How to Schedule Your Day More Effectively

Do you feel as though your day is ruling you instead of you ruling it?  Are you rushing around and never getting anything accomplished?  Many of us never take the time to carefully plan and adhere to a schedule.  Schedules help us prioritize and plan our days so that we get the most of every minute.  These tips should help you schedule much more effectively and put first things first.

Make Your To-Do List the Night Before:  Each night before bed, prepare your to-do list for the next day.  Doing so the night before, will save you time in the morning and ensure that you haven’t forgot anything. 

Be Realistic:  Don’t underestimate how long it will take to complete a task.  Most everyday household choirs take 15 minutes to accomplish. 

Use an Appointment Book:  It’s unrealistic to think that you can keep your entire schedule accurately in your head.  Get a good appointment book, write down all of the scheduled tasks and use it daily.

Keep it With You:  Keep your calendar and appointment book near the telephone.  Also, take your appointment book with you when you go out.  Using a PDA is another great idea.  PDAs allow you to sync your home schedule and PDA schedule so that you always have your most recent appointments with you at all times.

Keep it Current: Now that you have a calendar or appointment book, use it.  Write down important dates, appointments and tasks on a regular basis.

Invitations:  When you receive an invitation to a party, make a note of it the date and time in your calendar as soon as you open the invitation.  Then put the invitation in a special folder so that you will have all of the details when it’s time for the party.

Keep Up with Choirs:  Schedule time to do your laundry, housework, yard work and paperwork on a regular basis rather than letting it pile up.  If you let it pile up, then the task is overwhelming and you’ll try to avoid it all together.   Decide which days you can do each choir to completion and then stick to it. 

Organize Your Bills:  Mark your calendar when bills are due.  Doing this will ensure that the due dates don’t sneak up on you.

Plan For Projects: Schedule the appropriate amount of time to complete special projects like cleaning out your closet or painting the kitchen.  Remember to allocate time for prep, clean up, the actual project and additional time in case mistakes are made.

Always Be Prepared:  Jot important dates like birthdays and anniversaries on your calendar at the beginning of the year.  Doing so at this time, will ensure that you will always be prepared for those special dates.

Adjust as Needed:  You may have to periodically revise your to-do list in response to changing schedules and priorities. 

Treat Yourself:  Take a day off once in a while for yourself.  We all need a day of down time to decompress.  Use that time to relax and unwind.

Review Your Tasks: At the end of the day, review your schedule and check off what you’ve completed and carry over to the following day any tasks that didn’t get finished. 

Be Flexible.  Unexpected things have a way of popping up.  Leave room in your schedule for the unexpected.

Planning for tomorrow can help us keep our lives on track but don’t obsess about it.  Plan for tomorrow but enjoy today.

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