Do you make this one mistake every time you plan your day?
Working from home with young children around can be a real struggle. For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been trying to be more intentional about my life and make things happen. There are some things that I’ve tried before, but because I didn’t have the foundation of a good routine set up right, it all failed over and over again.
The easiest way for me is to write things down. You need to write things down to keep focus.
You see, I love organization and to have a plan for the day, but many times it’s difficult to prioritize what’s important and what to tackle first. I used just to pick up the first task that was coming up, even if wasn’t the most important and when children come into the equation being always on time with their meals and having a fixed schedule for the day can be a total game changer.
Embrace a good rhythm
I found that by embracing a good rhythm with my children and getting that part sorted first I would have enough time for keeping the house organized and the cooking on time. Soon after consolidating this routine more time was available for me, and I started a blog to have a creative outlet and meet my personal needs too! I took my home from chaos and transformed it into a calm environment.
Routines
The benefits of a routine are endless. A good routine gave me focus, and I started to unlock time that I was wasting in little unnecessary things. 15 minutes from here, 20 minutes from there resulted in 4-5 hours per day of free time that I could spend it to do something for myself. And no, I wouldn’t clean or cook in that time, those tasks have a different slot during the day.
The best and most efficient way to become crazy productive that I found was time blocking, and the first step that I took was to stop multi-tasking immediately.
If you find that there are not enough hours during the day then I encourage you to try a planner.
{ photo from my Workday Planner }
Persistence
At first, you might think yay, I am determined and slowly lose the interest but persistence it the key here. There is no magic bullet for this; you’ll need to put in the work and create a rhythm that works for you and your family.
Stat by writing down the task that you know are essential. If you have children jot down the nap times as well as meal times and snacks. Determine what you want to eat that day and estimate how long it will take you to do this.
This printable will give you focus and will keep you on track. Since I started using it, I stopped feeling overwhelmed.
Set aside a time slot for different chores, appointments, meetings that you need to tackle and keep up the commitment.
You can purchase the planner here
1 Download the daily planner. You’ll get the printable, plus join my weekly newsletter!
2 Print. Any paper will do the trick.
3 Plan your next day and be on top of your game
