We know how busy life is and how chaotic it can get. So learning how to balance your time well is nothing less than essential.
Balancing and managing our time, and essentially our lives, is perhaps the most vexing task of all. We’re here to make sure you’re filling your cup, maintaining your wellness (read: sanity) and serving your best in the ways you do with a few less tears. It’s about being your less frantic best, personally and professionally.
EVENING PREP
Preparation is the key to reducing the tiny, time-sucking tasks that leave us depleted, demotivated and generally overwhelmed when our focus is required for more important tasks.
1. Check the weather
Try cultivating the habit of checking the weather to pick clothes and pack bags in the evening
2. Meal plan and prep
Planning meals or even just your weekly grocery-run eliminates unnecessary stress. Having a few quick breakfast options on rotation and making a little extra dinner to package for lunch is helpful, too.
3. Tidy up
Incorporate five-minute speed-tidies to maintain little areas throughout your space on a regular basis. This applies to your devices as well.
MORNINGS
Mornings are the opportunity to wake up gently, take a moment to breathe and prep for your day. Research has shown that we are more likely to feel confident, ambitious and bold earlier in the day – this is also the period where our short-term memory is at its peak.
1. Wake up earlier
Hitting snooze is tempting but tends to leave you foggy and ill-prepared for your day.
2. Take a moment
Give yourself 30 minutes each morning to stretch, breathe, journal or simply have a slow, quiet breakfast with a podcast in
the background.
3. Get fresh
A morning shower is a great way to create a boundary between your personal wake-up routine and getting your day started. And yes, this is for the WFH club!
PLANNERS
Whether you’re a digital or analogue kinda gal, notebooks, apps and mindfulness are great tools for coping with life’s constant demands. Find something that is sustainable for you.
1. Invest in a planner/download an app
A bullet journal is a great way to combine tasks, follow ups, personal appointments and how you’re feeling can give you a comprehensive view of what’s really going on in your life. You can do the same digitally.
2. Check your email
Check your email first thing in your work day to avoid missing last-minute tasks, meetings and schedule shifts. Delegate tasks wherever possible!
3. Schedule tasks and reminders
Schedule anything that isn’t in your email, including brain-breaks to stretch, top up your water bottle or have a bite of fruit and a few nuts.
4. Outsource, multi-task and automate
Try scheduling cleaning-, garden-, and plumber services you’ve outsourced for one day so the chaos doesn’t cut into the rest of your week. Set auto-payments, reminders and appointments for all other life admin.
LOOK WITHIN
Anytime you set an intention to make a change, you’re using your most valuable tool: your intuition. In the wise words of Tony Robbins, ‘Everything you need is inside you now.’ Make that your mantra and focus on creative ways to smartify your life.
1. Set boundaries
This includes work and home boundaries such as creating a dedicated space that’s only for work. Most importantly, say ‘no’
to work outside of your job or salary scope. If saying ‘no’ is initially too difficult, get into the habit of saying you’ll give it some thought first. Understanding you are inaccessible at times will clarify your boundaries.
2. The takeaway?
For all these tips, it’s a matter of finding the best tools that work for you by giving yourself the respect of time to figure things out, make mistakes and try something new. Learning to set boundaries will go a long way to improving your overall wellness and ability to do well in the ways that matter most.
Words by Stefanie Titus-Petersen
Photo by cottonbro
