Run the day or the day will run you.
Experts tell us to manage our time to be productive, but it’s hard, right!?
A client told me recently that she doesn’t use a diary. I almost spat out my tea in amazement.
In some way, I admire her for being able to get this far in life without a diary. But me personally, would find it impossible to run my business, my family, and anything else I want to do without my online calendar.
Are you trying to cram in too much?
The first question to ask yourself is why you want to get organised. If it works at the moment and you can go from day to day without a diary, don’t bother getting one. Enjoy the freedom of not being bound by time and going with the flow of your day.
However, if you’re constantly running late, do not have enough time or you are overwhelmed trying to cram in too much, perhaps you’re being unrealistic with your time and perhaps it’s time to overhaul your calendaring system.
Plan out your ideal day
A good way to start is knowing how long it takes to do things:
Use a notebook and pen and stopwatch to time yourself doing all the important things in your day.
For example take note of all the tasks in getting dressed in the morning:
- Time for shower
- Time for hair
- Time for make up this will give you an idea of how long you need to prepare before heading out to any event
To flesh out the rest of your day add your work and your to-dos in a daily planner. Also, ensure you’re putting enough time aside for things in between (like meeting follow-up) and traveling to places.
Link this to an online calendar to set up notifications to give you reminders along the way. By taking stock of the amount of time for each thing in the day you will start to become more realistic with your time.
What’s next?
Give it a go. Plan out your day in 30 minute increments and put each part in your online calendar or paper diary. Your inner teenage self may rebel about sticking to a strict schedule. A friend of mine recently said she struggled for some time to get her head around the discipline of the routine. But made an effort to stick to it and found it so helpful. She also believed that setting aside time for each task made it easier to complete them than simply going through the list of tasks and pondering what to do next.
Still too hard?
If you’re still finding it difficult to manage all the things you need to do each day reach out to Julie for a chat here, or book a 6-week 1:1 coaching program to find the important things in your life and stay focused on them – find out more here.