The Promises we Make to Ourselves
When we think about our daily tasks, how are we spending most of our time? I make the time to do laundry, clean the kitchen, and drive kids to activities. Yet the things that I truly want to accomplish should be equally important as mundane, household routines. Going for walks, organizing photos, decluttering spaces, reaching out to friends, reading novels and re-engaging with writing are the goals that I set for myself every week, but don’t always make time for them to happen.
We need to adopt the mindset of treating EVERY task like an appointment. You would never skip a hair appointment, or going to the dentist. So why do we continue to miss the things we long to do? When yet another week has gone by with us failing to check them off our list of goals? It starts by looking at your week as a whole, and planning for blocks of time.
Blocking Your Time
I have goals for various areas, like household, fitness, family and social, and reading/writing. I look at these overall lists and at my current week, then decide which tasks to accomplish each day. It is important to take into account what is already scheduled, and look at the day in blocks of time. On a work day, I have the afternoon block, then the evening block after dinner. I consider how long the usual daily chores will take, and then how much time of that block I can devote to an extra goal. If I have an evening with multiple rides for my kids, I won’t schedule as many goals, and certainly not time-consuming ones. On the other hand, if my evening is open, I may schedule 2-3 different tasks. On the weekends, I plan for a morning, afternoon, and evening block. Some people like to block out time in the early morning before work as well, which could be another opportunity to fit in one of your goals, such as fitness or writing.
Tips
Be realistic when blocking out your time.
Scheduling too much is a recipe for failure. You will start to feel frustrated when you have to combine these “extras” with your usual tasks, and you will feel like you have no time to yourself to just unwind. If you’ve gone for a walk, made dinner, taken the kids to practice, folded laundry, and typed a blog post, you may truly need some time to just chill after all that. You will not likely be able to fulfill the other goals you had set, like organizing your playlists or decluttering your office. At that point, it’s not that you’re being lazy by wanting to watch TV or scroll social media, but simply that you do need downtime and a break from constant activity. We just have to be careful not to let the downtime overtake the entire evening, but to actively schedule it into our blocks of time. If you want to be in bed by 10:30, you may choose to stop all tasks by 9 pm so you have some time to relax.
Make sure to accurately estimate how long a task will take.
Sometimes I list 3-4 goals I want to accomplish in a block of time, then I realize that just one of those tasks is going to take longer than planned. It is important to block the time specifically. If I’m done my daily chores by 6 pm, and have a free evening, I may schedule blog research from 6-7, then a decluttering task from 7-8, a workout from 8-9, and reading from 9-10. However, there is always transition time from one activity to the next, and little things to do in between, like empty the dishwasher, switch the laundry, take a shower, and so on. If we don’t allow for a realistic amount of time, we will feel frustrated and just end up ditching all of it watch Netflix or scroll Instagram. The decluttering task might take far longer than an hour, and we may not feel like stopping once we’re into it. Instead of four goals in that time frame, two is probably more doable. We will feel better about accomplishing something than sitting on the couch avoiding all of it because it feels overwhelming.
Schedule tasks that make sense with what you already have going on on a particular day or evening.
I will plan for goals that can be done in quick pockets if we have a lot going on with the family. If I have a full Sunday afternoon and evening off with no plans, I will schedule longer projects, like scrapbooking, cleaning the garage, going shopping for new clothes, etc. Being out and about already makes you feel frazzled and busy, without throwing in multiple long tasks. Those tasks are better scheduled on a day with less going on. When we find ourselves always busy with running around, it may be time to reassess our kids’ involvements, or our various commitments. You’re too busy to work on the goals that are important to you? Then your life may be out of balance and it may be time to simplify. You and your partner should share rides and household tasks equally, freeing you up to accomplish things that are just for you. If you’re a single parent, perhaps another friend, family member, or babysitter could help out occasionally with your kids’ rides or spend time with them to give you some extra time for your goals.
Ditch social media and phone use, or severely limit it.
I have fallen down the rabbit hole of Facebook and Instagram far too many times. It is easy to avoid things that are going to take energy when you feel like relaxing at the end of the day. However, once you get going at the task, usually you end up creating the energy that you didn’t have before you started. You feel proud and accomplished, and this feeling motivates you to get the next goal started. Whereas if you lie on the couch and scroll social media, you will be tempted to stay in that place and put off your goals “until tomorrow.” Except they won’t necessarily fit into tomorrow’s plan, and you find yourself unproductive all week long once again.
Front load the tasks that you know will be less likely to be done the later you leave them.
While I’m not a morning person who does any more than get ready for work before I have to leave, I still try to “front load” the tasks that I know will be harder to do the later I leave them. I can be home by 3:00, so I try to get my fitness done right away, whether it’s an outdoor walk, or weight lifting program in my basement. If I leave this until after dinner, I need to schedule it first thing, right at 6 pm, while my energy levels are still high. Things like decluttering or household chores also need to be done sooner.
Something like working with photos, writing or reading can be done later in the evening, and this is often when my creative spurts are stronger, so I am safe to leave these tasks for a little later. Each person is different when it comes to your best time of day to accomplish different types of tasks, so you need to use this self-awareness when designing your block schedule for the day.
Never break a promise
Overall, you need to honour the plan, and keep the promises that you make to yourself. If you have the odd day that you fall, you can get right back on track the next day. The longer you continue to avoid the “extras,” the things that don’t NEED to be done, the longer they will stay on that list. You don’t feel like it? Do it anyway. Most people don’t feel like doing challenging things, like working out or writing, or embarking on whatever big project they are striving to complete, but once they get started, those feelings disappear. You will never regret doing something that was important enough to be on your schedule. Just make sure you schedule wisely, being realistic about your time and your needs. Then follow the plan that you’ve made for yourself. You would never skip an appointment, even if you were dreading it, so don’t skip out on yourself.
