Happy Monday! Grab your coffee, tea, or wine and let’s get started! This week, we get to talk about one of my favourite things. As someone who works, studies, co-runs a blog, has many goals to achieve, and has a very active social life, I am almost always busy. This busyness is why being organized is the best way to make sure things are completed. When it comes to organization, I have to decide on my priorities; these can come from many variables. I wouldn’t consider myself a workaholic, but work and studies are the number one thing on my schedule. I schedule my life around my work. To create a good routine, I look at my priorities, needs, and goals.

That is how I came up with this schedule. Monday to Friday, I have a rigorous schedule. I do accomplish things on weekends; however, I do not schedule them. I like to keep weekends open for my social life, so I make a weekend todo list rather than a schedule. To keep the perfect schedule for me, I follow the following steps.

Step 1: Am I a morning or a night person? I know this can be impossible to decide for some people because they have responsibilities, such as children, careers, and other obligations. I am lucky to ask my boss to schedule me during the time that works best for me. I am a morning person. I start work at 6 am. This means I wake up at 5 am. I quickly get ready because let’s be real, working from home, I only have to be half put together. After, I make a quick smoothie and start work. I work from 6 to 3 pm with two half-hour breaks. The first half-hour break is at 8:00, and at this point, I need my coffee. The second break at 10:30 is my lunch break. Yes, I have lunch at 10:30, but when I have breakfast at 5, I am starving by 10:30. This routine makes my day go by fast with the different mile points.

Step 2: Usually, once I am done work at 3, I have finished my main priorities. I also usually have my needs already taken care of aside from supper. I usually shower in the morning, and I am always drinking water throughout the day. The next thing I prioritize is my goals. I have four main goals in my life: my faith, health, reading, and writing. I am usually super motivated and ready to move after work, so I choose to go to the gym after work. This decision came from a lot of trial and error. It is always a good decision to try different schedules to see which one works best for you. The afternoon workout fits me the best, but you may want to do a morning or evening workout. I would probably do a morning workout if I weren’t starting work at 6 am. I am always hungry after the gym, so I go home and have a 5 pm supper. I usually spend my evening after supper rotating through my goals of reading, writing, and faith but also cleaning and other priorities. I like to keep my evening schedule relatively open because it allows me to do what I desire.

Step 3: This, to me, is always the most important. Change things as needed. Aside from urgent matters, everything else is very adjustable. I still allow myself to change things as long as I understand the level of priority. For example, the gym is essential to me, but if I have a school assignment that is higher up on the priority list, then I will adjust. I will not get mad at myself for not going to the gym, but I will always make an agreement with myself to make sure I am adjusting the right priority. Most of the time, I can adapt the evening schedule, but sometimes this is not possible. My mother always says to me; I am spending more time planning when I can be accomplishing things during that time. I disagree with that. I find myself more productive because I know I have a time crunch and a specific activity to accomplish or do after.

This schedule works fantastic for me, and there are many more details that I could share in it, but I always remember that everyone has their own plan. Most people are not morning people; many people do not have the same priorities as me. It is essential to look at your needs, habits, priorities, and goals to create the best plan for you.

-Caitlin ❤

📷 by Ben Maguire on Unsplash