This is how I do it
Last week I wrote about my accidental resolution to embrace and trust my process with the goal of leaving a good deal of anxiety behind. So, I wanted to share something I've been doing for the past couple of months that's really been working for me.
It's all about Monday mornings and my trusty notebook. Here's what I do:
On the left hand page, I write down all of my to-do's. I have separate columns for e-mails and phone calls (because I try to do those things in clusters) and usually a little non-column for frivolous things like a video or an app I want to remember to check out. Any to-do's that weren't to-done last week get copied over to the new week. It's nice when I don't have to copy much, but it's also a big indicator of what I'm avoiding/resisting/procrastinating which helps me STOP doing that.
On the right hand page, I draw out my week. I'm still tweaking this, but the gist is that I block out when I have time to work (aka when my son is in school or with his babysitter), dinner times and gym times. I do all of that in pen. In pencil, I go back to my to-do list and plan in which to-do's I hope to accomplish when.
On Monday mornings when I make the calendar for the week, I also try to plan WHAT we'll have for dinner every night. Doing that planning once a week saves me both stress and trips to the grocery store - it's been a big upgrade for how I spend my work time and my time with my kiddo.
Here's what my notebook looked like last week. Monday was a school day off so I actually started on Tuesday.
And that's it! The to-do's for the week reflect my longer-term plans, so I don't have to think too much, I just DO the things I told myself to do. I've been making more productive use of my time and generally feeling more satisfied with what I'm getting done.
People are making all kinds of pre-printed notebooks to help you accomplish this (I've seen a bunch pop up on Kickstarter and the like), but I like the process of making these two pages every week. Planning it out this way gives me time to think and helps me feel like I've got a handle on the week ahead.
Do you have a system for organizing your whole life? How does it work? Would you try this? Leave a comment!