can always use some tips!

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