Get Organized With Me!

Greetings and welcome to my little corner of the world. I thank you for stopping by and spending some moments with me.

I have been asked to write a blog post about how I organize my time. We all have different lives and responsibilities, and must plan time accordingly. This post is simply how I do it for my life and hopefully you can pick up a pearl or two to add to your daily life.

I am a very busy healthcare provider seeing at least 20 patients on any given day. I usually get to work between 7 or 8 in the morning and stay until about 7:30 at night I am in the middle of writing a book and I post 3X/week on my blog about various subjects. I live alone so all the details of life are my responsibility. I have a very busy family but we are spread all over the US so that is a challenge of its own. There are some things that are very important to me personally like eating healthy, so I meal prep my meals a week at a time so I can bring breakfast, lunch and dinner with me to work. I like to exercise 5X/week, I meditate daily, I read at least an hour per day. I have to set some time aside just for me to stay reasonably sane. I like to write letters and not emails, and so somehow I have to organize my time or it would feel like a mountain that is impossible to climb.

First and foremost, I believe in WRITING THINGS DOWN. We all have thoughts, ideas, plans etc, but if they are not written down? They usually remain just that. Thoughts. Ideas. Plans.

I believe in planners. And I have used this planner for the past five years. I would be lost without it. It is a “Passion Planner” and I am simply in love with it. It comes in two sizes, dated or undated, academic calendar or the usual Jan – Dec. (and no, this is not a paid promo……it’s just what I use)

One thing I absolutely love about this planner is at the very beginning it helps you create your “passion plan”. A roadmap if you will to get you to where you want to be. You dream, let you mind go, and consider possibilities. You think this out, start breaking it down, and it gives you the timeline to get some of these things accomplished. It is because of this tool I have been able to travel abroad, get a good chunk of my first novel written, and run a reasonably successful blog. I am healthier, happier, and love having a plan to follow. I have plans to have a tiny house built as well. Without a passion plan? It would be a fleeting thought. But my Tiny House is a plan. Pretty exciting!

Monthly pages as with any planner, but this one actually has some extras that I love. A quote that is very motivating. Place to mention what the focus of this month is, a place to mention good things that have happened, personal and work lists, and a place of “infinite possibilities”……which is pretty awesome!

Weekly pages for the month that are broken down into half hour time slots. Amazing what you can get done in a mere 30 minutes if it is planned and written down. Again a motivational quote, to do lists both personal and work and “infinite possibilities” again. Just seeing that in the morning makes me think anything is possible!

So now I have my planner. I have completed my passion plan. But now? The hard part. Now this might seem time consuming at first, but believe me…..it works. I have a lot on my plate. And there are some things that are very important to me. I usually write it all down on post it notes and start to figure out how much time each task is going to take, think about my week, and start prioritizing.

I start with my month. And yes, I know we are pushing the halfway point in October, but November is set for me finishing my first draft of my novel so it would look a little boring. I write down all occasions (birthdays etc), Choose a day to grocery shop and meal prep (I prepare my meals one week at a time to free up evenings after work and eat healthier, highly recommend), my blog post days to stay on track, any trips or conferences I have to go to, and of course, the infamous work schedule. Of course things will come up, and I add them as they come.

Now here is the biggie. The big things that were on the monthly calendar I transfer over to the weekly. And I love color!

PINK –  my have-to’s (work, meal prep, laundry.)

BLUE – all things blogging and/or writing

GREEN – all things personal (exercise, meditation, letter writing, reading)

ORANGE – Self Care Time Just For Me – believe it or not, this must be PLANNED. If it is planned and written down? I look forward to it. It makes that patient day on Tuesday not seem so difficult. If I feel myself getting work out or drained? I know that time is coming and I can even nap it away if I want to!

So here you go! My typical week. I have become a master at using my “pockets of time” and this is where I can get a letter written, support some fellow bloggers, send an email or two, take a quick ten minute walk.

I do this every single week. Each night I look at the upcoming day, set the alarm accordingly, and I know what the day will hold (for the most part). It definitely works for me.

If you decide what’s important to you, what you wish to accomplish, break it down, and write it down, you will get more accomplished I promise you.

 

I am hoping that this was helpful in some way. I just know that it works for me. I don’t watch television too much except for maybe a football game when I’m working on my blog on Sunday afternoons.

Bottom line is this is what I have learned. Get in touch with what is important to you. We all have the same 24 hours. That isn’t going to change. But it is how we SPEND those 24 hours that counts. How much time are you wasting? Can you give up a few time sucking activities that are not in line with your long term goals? What is really important to you and what really isn’t? Have you really thought this out and adjusted accordingly? Time is fleeting. And when it’s gone, it’s gone. Don’t let time fly by you and wish you had started this days, weeks, months or years ago. There is no time like the present.

Until next time…….be kind……..always,

Polley93