TIPS TO HELP MINIMIZE YOUR SCHEDULE

YOU CAN ONLY DO SO MUCH IN A DAY

Today I wanted to share some tips to help minimize your schedule. We all know that we only have 24 hours a day to work with.  Within that time, most of us would like to eat, sleep, get some things done, and have some time to relax and enjoy our lives. Yet, sometimes we pack our schedules so tight that it makes it difficult to squeeze all of those things into our day.

If one thing goes wrong, everything goes off the rails because there is no time to spare. Then we might end of creating a more stressful day tomorrow, because we try to pile what we didn’t get done today on top of tomorrows list.

By trying to do so many things all the time, we often actually end up being less productive. We don’t always allow ourselves to put enough time into the things that really matter most to us because we are trying to do everything.

I’m sure you have heard the saying “you can do anything, but you can’t do everything”. When you say yes to something to put into your schedule, you are essentially saying no to something else.  If you are not careful, that something else may have been something that was much more of a priority to you.

WHERE TO BEGIN

Before trying to make changes to your schedule, it’s important to know what you are trying to get out of this process. The point of minimizing your schedule is not just to cut things out with no real thought.  You want to cut out what isn’t really important to you so that you can make time for what is most important.

Think about your priorities.  Are you able to devote time to them? Are you able to spend some time making progress on your goals each week? If you are not able to do these things, you will need to take a good look at your days and weeks and determine what is taking up all of your time.

IDENTIFY WHERE YOU TIME IS GOING

It is important to know how much time you have already committed to various things in your life so that you can better see if something needs to go. One way to approach this is by plotting out everything that you have on your schedule that is fixed.

One of my favorite tips to help minimize your schedule is to start by blocking out the time when you are working, sleeping, cooking, and eating.  These things happen every day, and there is really not too much flexibility in them.  So, get those identified first. If you have any scheduled activities, put those in there too.  This might be something like taking an exercise class or meeting with a book club. If you have children, don’t forget to include things like getting them to activities or to part-time jobs.

It’s really interesting to see how quickly the time gets eaten up when you actually go and lay it out in time blocks

WHAT IF YOUR SCHEDULE LOOKS OK AS IS?

It is possible that you might plot out your schedule, and find that it doesn’t look too bad. Did you have more available time then you thought you did? Sometimes, if we are not intentional with our time it can feel like we are not getting enough things done because we are not really focused on anything in particular during our free time.

You definitely should include time to rest in your schedule. But, having too much free time can make you feel like you are just kind of wasting the time away. Even if you plan to do something fun, it will give you a feeling of putting your time to good use. If you are just doing a little of this and that, it gives you the sense that you are letting time get away from you.

It’s good to have some structure and a few concrete things you would like to do whether those be for fun or to work on something you would like to make some progress on

DOES YOUR TO-DO LIST NEED TO BE PRIORITIZED?

Sometimes it’s not that we have concrete things on our schedule, but we have too large of a to-do list. Does your to-do list need to be prioritized? When your to-do list is too long it can feel like you are unable to make a dent in it.

Make sure that your to-do list is made up of things that are really important. One tip is to take your long list and identify your top three priorities.  Put them on a separate list and focus only on those.

Looking at an enormous list can be overwhelming and can lead to procrastination. If you check off 3 things from a list of 3 things, you will feel great. If you check off 3 things from a list of 30 things, it won’t feel as good.

IS YOUR BUSY SCHEDULE A TEMPORARY SITUATION?

Depending on what is going on in our lives, our schedule can get really crazy. But if it’s only for a short period of time it can be easier to deal with.  Maybe it is due to a certain sports season for kids, or a busy season at work. When this happens, it’s often necessary to let some things go just to get through this time. Decide what those things will be so that you can get them off your mind for now.

An example might be having groceries delivered because you could save some time not having to go shopping.  Alternatively, if you would prefer not to pay for delivery, maybe try to plan to shop every other week. Or grocery pick up is another time-saving alternative.

Maybe lighten up your cleaning routines, just getting the basics done until you get through this rough time. Perhaps try to create a meal plan of really simple recipes if you don’t have much time to cook. Try to think of some ways to go easy on yourself during this busy season.

WHAT IF THIS SITUATION IS NOT TEMPORARY?

If the situation is not temporary, then you might really need to make some decisions on what can go. It’s important to have some wiggle room in your schedule. Assess anything that is not fixed (such as work, meal times, etc.) and see what can you might be able to give up.

Are you unable to make immediate changes because you have things that you have already committed to? You might be able to come up with a plan on how to make changes in the future. Being aware is the first step to being able to make changes that will have a positive impact on your life.

Thanks so much for checking in! If you would like to hear the podcast version of this topic to check out Lola’s Frugal Life Podcast! Also, be sure to check out my other blog posts on this site!