With only so many hours in a day, it can often feel like time is slipping by with little fulfillment and an incomplete to-do list. Perhaps there is a mental wishlist of enjoyable things to do or goals to achieve, "if only there were the time". Well, with a little planning, there may just be enough time after all.
Step One: Lists
To create an effective daily schedule, begin with a blank schedule, one that shows each day of the week and the waking hours. Then create a list of what must fit into the schedule, things that should fit into the schedule, and things that would be wonderful to have time for. Do not hold back, write it all down! The goal is NOT to create a rigid schedule that must be adhered to each day. The goal is to see what is possible, and perhaps find a rhythm that feels right. The schedule is meant to be changed as often as needed to reflect what is realistic and enjoyable. Try one out for a while, see how it feels, then adjust as needed.
Step Two: Non-Negotiable Times
The next step is to fill in all of the non-negotiable and non-flexible times of the day (work for example).
Step Three: Wake and Sleep Times
For this next step, determine how much time should be spent each night sleeping, then decide when those wake and sleep times of the day should be (the example below would allow for about seven and a half hours of sleep). Everyone is different, but determining these wake and sleep times first will quickly show the waking hours of the day that are available for scheduling out.
Step Four: Meal Times
Now it is important to work meal times into the schedule. Planning enough time to prepare, sit down, and enjoy the meal can feel luxurious and it is such a simple adjustment to the daily schedule. Perhaps weekday breakfasts and lunches will need to be a bit shorter, but planning for an hour or more on the weekend can be a special treat. Perhaps small snacks need to be scheduled between main meals for medical needs. Perhaps the last meal of the day needs to be a specific number of hours before bed to allow for proper digestion and improve sleep. Everyone is different.
Step Five: Health Times
Personal health and movement should be a top priority. Start small and simple if movement and exercise are not currently a regular part of the day. If it is a current routine, this step will be easy to schedule. Perhaps other areas of health need to have time set aside each day to care for. If so, fill it in.
Step Six: Prep Times
An important part of a daily schedule is the time it takes to prepare for the day and prepare for the end of the day. These prep times should account for the routines currently in place but can allow for some dreaming of what those times of day could look like. Perhaps just enough time for a quick shower is all that is needed, or perhaps a luxurious evening routine could include face masks, dry brushing, and more. These prep times can vary from day to day as well.
Step Seven: Pet Care Times
If there is a pet in the home, they require specific times scheduled during the day to care for them. Some pets require daily care (walks, training, playing, brushing fur, or caring for teeth), weekly care (trimming nails), and monthly care (trimming hair, bathing, treating paws). Perhaps monthly care can take place on the fourth Sunday of each month.
Step Eight: Family, Friend, and Personal Times
These times of day are the sweetest and make life the vibrant and wonderful thing that it is.
Step Nine: Homekeeping Times
The home is not going to care for itself, and caring for it is what makes it feel like home. Homekeeping, like caring for a pet, requires daily care, weekly care, monthly care, semi-annual care (twice a year), and annual care. Daily care may consist of making the bed, doing the dishes, or getting the mail. Weekly care may consist of washing the car, laundry, cleaning bathrooms, dusting, sweeping, mopping, vacuuming, or planning meals. Monthly care may consist of cleaning the refrigerator, pantry, or microwave. Semi-annual care may consist of cleaning light fixtures, fans, walls, doors, baseboards, carpets, windows, curtains, oven, or the mattress. Annual care may consist of cleaning the garage, basement, porch, gutters, outdoor furniture, or annual landscape care.
Perhaps annual homekeeping can take place on the first Sunday of each month, semi-annual homekeeping on the second Sunday of each month, monthly homekeeping on the third Sunday of each month, and leaving the occasional fifth Sunday free of any homekeeping at all.
Additional homekeeping, as outlined in the image below, could consist of grocery shopping each week and weekly landscape care (mowing the lawn in the summer, monitoring irrigation systems, or simply taking some time to intentionally spend time in the yard, enjoying what each season has to offer).
Hopefully, this helps to make that precious recourse of time feel better spent, more enjoyed, and more fulfilling.
Until next time,