Easy Steps to an Organized Life in 31 Days: Calendar (Day 30)
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Day 30: Calendar
Time flies. We’re all well aware of that.
And if we’re not careful, it gets away from us all too quickly. There is nothing worse than at the end of a tiring day to find you’ve accomplished nothing of what you’d planned or needed to do.
As we know, sometimes those days are simply unavoidable. Life happens. When it becomes chronic, however, it’s time to take a step back, look at not only our calendar and time management, but also at our priorities. It’s time for… a plan.
Easy Steps to Organize Your Calendar
1. Take a Step Back
Lou Gerstner, the former CEO of IBM, once said: “Never let anyone own your schedule.”
Take a moment and reflect on your week. Who or what was in control of your calendar last week? What activities required the largest chunks of time? Was it productive? Did it accomplish your goals?
Make a list of goals and commitments and determine which are the most important, including work, school, family, personal time, social time and any other commitments.
2. Create Your Calendar
Find a calendar system that works easily for you. If it isn’t easy, it won’t get done. Whether it’s a paper calendar, a planner or a Cloud app on your phone — or even all 3.
3. Plan Your Week
Routine:
“No matter what you are working on, create a routine. Block times for specific activities, and stick with the plan. Turn your calendar into a bunch of blocks, and put activities into those blocks. Whatever is not planned, you don’t do. If you want free time, plan it,” advises Alex Iskold of Entrepreneur Magazine.
Create Blocks of Time:
Begin by blocking out chunks of time for activities you do every day. Think about chunks of 15-30 minutes of back-to-back activities that you can pre-schedule. For example block time for your priorities: exercise, study, personal development, email, family, etc. Be sure to include planning time; either daily or weekly whichever works for you.
Schedule Flex Time:
As mentioned earlier, life happens. It doesn’t always work they way we’ve scheduled it. To compensate, schedule flex time before and after events periodically throughout the day. By doing this, you can manage the unexpected and still accomplish your goals.
Checklist
GET THE BOOK:
Easy Steps to an Organized Life in 31 Days or Less (Amazon.com)
