Scheduling Tips
Scheduling Tips
Scheduling Tips
We’ve all been conditioned to essentially only schedule our to-dos. Which then becomes this hamster wheel of burnout, never reaching the end and always sitting in a space of survival. Here are my simple tips to schedule in a way that allows you to step off the hamster wheel.
BRAIN DUMP
Yup, just let it all out. All of the things. From to dos, to want to dos, to appointments, to don’t forgets, get it ALL out of your head and onto your paper.
SCHEDULE THE NON-NEGOTIABLES
Listen, this term is arguable. I’m talking about the “in stone” things that absolutely can’t be changed. YES your dentist appointment can be moved. Yes, that one meeting can be rescheduled. But there are absolutely some things that are a little less negotiable. Maybe it’s a doctor’s appointment for blood work that HAS to be drawn that day or you’d need to wait another month. Or your kid’s dance recital. Go ahead and put those things in the calendar so you don’t end up double booking.
SCHEDULE YOU
Yes, now, schedule you. I know you want to put in all of the to-dos because we’ve been wired to believe we can’t do a single other thing unless all of this is done. But guess what? It NEVER gets all done, so you NEED to prioritize yourself. And I promise the other stuff will get easier.
ADD IN THE REST
Okay, now that you have yourself scheduled in (morning routine or evening routine, a walk, bath, your meals, exercise, ladies night, etc.), NOW you can go ahead and add in the other things from your brain dump list.
SHARE * PASS * REMOVE
Chances are, because you scheduled yourself in, you may not be able to get in everything you thought you HAD to. Do NOT erase yourself. Put the whiteout down, you DON’T need it! If you don’t have enough space for the other stuff, it’s time to evaluate how to get it off of your calendar.
Share: give the task to someone else. Ask your boss to have someone else do it. Have your kids do their laundry this week. Ask your partner to pitch in with cleaning. Ask your friend to pick your kids up that day. SHARE the task. People love to help, I promise!
Pass: Outsource it completely. Order out instead of cook, hire the cleaning person even if it’s just the one time, order grocery delivery, pay the neighbor to weed your flower beds.
Remove: Maybe it’s something you just can’t keep on your schedule right now. That course you signed up for. The seat you took on the board or the HOA, being the project leader when someone else could do it. Maybe it’s time to pull back from an extra-curricular or two. What needs to be removed? Again, maybe it’s just this week and not indefinitely. That’s okay!
DOUBLE CHECK AND ADJUST
Now that you’re all scheduled, how does it feel? Does anything feel overwhelming? Is there anything else that needs to be adjusted to support your energy? Make the changes you need. (I can’t tell you how many times I called a doctor’s office and told them I needed to reschedule just to lighten my week a bit).
ALIGN WITH YOUR CYCLE
Take note of what phase your in and be sure your tasks align with where you are. For instance, you don’t want to have a ton of meetings, phone calls and interviews the week of menstruation or the new moon. Take a look at this blog post to learn more about the feminine cycle.
DAILY BOOKEND CHECK-INS
The week never goes as planned, does it? Things have to get moved around all the time. Every night, review the day you had. How did it feel? Do you need to move a task to another day that you didn’t get done? Do you need to pull back a bit? Are you feeling super high energy and need to add in a little more exercise? Do you have unexpected anxiety and need to take some things off your plate? Review your schedule for the next day, also. Is it aligning with how you’re feeling? In the morning, look over your day again. Does it still align? This will also help you stay focused and on track with what you had planned instead of moving through the day with less structure.
Finding the extra flow in scheduling takes time. We get so hard headed on making sure we do exactly what we had planned to do. But when we schedule this way, it allows us more freedom to be flexible, and that’s the whole point!
I teach Aligned Energetic Scheduling in The Layered Growth Academy and help you apply it to your own life. Be sure to get your application in. I only accept 2 women a month!