Crash Planning

How do you organize a space party?

--> You planet. <--

LOL. I can't with myself today.

Does your to-do list continue to grow and grow and you feel like it isn’t getting any shorter?

LOL. Same. I have two kids. Who now have to be pretty much homeschooled thanks to the Rona. Not to mention running a small and creative business from home while trying to keep up with blogging, editing, getting more creative, staying current, studying, learning, social media posts, etc etc etc. Does it ever stop? No.

But it can get easier. We can end our days with feeling accomplished and peaceful. The way we do this is planning. Plan, plan, plan. If you know me, you know that I have a type A personality and I'm totally old fashioned. I have to write everything down and I'm a true note taker. New office supplies give me life, more about that later, HA! I keep a desk calendar and a phone calendar. Do you have to do all of these things to plan? No. But it's what keeps me sane.

Here are some things that should keep you sane and have FREE time.

1. Plan the schedule and PRIORITIZE.
2. If you're like me, you feel accomplished just making the dang list. Once the list is made, I tend to get somewhat overwhelmed and start a bunch of little projects all at once. This led to feeling like I could not stop working throughout the day, never feeling like I got anything done, and not being able to sleep at night because of it. Not to mention those 2 rug rats running around my house and interrupting my train of thought a thousand times a day.
3. Soooo..... after you plan that schedule, prioritize it. What needs to get done TODAY? What can wait until tomorrow? Or next week even? Prioritize it and get the top to-do things done in order to have a sense of accomplishment and be able to feel that rush of awesomeness by marking something off of the list. Put things into a "want" and a "need" category. Complete 3 needs per day and then if you happen to have extra time, then you can focus on one of the items from the "want" list as a bonus.
4. Schedule free time.
5. Sounds sort of backwards, right? But we need to schedule it. What do you like to do? What makes you feel better after doing it? Creating? Playing with your kids? Yoga? Whatever your "thing" is, put it in your schedule. Carve that time out for your free time and take advantage of it. This will leave you not feeling so overworked... you'll have a moment to breathe and catch your breath, so to speak. Once you get the hang of this, try something different in your free time everyday and repeat it if it works. i.e. Take a Nap Tuesdays, Go to the Park Thursdays. Never, ever, ever allow that to-do list get in the way of your daily free time. You don't have to block off 3 hours a day for free time... even if just a small block; block it off and don't let anything interfere. Before you know it, you will begin feeling accomplished by actually having free time and making yourself keep that. You will ALSO feel happier. Isn't that neat?!
6. Turn off.
7. When you're passionate about something, like I am about my business, you don't want to ever stop it. However, if I don't turn off and back away from the computer, I am setting myself up for a major burnout. It's important for you to do that too. It's great to have a passion, but when we do nothing but that passion - the passion goes away. It's important that we turn off and leave in order to spend time with other things. Feel refreshed. Take a moment for you.

Being overwhelmed can be incredibly intense and exactly that - overwhelming. I know what it feels like to want to just run away from it all. To pack up your family (and pictures, HA) and just relocate to start over in order to feel refreshed. But the responsibilities just move right along with us and start up again. Experience joy and freedom by planning out your days. A little planning makes a world of a difference.