Hello Everyone!
Today we will be discussing how to create a list of nonnegotiable activities that can be easily translated into a base schedule to simplify planning.
We’ve all been there. Sitting at the kitchen table or on the couch feeling overwhelmed and not knowing how to get our life back on track. It can be overwhelming and exhausting. The job of The Balance Act is to help you get out of that rut and feel more confident in your planning strategy. This blog will take you through the steps of creating a simple list that will help you to create a base schedule. So, let’s begin……
1. Make a list
The first thing that you need to do is write down all the events in your life. This includes work, school, sports practices, meals, and sleep. If these events occur at a certain time, then write down the time as well. Don’t worry if they are in order or organized in any way. Feel free to add titles to your lists if that feels better to you, but for now just write down everything that is a part of your current schedule.
2. Make sure everything on the list is nonnegotiable
So, what is a nonnegotiable event? It is something that you can’t complete the week without. For example, work and sleep are musts for the week and therefore must be included in your base schedule. These events occur at the same time every week. In the next few days we will transfer all of the events on this list into a chart that organize them by day and time. This will help us to keep track of them and make sure that nothing gets missed.
Feel free to move any events that are negotiable to a separate list. These will be important later in the process, but for now we just want to focus on the events that occur at the same time every week and are essential to your schedule.
3. Estimate the time necessary for your morning and night routine
One of the easiest ways to do this is to time yourself. In the next few weeks, we will look at what elements are necessary for a successful morning and night routine, but for now just estimate the amount of time you believe you should devote each day to creating your morning and night routine. While it’s easy to see these as negotiable events we should really treat them as nonnegotiable events that we are committing to every single day. These routines can last anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour depending on what you want to get done. This is completely up to you!
4. Remember it’s okay if these events change
The Balance Act is all about being flexible and open to change because we all know that life happens! While this is your base schedule that doesn’t mean that it won’t change. For college students this schedule will change each semester as their class schedule changes, for others it might change with the transfer to a new job or a move to a different city. Don’t worry if something changes. You can just restart the process and create a new schedule.
Now, you’ve written down all these events in your life that are nonnegotiable, but there is no rhyme or reason to how they’re organized. That’s okay! In the next blog we will review how to organize them nicely into a chart. For now, just feel confident that you have taken the first step in a more productive routine!
If you have any questions regarding your schedule let me know here!
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See you next time!
Maria
