Keeping Balanced

I hope you won’t think I sound too pretentious when I say that I’m a busy lady. I’m working 20-25 hours a week currently, plus working on a master’s degree, working on the blog, trying to stay fit, and still have time to have some fun in there somewhere. It’s a lot, and there’s an art to balancing it all. Here are some tips to staying on top of all the things that life throws at you.

1. All meetings go into a planner.

I use my phone for this, but I know people use paper planners as well. Every time I book a meeting, it zips over into the phone immediately. Biscuit’s obedience school, classes, work engagements, it’s all there. If you put all of them in one place, it makes it harder for things to slip through the cracks.

2.    Prioritize.

I don’t just mean prioritize projects, I mean prioritizing whole areas of your life. I decided that Saturday and Sunday would be schoolwork free, so I have to find time during the week to do those things. I also needed an hour carved out to go to the gym every day, so I have to plan around that. And there’s the dog. When I’m home, you also have to always be mindful of the dog.

3.    Make a list.

Even though I don’t use a paper planner, I use a paper to-do list for my schoolwork. On Sundays, I look at my class list online and make a list of everything that I need to get done that week, and the day I will do it. Again, nothing is going to slip through the cracks this way.

4.    Work ahead.

If the to-do list gets done earlier than anticipated, like if I’m on a roll and just go from one thing to the next and am really powering out the assignments, then I start on the next to-do list. On to the next week.

5.    Let yourself have a lazy day once in a while.

I do sit and marathon Netflix, or browse the internet for an hour at a time sometimes. It’s okay to have downtime where you just potato for a while. Don’t feel guilty about this. As long as things are getting done on time, then you have nothing to feel guilty about.

6.    Do what works for you.

The things that work for me probably will not work for you. It may take some figuring out, but what works for you is the best plan.

How do you stay on track?