Taking Time to Make Time

Dodgerton Skillhause via Morguefile

This morning, I taped a radio interview for the Kyle Heimann Show. For his opening question, Kyle asked me which room in my house was the messiest. While I'm pretty sure no one asks Marie Kondo that question, I was thrilled that Kyle asked me. Clearly, he knew what I say often here: when it comes to organization, I'm a work in progress.

Nowhere in my life is this more true than in my management of time. To me, time management is a pipe dream. I can't even capture it, let alone manage it. But I am getting better.

The funny thing about time management is we have to take time to manage time. If we don't take the time to write things down, keeping track of our commitments and our to-dos, we run headlong into scheduling snafus that derail our days, leaving us frustrated, exhausted and feeling about as far from productive as we can get.

Here are three key strategies that, in my experience, are worth the time they take.

Plan your schedule. I sit down on Sunday evening (or Monday morning, when I'm not teaching) with my calendar and my to-do list and map out the week ahead on a single sheet of paper. This not only adds some structure to my days, but it primes me for what lies ahead (for better or for worse). Sure, some days life will intervene and that schedule will fall apart. Other times, the schedule will be overly optimistic and unfinished items will get pushed to the next day. But, if I don't transfer tasks from my to-do lists to my calendar, they often hang out on the to-do list indefinitely.

Leave wiggle room. What looks like a wasted half hour between appointments on paper can be a lifesaver if you get caught in traffic, get an emergency text or phone call or simply need a few minutes between activities to catch your breath. While it seems like packing the schedule makes us more productive because we get more things done, I've learned from painful experience that what a packed schedule most often makes us is late.

Pixabay

Pencil in time to relax. We aren't built to run 24-7, a fact I preach better than I practice. I've learned the hard way that running until I hit the wall is not a good plan. By the time I hit that wall, I'm cranky and have no energy for the quiet pursuits that recharge me. Taking time for ourselves, whether it's meditation, an exercise class, a nap or a bubble bath, makes us more productive, not less. In addition there's evidence that giving our minds time to roam free, as it were, contributes to creativity as well.

Being a work in progress isn't so bad. Especially if we focus on the progress part.