we are all busy; that’s not new. and i’m not saying i’m any more or any less busy than anyone else — i’m just busy. that’s a fact. and because i know life is only going to continue to get crazier, i’ve found a few ways to really make my time count and, dare i say, even maximize my time. read on and see if any of these tips are applicable to your life.
define the pockets of your day.
it took me a while to find a groove, but i’m now in a place where i know that i can accommodate things if unexpected events arise. for example, i know that mondays i’m at work all day and joey has grad school at night. that is NOT an evening when i’d be able to stay late after work or be able to stop for groceries on the way home. i do know that wednesdays are usually pretty quiet on the home front, so those are my nights to go out to dinner with friends or to stay late at work if i need to. i also know that after the hours of 9pm and before 6am are when i can count on the kids being asleep, so i can get things done then. but this brings me to my next point …
know yourself.
i know i’m not going to work out at 9pm; in fact, i’m probably going to be in bed, too. but i do know that i’ll get up somewhere between 4:30a – 5:15a and get my workout in so i get that checked off the list.
find a calendar system and stick to it
the last part of this is the hardest. i’m the queen of loving new planners, new apps, new organizational initiatives of all sorts, but i suck at the follow-through. today, my calendar is organized in a few different calendars, including a personal, a #punchfam, and my work calendar. the only place all three come together is on my phone, which works for now. i used to be a planner person, and still consider myself a planner-lover [nerd alert], but because my schedule changes so much, writing it down doesn’t really work. what i use a planner/notebook for is a list of things i need to get done along with the scale of importance. i’m trying a few new things [shocker] and will report back once i have something that works!
lean in to what brings you joy; streamline what doesn’t
every time i hear about steve job and mark zuckerberg’s wardrobe monotony for the sake of time savings, i shudder. that’s one decision i LOVE to make. after giving it a lot of thought, though, i’ve realized i’ve gotten to the point where i know what decisions bring me joy (picking out my outfit, meal planning for my family), and others that don’t bring me joy (experimenting with makeup, trying new restaurants), so i have done some conscious leaning into what makes me happy (styling my outfits, writing new content for the blog) and optimizing (same makeup routine nearly every day, sticking to a loose blog schedule).
what is so great about these tips is that they just need tiny tweaks to your life to have a major impact. and if you know me, i’m all about small investment for MAJOR efficacy.