I am someone who tends to take on far too much. There are just so many things I would like to do and there are literally not enough hours in the day to do them all, especially when I work a full time job. But I know I must not be alone in all of this, so I thought I would share with you some ways in which I (or at least I try to) make time for the things that matter to me.
1. Take back the lunch break
One of the biggest things I am guilty of is not making the most of my lunch time whilst at work. I am someone who works from home 90% of the time, so whilst it does have benefits, I do find I am more likely to sit and work through my lunch or to just sit and work without taking any breaks at all. I also work within the legal profession, so there will be some days where I am having to draft, read and finalise very long, very complicated, and often very dry documents that take a lot of my mental energy. Which means not only am I pretty unproductive, I tend to get very tired by about 2pm because I haven’t actually taken any break.
One thing that I am trying to make a priority with my work day, is taking my lunch break. I block it out on my calendar every day (see my next point!) so that I will get a reminder pop up on my screen that it is now lunch time and I should walk away for a moment. Now on some days, I may only walk away to make myself a bit of lunch, but I am also trying to use my lunch break to work on my own personal tasks. Sometimes I will take my personal laptop, sit in front of one my favourite shows on the TV and just spend the hour doing some writing, or some blog posts, or if the weather is nice I may even go for a walk outside. To literally go outside and touch some actual grass and get some much needed (and very rare for England) sunlight on me! I then find that once I come back to work, I have a clearer head and can continue my work projects with a bit more enthusiasm.
2. Calendar block
This has been a game changer. Now granted, I do not always stick to my calendar block rigidly, but I find just having a rough outline for the day helps me to stay focused. If it is a work day, I will try to block out what projects I will work on at which time, when I will take breaks, take my lunch (as above) or when I have meetings I need to prepare for. This helps take a lot of the stress out of my day, as I know exactly what is in store for me. I find that it is also very helpful for me mentally to block out my next day at the end of every day, so that when I come into work the next morning I do not even have to think about what needs to be done, because I’ve already got a plan in place.
For my personal time though, it has also allowed me to make the most of my time. As I say, I do not stick to it rigidly, as I know that sometimes life will just get in the way and that spontaneity is almost, if not more, important than productivity, but I do like being able to see a rough outline to what my evening, or my day, or my week or my weekend may look like. I will try to schedule time to do blog posts, do some writing projects (be it research or just getting words down on paper), go to the gym, or to just snuggle down on the sofa with my husband and play some video games and watch a new TV show together.
3. Slowly build the routine
That being said, I did not start all of these things in the same week. My main focus for sometime now has been my gym and my running routine, which is something I have built up over some time. At this point, I no longer even have to think about going to the gym or going for a run. It is now so engraved in my routine, that when I do not work out or go to the gym as normal I really start to notice the difference in my overall headspace and inner calm. Arguably, I think building a solid work out routine is one of the hardest things to do, so I am quite proud of myself for finally getting to this point.
Everything else though I start small. With this blog, I tend to have a good routine of when I can spend a good two hours or so over the weekend and just prepare some posts and plan out my content. Again, I do not stick to this in a rigid manner, as again life will always happen and flexibility is key when it comes to having a balanced lifestyle. But my current routine is working well.
The next habit I am trying to build is my writing. I have so many ideas that I want to work on, but I found that when I told myself I must write 1000 words a week, I just couldn’t keep to it. So for now, I am starting very slowly – 15 minutes a day working on a writing project. I can be as flexible as I like with that: Maybe I’ll spend 15 mins plotting out a story idea, or researching a certain topic, or just 15 minutes of mad typing to just get some words on paper (well…computer screen really) and to get some creative juices flowing. I find that once I start, I am able to get at least 30-45 minutes of solid work in, but even if I only manage 15 mins a day, that is still making steps towards the end goal of actually finishing a first draft manuscript!
4. Colour coding
Now I fully understand that this one in particular will not be for everyone, but my gosh does it help me. I colour code my calendar for various things: work, personal tasks, chores, social events, date nights etc. Every task has a colour allocated to it, which I find most helpful when I am looking at a weekly or monthly overview. I can instantly see how much time I am likely going to be spending on each aspect – how many social events do I have on? Have I made sure to schedule in regular date nights? Have I got any big family events coming up I need to prepare for or any work trips? It also helps me see where I might be pushing myself a bit too much, or if there is any aspect of my life that I have not made enough time for, and it allows me to re-plan and refocus moving forward.
Again, totally understand that for some people out there, too many colours can just be very distracting and probably very overwhelming. But if you are someone like me who needs a visual reminder or some sort of visual reference point to turn to, I would highly recommend this method. I have a similar but far simpler colour coding method for work specifically too, and again it just helps me to see what I need to focus on each week and if I need to be aware of anything coming up. SO even if you don’t think it would work in your personal life, using this within my work day has just helped take away a lot of the stress an uncertainty as I can see from a very quick glance exactly what I need to do.
Taylor Talks Vegan 