Busybodies

There was a time in my college life where I barely had a minute to stop and smell the spring lilacs as I ran from class to work, but these days I have time to breathe and enjoy life. I have a feeling, though, that will soon change. For those of you supermoms/superdads and overachievers in the workplace who are struggling to balance your time and your life and still get the most out of it, hopefully this can help calm your busybody life and greatly reduce your stress.

Of course there are different techniques that work well for some and don't work well for others. I think it is important, as a busybody, to quickly figure out what will work well to keep you grounded and organized. You for sure are going to need some type of planner or agenda to keep your day straight. Unless you have a photogenic memory there is no way you can keep it all straight if you are a busybody. I think that it's important to have one planner for work and home, not two separate planners or calendars. If you're at work and need to leave early for Susie's soccer game, how are you going to know that unless it's on your work calendar? Some ideas are: using a computer calendar (Microsoft Outlook, Lotus Notes, Google calendar, etc.), purchasing a nicely bound agenda that is easy to carry with you wherever you go, use the calendar function on your smart phone (synch it with your Outlook or whatever you use), or use a notebook where you can keep track somehow of all of your tasks and appointments.

After you arrange your appointments and obligations is time to figure out how to accomplish what you need to get done in the allotted time. I love, love, love the idea of creating a calendar or a planner for when you need to do something specific in a certain amount of time. For this, I work backwards if I am just making a list or using a calendar and make a note when I have a deadline or need to start or do a particular task. You can even just write down the different tasks onto a piece of paper and use that as your reference, though I do recommend using something where you can denote dates and deadlines. It's all about creating and sticking to your timeline.

Still can't fit everything in? Now is the time to prioritize. Make a list of what you have on your plate and determine what issues are the most pressing or carry the heaviest weight. What is the most important thing you have going on right now? Do that first. For everything else, you really need to work time into your schedule to be able to get it done. Block off time in your daily scheduler to accomplish the remaining tasks, allot a specific amount of time for each task, and get it done. If you are such a busybody that you literally do not have time to get everything done on time I must admit that I have a hard time believing that you are as organized as you could be. I think there are probably ways you could become more organized and manage your time better. I heard an appalling study about the amount of time the average person wastes checking their e-mail. Consider shutting your e-mail off if you have urgent matters to attend to.

I firmly believe that if you create an efficient timeline that lets you know at what time/day a particular task needs to be accomplished by that you will finish this project in ample time. Don't forget to plan for emergencies, urgent matters, sick days or just plain wasted time.

I also firmly believe in to-do lists or project lists. Have you ever had a project assigned to you that you completely forgot to do? Get a white board, a pack of post-its or a piece of paper and write out your to-do list or your project list and keep it in a spot where you can regularly refer to it and accomplish your tasks.
Take some time at work each Friday (or any day!) to organize yourself. Look over your meetings, deadlines, answer those pesky e-mails you keep putting off, clean your desk and get rid of papers that are creating clutter. I like to mark on my calendar "me time" which I use to reorganize myself.

If you're a stay at home parent or retired or unemployed you should still have things that need to get done. Take a few minutes or an hour or however long it takes to make your to-do list, follow up with anything you have been putting off, plan your weekend errands or whatever it is that you need to do to organize your schedule. Create a daily routine or a schedule that is flexible and works for you that you can follow. If you don't want a fixed schedule at least outline what you need to get done each day or week and stick to your list! Don't forget to plan ahead.

Planning out your schedule is sure to be a huge stress reliever. This will enable you to see in plain sight that you do have time to get everything done. This is all about time management, prioritizing and becoming more organized. It's an important mindset especially for busybodies.