If you’ve ever attended one of my workshops or worked with me one on one, you know how much I LOVE utilizing my calendar. I put everything on my calendar! Well, almost everything. Let’s be honest – some things just don’t need to be on your calendar (e.g., brushing your teeth, showering, applying lotion). Pretty much everything else is fair game. By viewing my calendar as my time budget and not just a place to park my appointments, I have been able to greatly reduce my stress level over the years and minimize the chaos that seemed to follow my family around. Enter global pandemic.
After a total meltdown last week that had been brewing for a couple of weeks before that, I finally accepted that my new normal is being in my home 24/7 with my husband, two boys, and dog (the easiest to live with of the bunch). I also came to the realization that my old, trusted way of scheduling my time with Type A specificity isn’t going to work within the confines of my new normal. If I wanted to keep my sanity, I needed to pivot… quickly.
Instead of continuing to manage and abide by my super-organized, highly-detailed, color-coded calendar with every minute in my day accounted for, I decided to let go of my desire to always be in control of everything and focus solely on time blocking large chunks of time. Time blocking is basically putting aside time for certain activities or to work on specific projects, like working out, taking the boys to school, or making dinner. It’s served me well in the past and I count on it being THE time management hack that’s going to help me keep my sanity throughout our family’s quarantine. Time blocking gives my brain the space and time to focus on getting one thing accomplished, be it doing loads of laundry, painting a bedroom, or reconciling my credit card statements. It also prevents procrastination because once I’ve set aside time for an activity on my calendar, I’m far more likely to do it.
As I created my new (temporary) weekday quarantine schedule, I asked myself three questions:
- What do I want my day to look like?
- What will my day really look like with my husband and kiddos’ constant interruptions?
- What do I need to include in my day to not lose my mind?
Here’s what I came up with:
This semi-flexible schedule has been working thus far, partly because I approach it each day with an open mind, knowing full well that my husband and boys have their own ideas of how I should be spending my time. I kind of lost my sanity for a hot minute back there after a couple of weeks being in denial about my new normal. Time blocking my priorities (and not everything!) into my days is restoring my sanity because it’s helping me ensure my family’s needs, as well as my own needs, are met through this batshit crazy time.
While I love being a master of getting shit done and I strive to connect, inspire, and motivate other women to get out of their own way, overcome challenges, and get shit done, too, I’m becoming increasingly aware of how my beloved get-shit-done mentality can breed anxiety during this emotionally charged time when we can’t even leave our homes. I am begging you to adjust the expectations you have of yourself during this time. Let go of the vision you had for this season and focus on managing your energy, not just your time, to keep (or restore) your sanity.
