How to get more done in your day!
Earlier tonight I was discussing with a friend of mine finding the time to blog or other endeavors such as crafts she wanted to do. Being a stay at home mom/student/crafter extraordinare, she said time was always limited to when her son was sleeping. Being in her shoes before (and will be again soon) I launched into a "how to get it done" rant. Which lead to this article here at her request. :)
It all comes down to, dare I say it? I dare! A schedule! I know, I too was once horrified by this word. But hear me out. Our lives are busy, day to day tasks, appointments, school, work, you name it and a lot of the time we forget things or don't get to do the things we enjoy doing because of "lack" of time. Through my own trial and error I have learned these rules to help "create" time for success in any endeavor that needed my time. Ready to try? I thought so!
Now the first step in this process is getting a day planner, one that is small enough to fit into a purse but big enough you don't lose it. Also very important you keep it with you because that way you're more likely to use it. Now some of you might think, "hey I have a notebook I'll write the schedule down in." while this thought process is great DIY, you're less likely to take it seriously. Besides who doesn't like saying to their friends "Hold on, let me check my schedulue." while pulling out an actual dayplanner? It's the little things in life people. Now onto the rules.
1) Don't over schedule yourself, don't write down everyday things (dishes, diapers, etc) this is for bigger things that you want/need to do that you might normally push aside. For example I wrote down things like homework, working on a knitting project. Notice there are only two things on that list? Which brings me to my next rule
2) Keep it simple, kind of goes hand in hand with the first rule, right? Only give yourself a few tasks or goals to accomplish in a day. When you look at the schedule your brain is gonna go, "oh hey! I only have two things I have to do today." Really though we know we always have stuff to do, but remember this is to acheive the extra stuff you want/need to do. Now I know that some school assignments take time, more than a day, so you'd schedule multiple days, with multiple blocks of time, say an hour a day to get that done by your deadline. Same with any large crafting project. This is just setting up a time for you to do it.
3) Stick to it! The first week of it you might think, "why did i do this to myself, I hardly have time to write stuff down." But like anything worth doing, it takes time and practice. Give it between 2 and 4 weeks to get into a rythm with your life.
4) Be flexible! Life is complicated and the whole schedule could go out the window for a day. Just pick it up the next day. Remember that your schedule is a guideline for how you want things to go, they may not always go that way, it happens.
5) Tell your spouse! If you tell your spouse that at 7 pm you are doing homework and not available for anything else, he/she knows to take charge while you are busy. It also creates accountability, my hubster will ask me "what time are you supposed to be busy tonight?" So it's not just me who knows whether or not I accomplished what I set out to do that day.
6) Be Consistent! I also suggest that you try to choose the same time blocks everyday for your tasks, that way you and your family get into a habit of it. Making it more likely for success with it as well.
A extra tip I have is schedule only a week in advance, unless it's school or doctors appointments. I did my schedule Sunday night, when I woke up in the mornings I looked at it and I knew what I had to do that day. I found I usually did them early in the day, in the case of homework or large house cleaning tasks that is. I like getting all the crummy stuff done first and crossing them off my list. The sense of accomplishment that comes from having your stuff done early in the day is amazing for self esteem.
And that's pretty much it my dears! If you have anything to add to it, please feel free to leave it in the comments for everyone.
Thanks for reading!
~Clarissa
