Habits, habits, habits. These are what keep us focused and on track. These past few weeks have been an overwhelming whirlwind for me. Time has flown by and I was feeling like I wasn’t keeping up and in many ways I wasn’t. Tasks to be done were coming at me from all angles and I was bobbing and weaving because I didn’t have time or the inclination to figure out what needed to get done first.
As I’ve mentioned before, I have become aware that I am a terrible time manager. I have also learned that I get paralyzed when I feel overwhelmed. I get a lot done basically but nothing done well or completely. I can’t seem to keep up with anything and always feel behind. If you read this blog, then you know that I haven’t blogged at all for the past two weeks. I’ve thought about it a lot but could not manage to either find the time or decide what I wanted to write about.
I have also had a busy personal life with events to attend, an Oscar party to host and just living life in general.
While I realize it’s already the middle of the month, I decided to go ahead and list the result of my February goals and talk about my March plans. The reason I’m doing this in spite of the lateness of the month is to keep me honest. I am aware that changing habits is a process so I can’t and shouldn’t expect perfection. It’s also unrealistic to expect that there will never be struggles. Perfection is not the goal. The goal is know how to recover when the struggles come and throw you off your game.
I was at a planner conference last weekend (recap to come soon) and one of the speakers talked about productivity and how to improve it. One suggestion was to not just write down the big goal but also break that big/medium-sized goal into smaller steps. While this may look overwhelming because there are a lot of steps, if the steps are small enough I’ll be able to consistently check things off and feel a sense of accomplishment.
Another method I will try is a type of “batch” processing. This is a newer concept for me so it will be pretty trial and error. Batch processing tasks involves scheduling the handling of a task on a certain, day or time. For example, in relation to blogging it means doing all of the photography on one day and doing all of the editing on another day and writing various posts on another day. Doing things this way means that instead of waiting to take photos and then editing the photos and then write the post, I can have the photos ready and then choose which post they match with. The other beauty in this method is that the task can be regularly scheduled at a time that works for me and I won’t then have to find time to plan all of the other tasks involved in producing a blog post.
Certainly, there is still overall planning to be done and there may be times that those plans change. However, this is also a method that helps you not just stay on track but also get back on track when necessary.
GOAL TIME: February Results
The habits that I was tracking in February were to have a clear kitchen sink each work night, get in bed by 11:30 each work night, and do a 30 minute tidy 4 nights per week. So, how’d I do?
KITCHEN SINK: I’ve been working on this habit for a while now and it’s becoming a regular habit. I find myself no matter how tired I am when it’s bed time that I am automatically walking into the kitchen and putting dishes in the dishwasher, washing dishes that don’t go in the dishwasher and wiping down the counters. SUCCESS!
11:30 BED TIME: Have I told you what a night owl I am? If not, then please know that getting in bed before midnight no matter what my next day looks like is not normal for me. Getting into bed by 11:30 takes a very conscious effort for me and I am doing pretty o.k. I had 3 nights in February where I gave in to my night owl impulses and stayed up way too late! The weekend nights don’t count or the Sunday when I don’t work on Mondays (I’m off every other Monday). PARTIAL SUCCESS
30 MINUTE TIDY (4 NIGHTS PER WEEK): COMPLETE AND TOTAL FAILURE! However, I think that I have to be more about what I mean with this goal. It’s certainly not like I didn’t clean or tidy at all. See March goals for how I’ll be more clear with this one.
GOAL TIME: MARCH PLAN
KITCHEN SINK: I’m going to continue tracking this one but likely for this final month. As I said, this is really becoming a habit for me in that I don’t have to remind myself to do it. it’s becoming natural-it’s just what I do.
11:30 BED TIME: I’m also going to continue tracking this one specifically because in April I have some plans to work on getting up earlier and going to bed on time will play a big role in whether or not I’m successful. Again, it’s only for work nights.
30 MINUTE TIDY: What I really want to do with this goal is to work on the areas of my home that I am de-cluttering. I have some extra motivation as well because in mid-April I am hosting a garage sale with a friend and I’d like to have as much stuff to sell (and out of my house) as possible. Again, the goal will be 4 times per week.
Even though the beginning of the month is a natural time to start goals, any day or time will work. Late or not, how did you do with your February goals and what are your March goals?
How do you stay productive? Do you do something like batch working or some other method? Let me know. I need suggestions and guidance!
