One thing that working from home forces me to do is plan ahead. I'm usually pretty good except when life changes and I have to go through a transition period. I'm finally out of that transition period but something a friend suggested made a huge difference in getting me out of that "getting by one day at a time" mentality. Some seasons of life are like that and it's ok!
Her suggestion? Plan 8 weeks at a time with the holidays around the corner. It may sound overwhelming but has been the absolute best thing I've done recently. However, you can modify it to be monthly. I plan to do it according to our school year or my business quarters once the new year starts.
Here's how I did it...
1) printed off 8 weekly plan sheets with time boxes. This one here would work great, only modified a bit for you. This is one I use for my business so its got MK on it. You could create a similar one in excel spreadsheet but this gives you a visual. I literally color coded my weeks. Anything that was already "set in stone" went on there and then I made updates and adjustments as need.
2) Create a Master List for each month. I used this. It is the most freeing thing to write down absolutely everything you need to do. It stresses me out to keep it in my head!
3) Create a deadline or day you'd like to put your master list into action. I used something similar to this. Print out 8 copies so you can fill in the dates and mark when you want to do a project or item. I can't even tell you how awesome it is to assign a day to a task! Then I don't have to worry when I'm going to get it done.
4) Each Sunday night I look to see what I need to do, fill in some more items, and get a daily sheet ready for each day. I personally use a small notebook for each day because filling out a paper didn't work as well for me. Either way is great! You definitely want to have a daily plan. I've been doing this method for years and I get so much more accomplished on the days I do it.
5) Each evening review what you did not get done and move any items on to the next day or another day in the week that would work better. Fill in your next day's sheet.
My November went so much smoother than any month I can remember in the last year! I love this system all thanks to the awesome binder idea I created.
Some tips I've learned along the way...
* Don't overschedule your day. Prioritize your list into "must do" and "would like to do". I don't worry about the 2nd list unless I have free time. My main goal is the "must do" and sometimes that even includes spending 30 min of alone time with each child. It doesn't always mean a household or business item.
*Keep your busy, out of the house days very simple! Every other Tuesdays and every Thursday are days that I cannot make a to do list because all I can get done is teaching my kids School then we are out the door for classes in town (Art and PE). I may only put simple items on those days. I try to do most of my items when I'm going to be home all day.
*It will take time to get used to a new system.
I hope these tips will encourage you and help you through this busy time of year! It's been a very refreshing and helpful way to organize my life lately.
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