Have you ever just thought about everything you have to do the next day and felt overwhelmed? I know it's happened to me more times than I care to admit. Particularly right now, where I'm juggling a full time job, grad school, a half-hearted home renovation, and the normal tasks that come with being a wife and mom. Here are some ways I've found to master my schedule:
Get a good planner.
This sounds obvious, but a good planner is crucial to feeling in control of your schedule. It may take some experimenting to find out if you prefer digital or paper, but once you've found something that works, stick with it and you'll find everything is much easier. I've definitely made my way through plenty of paper planners, and my to-do list is always on paper, but as you can see above, my current planner is Google Calendar. I love it because it's quick and easy to add in appointments and other events, but it also has a section where you can tell it some goals you're working on and how often you'd like to do them, and it'll find slots in your schedule to work on them. This makes me feel like I have time to do fun things and not feel guilty for putting work aside for awhile. Once you have your planner, check it right before you go to bed so you're not surprised by anything that might come up the next day.
2. Find good routines that work for you.
If nothing else, work on nailing a good bedtime and morning routine. By making up your own routines that work for you, you can automate part of your day so it's one less thing to think about. If you're struggling to come up with a good routine, I recommend Crystal Paine's Make Over Your Mornings . She has one for evenings as well. It does cost (the morning one is $17) but the course is priceless as far as what it can do for your mornings.
Some people automate days (for instance, Mondays are schoolwork days and Tuesdays are marketing days, etc.) but with my job, I really can't do that. We tend to do that as far as meal planning is concerned. Right now, we are doing Plate Joy, which delivers dinner ingredients right to us, but when we're not doing that, we had a plan:
Mondays: Meatless Mondays
Tuesdays: Taco Tuesdays (or Mexican Tuesdays)
Wednesdays: Italian Wednesdays
Thursdays: Leftover night
Fridays: Snack/Date Night
Saturdays: Something with chicken
Sundays: Crockpot/soup night
That way, every week when I planned out meals, I could just insert something that fit the theme and viola! I was ready for getting groceries and I didn't have to agonize too much about what to eat.
3. Leave breathing room.
Things will come up inevitably. Even if you have a great plan to execute the next day, a kid will get sick, a meeting will pop up on your calendar, you'll realize you're actually exhausted, etc. Don't overschedule yourself, and don't think you have to follow your schedule exactly. Your schedule works for you, you don't work for it. Give yourself plenty of time in between activities to catch up or rest, or take care of an unexpectedly sick family member.
4. Think about what you can do in advance to make the next day easier.
This is why checking the calendar each night before you go to bed is crucial. Have a doctor's appointment or a meeting the next day? Make sure you grab everything you need and put it in your car the night before so that you're not running around, wondering where you put that paperwork you need to turn in. Even if it's laying out the clothes you want to wear the night before or putting out cereal bowls and the coffee things out so all you have to do is throw breakfast together the next day, thinking what you can do in advance will help your day run smoother.
What do you do to stay on top of your schedule? What's your favorite planner?