Have you ever had a moment or situation that you would like to do over? Every time I hit my snooze button and fall back to sleep, I wake up wishing I could change my decision. When I eat something that will make me sick (aka dairy) I always wish I could travel back in time and tell myself not to eat it. While we can’t change what has already been done, we can try to stop our future self from further self-sabotage.
Time management is a struggle for me. So many times I just wander through my day. I get caught up in reaction mode and just react to the circumstances of my day—all day long. My focus is all over the place and I don’t have a clear picture in my mind of what I wish to accomplish. Therefore, I don’t accomplish anything of significance. This act of mindlessly working creates stress, overwhelm, and makes me want to quit because I am not seeing any results.
If my day is scheduled, however, I am able to accomplish so much more. Yesterday, I had 95 % of my to-do list finished by 8 a.m. Then without guilt, I was able to spend the rest of the day with my husband. When I focus on the scheduled tasks, I am able to accomplish so much more. It helps me to know how long I have to work on each thing and also that I schedule in margin. I need time in my day to rest and rejuvenate. A short nap in the middle of the day (when possible) helps me to be more creative because I seem to hit the wall around 2 p.m., but a 30 minute power nap gives me the needed energy to finish my day. If I can’t take a nap, I try to take a short walk.
At first the thoughts of having a schedule overwhelmed me, and I resisted it for months or years rather. In fact, when I was traveling for speaking events, I felt overwhelmed with each new event I scheduled. The tighter my schedule, the greater my stress. But I knew that if I wanted to take my business to the next level, and invite more peace into my life, that I had to get focused.
So every morning I take a few minutes and schedule my day. Usually after I’ve finished my Bible reading and while I’m drinking my coffee. First, I write down everything on my mind.
- What bills need to be paid?
- What work has to be done today?
- What do I need to do to move me closer to my dreams?
Once I’ve written everything down, I make out a schedule so that I can complete it all. This also prevents me from reacting to the events of my day or wasting my time. So many times I have had an important deadline or project, but instead of having laser focus and working on it, I have allowed someone else to control my day. Or I’ve gotten caught up in the social media scroll or reading articles that I’ve wasted hours.
When I’m intentional about my day, I am more productive. While I am still not perfect at scheduling my day, I am doing better than before. Each day we are a work-in-progress. Here is a great action plan to help you get started.
Have a wonderful, productive day!
Candida
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