Sticking to a Schedule – It’s Easier Than You Think!
If you’re anything like me, staying on top of your schedule is a constant struggle. Between work, family, friends – not to mention my not-so-secret Netflix addiction – there never seem to be enough hours in the day. I’d make plans to wake up early or set aside time to work on personal goals, only to hit snooze for the fifth time or get sucked into yet another binge-worthy show.
Where did the time go? More importantly, how could I actually take charge of my schedule instead of letting it control me? I decided to make time management easy with one simple but effective strategy – write everything down and stick to the schedule at all costs!
Now I’ll be honest, writing down a schedule did not suddenly make me excited to wake at 6 am sharp and do laundry instead of cozying up to some comedy special. But creating a reasonable timeline for my days and weeks provided much-needed structure. More importantly, actually following through on the plans gave me an incredible sense of accomplishment. Sure, the first couple of days I “cheated” by indulging in an extra episode here and there. But by treating my schedule like any other commitment – date nights with my partner, meetings for work – it became ingrained in my daily habits.
It wasn’t long before my mornings transformed from a sleep-deprived scramble out the door to peaceful moments sipping coffee and preparing for the day. I found myself more present at work, better able to give loved ones my undivided attention. Chores were no longer looming stressors but tasks to simply check off and feel good about. Turns out, all I needed was to allocate time for personal priorities the same way I would anything else on the calendar to actually do them. Who knew!
Of course, some days flow perfectly on schedule and some days utterly fall apart by 10am. When things veer severely off track, I no longer cruelly admonish myself for being “lazy” or “undisciplined”. Instead, I refer back to my schedule to recenter exactly where my time and energy needs to go to get back on a productive track. On occasions when obligations simply cannot be met that day as planned, I exercise flexibility and reschedule them for another day accordingly.
If you resonated with my daily battle between mountainous to-do’s and limited time, try out scheduling for yourself! You may be amazed by how something so simple can empower you to pursue passions, connect with loved ones, and find fulfillment each day. Approach creating and adjusting your schedule with self-compassion – this is a lifelong practice. While the path to defined structure took some clumsy trial-and-error on my part, I emerge all the wiser for it. Here’s to discovering the joys of organization and making the most of each moment! Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some tasks to…schedule in.