How A Daily Schedule Keeps Me Sane

It’s already 2:15 PM and I’m supposed to be cranking this post out today. I can tell you, I may not have gotten it done without my handy dandy schedule. It’s imperative that I keep a daily schedule planner to feel productive, get things done, and stay sane.

Time is of the Essence

I start my day I usually sit down at my desk in my living room and after my quiet time and run, I will usually sit and flesh out the day’s goals. I use a mechanical pencil since plans change and I like to erase and rewrite stuff. This eases my conscience so that if I were to write in pen, and something changed, I wouldn’t be out of room to replace the writing.

With the kind of planner I use (Cambridge yearly with daily 15-minute increments of time), I have multiple lines to enter and guesstimate how long a task will take. If it takes longer or I get sidetracked, fine, I can erase the next task and adjust. Or, sometimes I don’t finish every task, and that’s OK.

Mission: Accomplished.

When I’ve accomplished a task, I like the feeling of checking it off, X-ing it, meaning I’m done with it. I’ll usually circle the 15-minute increment time on the left and X it out when I’m done. That way I don’t completely cross out the task description. This is such a great feeling and simple method of knowing what I achieved during the day.

Not only am I organizing my day one task at a time, I’m making things happen. For someone like me, with a one-track mind, who doesn’t do well at multi-tasking, this is a system that is effective and satisfying.

Method to my Madness

I can’t stand the feeling of having nothing to do, and I go stir-crazy if I don’t have a structured routine. I even include “lunch” and “naptime” on my schedule. It isn’t a perfect method, but it works for me. I get less anxious and depressed when I have things to do and a clear outline of when I should get them done by.

So what about you? Do you have a way to keep your day running smoothly? Leave a comment and let’s discuss!

Stay brave and bold,
Katie