If you’ve ever tried to plan something with me, there’s a 99% chance that I’ll say, “let me check my planner and I’ll get back to you.” At first, I believed that this was my sad reality, where my life is based off of this little book that outlines my every move. But then it dawned on me, oftentimes we get so caught up working and fulfilling our responsibilities that we lose track of what’s going on in our lives and the people around us. I used to be the queen of double planning. At one point, I caught myself triple planning which gave me a reality check real quick. Once I began using my planner, the life around me started to change. Like with any new thing, it was a learning experience. I started learning more about myself and the things I needed to do to better my time.
Here are two things I’ve discovered in the past year of using my fantastic planner:
Stopping the glorification of busy
In an article written by Melissa Ramos for the Huffington Post she writes: “try this out for a week: stop saying, “I’m so busy” or “I’m so tired.” Because truth is, so is everyone else. Yes life is busy, but we need to stop comparing our busy to someone else’s as though our busy is more important than theirs.” I am 100% guilty of using the term busy, especially after looking at my planner and seeing writing in my work/ personal boxes, I get overwhelmed but being busy doesn’t have to be something so bad or so awful. We get so indulged in this idea, that it becomes so easy to use the excuse that we’re busy.
Scheduling time for yourself
The one thing that I keep forgetting to do, and I feel everyone needs to drop what their doing and do this is set time for themselves. We get so caught up doing things for others that we forget that we need our “me time.” Lately, I’ve been blocking time in my planner to just really enjoy my own time whether it be watching Netflix, walking my dogs, or just taking a really solid nap.
The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.
– Stephen Covey.
We often find ourselves scheduling the things we value the most, whether it be a night out with your girlfriends or a movie date with your significant other. While these things are all well and fun, I totally and highly encourage you to block off an hour, a night, a whole day and give yourself time to breathe; you totally deserve it.
