How To Manage A Busy Schedule

How to manage a busy schedule. Hello everyone, I hope you are well. In today’s post, I will be sharing a few simple ways how to manage a busy schedule and stay sane. If you follow my previous article, Life as Single a Mum, Full-Time Student and Working Part-Time, you will know that I was a student for two years and a single mum, and I had a part-time job too. I did all that within two years; it was not easy.

How To Manage A Busy Schedule

Lifestyle

Mindset

Yes, that is the first thing I am going to talk about. I feel setting the right mindset will take you as far as you want to go and beyond. The truth is the mind controls the body. Therefore if you have the right mindset ‘Today is going to be a busy day,’ it will prepare your body for it. Before you do anything or start planning anything, get your mindset right.

Prepare in Advance

For the longest time, I have been told to prepare in Advance. Did I listen? No. I was a last-minute rush type of person. For example, if I have an event to attend in 2 weeks, I will leave prepare for it 2 hours before the event start. And then I will be 1hr late. That happens sometimes, but only for events, I don’t care about. However, what I have learnt from preparing in Advance is that I have more time in my hands too full to fill some unexpected tasks that may pop up. Nowadays, if I have three events to attend in a week, I will make sure I get prepared at least three weeks in Advance. Laying your outfit the night before the next day helps.

Little Things Matter – Get Them Done First

I remember when my daughter was a baby, and we had a late doctor appointment around 5 pm. Now, we all know that 5 pm is ‘Rush Hour’. If you have left the house just before or after 5 pm, you will get stuck in traffic, and anything can happen during the madness. So to avoid the traffic and missing my appointment, I had to schedule a taxi at least 2 hours in Advance to get to the hospital within 30 mins – 1 hour early before my work. The earlier, the better.

Keep Your House Clean

I guess you must be thinking, what does keeping the house clean ought to do with managing a busy schedule: everything, my dear, everything. You can think straight and find little things quickly if you have a clean and well-organised home. These could be keys, baby nappies, notepads, and some pennies. These things are little but very important. Also, after a long busy day, you might meet a friend along the way and invite them to your house. Coming home to a new, clean place to relax and reflect will be nice.

Have a Lot of Rest

The only way your body and mind can function well during and after your busy times is if you have a lot of rest. I don’t mean down yourself with Alcohol and sleep (you can if that helps). I meant to sleep, like proper sleep. If you can’t sleep at night, take a few naps during the day. Use your alarm clock to wake you up. Take a stroll in the evening and breathe. Drink a lot of water and have light, healthy snacks in-between.

Tools You Need

Alarm Clocks

I am guessing we all know what alarm clocks are. If you don’t know, they are clocks that ring out loud to keep you alert and aware of the time once they are set at a specific time. Alarm clocks come in different shapes and sizes. They are beneficial for everyday lifestyle (generally used in the morning) in workplace meetings. They can be found free on your mobile phone or bought from stationery stores.

Watch

If you are very busy, having a watch is perfect for you. Watches are the ideal tools you need on the go in your daily life. They are very fashionable to wear too. A lot of designs have been carefully created by professional designers and engineers. You will look brilliant and attractive if you wear one.

Diary

Diaries are like your personal calendars. Unlike calendars, they come in different formats and styles. Instead of carrying an extensive A4 size calendar up and about, you can close your book like a diary and put them in your bag. I personally love Diaries. I don’t think I can live without them. They are a life-saving tool that helps you stay on track with your upcoming activities. So, for example, if you have a meeting with your managers in two weeks at 10 am, you write it down on the meeting date. And keep checking regularly. This way, you will not miss your meeting.

Planners

I thought planners were the same thing as a diary. However, I soon found out that they are entirely different things. There are lots of different types of planners. There are Meals Planners, Event Planners, Day-to-Day planers, Goals Planner, and the lot. You would think you’d need planners, but in turn, you do because they are beneficial for an immediate task.

Reflective Journal

You don’t have to have one, but I recommend getting one. After a long day, you will be stressed out and weak. However, keeping a journal is a great way to express and reflect on how your day was. Instead of yelling at the family for no reason, it is all in the journal. From time to time, you will feel uplifted about going home from work. There are different types of journals, Personal, Work, and Student Life Journal. It also comes in different colours and styles.

Note Pad

You can not manage a busy schedule without Note pads. Note pads are convenient for collecting necessary information as they come. For example, a phone number, email address, and a person’s name. Anything. A little scribble of essential details goes a long way.

Pens

Pens, a person who loves writing, will feel useless without a pen. When I was in school, I swear I must have lost over 1000’s pens because I could ‘get another one. However, that is not the guess. You will be seen as unorganised if you go anywhere without a pen. You might have everything else, but without a pen, everything is pointless. I cannot tell you how many pens I have in my house. Whether you are a writer or not, you will definitely need a pen: one way or the other.

Scheduling

Daily

I use an alarm clock to wake up in the morning during the weekdays and a diary to let me know what I have planned for that day. I check the day and time. If it’s an appointment, I will also write down the doctor’s and hospital’s names to plan my day within the appointment time. Having a diary helped me a lot when I was a student. I kept myself on track as I checked it every few hours to be aware or even make some changes to it as I got on with the day.

Weekly

If you are a busy parent like me, you will understand how it is essential to plan your week. You want to know what the coming week will be like, so you can prepare for it. This is where a weekly planner comes in handy. We have four weeks a month, and things will get messy if we don’t plan it well.

Monthly

You should set a monthly goal when you plan on a monthly schedule. For example, I wanted to go on for one week in May 2020, and we are in February. I have to plan out everything each month to make I can go on holiday with peace of mind. This can also be very useful if you have a big conference in 6 months you must prepare for. In this case, you must ensure all the little things are done and work towards the summit. That means all the little meetings, the little mishaps etc.

Annually

Planning an annual schedule is probably the most challenging schedule you have to do. This is because no one knows what will happen within a year. However, your plan and set a goal and split up 12 months in half and make it a six months goal set. That way, you are getting things done while simultaneously creating space for any errors that may occur.

My advice is that no matter how busy you are, be sure to add family, friends, and self-care to the plan.

I hope you enjoyed that.

Talk Soon