Agree or disagree: The hardest part of a mom’s day isn’t so much the chores and constant interruptions, as it is figuring out how to fit everything in.
How we plan our days is how we live our lives, after all – so it makes sense that if the planning goes wrong, our day is probably headed down the tubes.
If you’re in need of a troubleshooting guide for how to plan out your day, keep listening – that’s exactly what we’re chatting about in this episode!
Don’t overstuff your day
Similar to planning for your week, you don’t want to stack too much onto one day.
(Unless your mom is taking all the kids and giving you a clear house for eight hours – in that case, all bets are off!)
If your day is way too full, you’re automatically going to feel rushed, harried, and frazzled – because you are!
So let’s delete half of your to-do list and see how you feel then.
- What’s not essential to get done today?
- What could be bumped to tomorrow?
- What can you snooze till next season?
Go see what your to-do list looks like now. Better?
Watch those energy cycles
Second, remember to pay attention to your unique energy cycles during the day.
Do you really get going after two cups of coffee? Is it more post-lunch? (Or is after lunch an energy slump for you?)
Don’t just assume that everyone is high-energy first thing in the morning, or that post-lunch but before-nap should be low-energy time if you’ve got that “cross it off” vibe going.
All you need to do is this: Match your to-do tasks with your times of day – and if you’ve got too many high-energy chores for today’s slots, you need to bump the rest till tomorrow. (And pick some energy-slump activities for the rest of your day!)
This’ll cause a bit of rearranging in your to-dos for the week, but I promise it’s worth it. Because once you’re through, you’ll never grouse at your task list again for telling you to clean toilets when your high-energy period was an hour ago!
If you’ve got too many high-energy chores for today’s slots, bump the rest till tomorrow.
Add in your downtime
Finally, make sure to plan for your own downtime. I know, I know, that sounds silly – PLANNING for fun? For non-essentials?
But if you don’t pencil in something on the calendar, you’ll let to-do’s take over your life, and skip the rejuvenation session completely.
Which also won’t help your energy level (or sanity!) at the end of the day.
- Do you like to hit the ground running in the morning, or slowly ease in to your day?
- Where in your schedule could you do with a bit of a break?
- Are you on fire late afternoon, or still recovering your energy before supper?
The answers to these questions will help you plan your daily schedule so that it supports you, instead of forcing YOU to fit the calendar’s mold.
(That’s backwards, by the way. Where did we ever get the idea that our to-do lists are meant to be our higher selves?)
Now, let’s go back to your daily schedule.
- Do you need to delete half of what’s on there?
- Is it totally missing any breaks for you?
- Could you swap your morning tasks with the afternoon ones to better match your energy levels?
Let’s see what you need, and actually put it on there.
Because you deserve a customized daily to-do list – not a generic task master. What’s changing when you take back ownership today?
