How to Organize...Your Day

Yesterday I was texting with one of my friends, and she asked what I happened to be doing with my day. I told her I was working for the church, and she told me she didn't realize I'd been hired. Well, that's because I haven't been! (Ha!) But the work I'm doing for the church is pretty much a full time job, even though it's volunteer, so over the course of the last month, I've structured my days to resemble "real" work days. I do this mostly so I can be diligent about getting all my work done while Ryan's at work, and then we can enjoy our evenings together - or be part of the evening activities on our calendar.

My friend told me she wished she could be as organized as I was, and the truth of it is...I did not used to be this organized at all. It's a skill I learned from Jamie when she trained me for my producer job, and I loved the enormous amount of stress and pressure it removed from me, so I decided to remain organized even after I left the station and began working from home. It has served me so well, and while no day ever goes exactly according to plan (much to my Type-A dismay), it really helps me remember so much more than I ever would on my own! (My memory for to-do lists is actually remarkably terrible.)

So if I could teach a class in organizing the day, here's what I would tell you. :)

I really have gone about this a number of ways and I believe that ultimately you have to decide what works best for YOU in YOUR life situation. (And that may change now and then!) For a while, I tried to plan out each hour as though I had appointments, but that kept getting changed by last minute emergencies, so I had to ditch that plan. What I'm doing now is the best system (for me!) I've found so far, so I'll teach it to you!

Believe it or not, I actually use a free printable from Scattered Squirrel that was designed for teachers to lay out lesson plans. Sounds crazy, but it works! I love it partially because it is free, so I just saved it to my computer and print out a new copy every week. I also love it because it's blank (except for the days of the week) so I can fill it in with what I need - and so could you! I have used the Scattered Squirrel pages for years. She's my favorite planner-page designer. (I actually interviewed her when I worked in radio, because I wanted to spread the word about her amazing work!)

The printable is a two page spread that has five boxes running vertically (Monday-Friday) and four boxes running horizontally on each page. You can name each column at the top and then fill in what you need to do in that column each weekday.

Here are mine:

* Personal
This is the box where I write down what I need to do each day that is unique to me. Devotions, working out, manicures (I do my own), taking my Bible class...these are the sorts of things I put in that box. Some of those items, like devotions, go in the box every single day. I don't write them down because I fear I'll forget, but rather because every line item helps me see how busy my day is. For example, I know that in doing my devotions, I need to set aside at least a half hour of the day for that. Bible class is another hour. I can see at a glance, by what I've written down, how long I need for Bekah-time that day.

* Cooking/Meals
In this box, I write down what we're eating for each meal. Then below that, I write anything I need to do for that day's meals. Do I need to defrost meat? Put something in the slow cooker? Bake a batch of cookies? Until I picked up this method, I had a terrible habit of remembering about 11 a.m. that lunch was a slow cooker meal. TOO LATE!! Or I'd forget to defrost the ground turkey until 30 minutes before it was time to brown it - womp womp. This helps me keep good track of what needs to be done throughout the day to make sure meals go smoothly!

* Church Work
As I mentioned earlier, I'm doing quite a bit for church ministry right now, so it gets its own box. That's where I keep track of all the things I need to write, people I need to contact, projects I need to complete, etc. In addition to my little box, I also have two big metal boards on the wall of my office - one for each of the two ministries Ryan and I oversee. I put notes up on those boards about even more specific things, both short and long term, that need to be completed. Right now our women's ministry is about 3 weeks away from our big fall event, so I have lots of little pieces and parts to keep straight to make sure all the details are covered for that event. My day planner box is too small for all that, so when the box fills up, I refer to the board!

* Writing Work
In addition to my church work, I have other writing/speaking/office work to keep track of, so it gets a separate box. This is where I keep track of blog posts, freelance writing jobs, social media posts I need to make, podcast editing work, prepping for speaking events, updating my website, etc. Much of this box is ingrained in my mind, and I wouldn't need the written reminders, but again, seeing it in print helps me know how busy I am on any given day. (Mondays, for example, are podcast editing days, and that takes about two hours to complete, so I know I have half an afternoon spoken for just with that.)

* Housework
I stay on a pretty regular housekeeping schedule (that I borrowed from Clean Mama) but I like to write it out in this box just so I can reward myself by checking off the items. So this is where I keep track of my rotation of sweeping, dusting, cleaning bathrooms, and mopping, but it's also where I keep track of when I need to do laundry, running and emptying the dishwasher, meal planning, making grocery lists, and then bigger tasks too - like purging a closet or emptying a dresser or decorating for a holiday.

* To Contact
You know how it goes. You think of someone you should call or text, but if you don't stop and do it right then, you forget! So I made a box for it. This box is where I keep track of cards I need to send, people I should text, call, or email - and why I need to contact them. RSVPs (which I am terrible at remembering) go in this box, too. If I've promised someone some info, I'll write that down here too, so I don't forget to give it to them.

* Appointments
I keep a regular monthly calendar - also from Scattered Squirrel - where I keep track of all our appointments: dentist, Ryan's weekend work, small group, Bible study, serving communion, birthday parties, weddings, vacations, dog-sitting - all of it. I like being able to see the month at a glance to know how much time I have, or more importantly - how much time we need to guard as time spent together as a couple. But each week, I move that week's appointments into a set of boxes, mostly so I know how often to do my hair - HA! This week's boxes tell me we have small group, I have women's Bible study, and we have an engagementversary to celebrate! This also helps me see how I need to arrange my daily chores and other work around specific appointments with a time attached to them.

* Important Items
Yes, this is the catch-all category. This is where I write down all the things I need to be sure to remember to do, but they don't fit neatly in another category. Examples include: charging my Fitbit, buying a card or gift, praying for someone on a specific day, taking a photo on our monthiversary, charging my camera, things Ryan has asked me to remind him to do or buy, etc.

NOTES

I do color code this. One color (which encompasses most of it) represents me, one represents Ryan, and one represents both of us together. That helps me see at a glance, especially with appointments, who needs to show up.

I don't try to stuff every box as full as it can be. My goal is NOT to win the prize for busiest person in the world. In fact, my goal is to make sure the week is balanced and not too packed. If a box fills up, life is full. If some boxes are always full and some are always blank, something isn't balanced. It really has helped me make room in our days so we're not always running ragged and exhausted.

I do not use this on vacation. That's a whole separate organizational method. ;) When we go on a trip, I step away from the day planner.

Your categories will look different from mine. If you decide to give this a shot, obviously your categories will be unique to your life. We don't have kids, so we are only keeping track of ourselves. If we did have children, I would imagine I might have a category specific to each one of them.

Of course you can do a digital version of this is you prefer to keep track of things on your phone, tablet, or computer. I am a papers, binder, and Flair pens girl through and through, so this is my favorite.

The printable is free, so you have nothing to lose if you want to give it a try! Who knows...it might help you keep your days organized and your sanity intact!