Motivation Monday: Tips on How to Handle a Busy Schedule

Some of you may know this already, but aside from running this blog and working part-time for MAC, I'm also a full-time student who's currently doing an internship. Recently, I've also decided to focus on my weight-loss and workouts, so to say that my life is a constant mad dash would still be an understatement. It's a tough balancing act, but I'm managing to handle all of it because of some careful planning, organizing and time-management. 

I decided to write a post of tips on how I'm balancing everything and how I manage my time so that  still have time to have a semblance of a social life and can spend time with my family.

Here a few things that I've utilized to stay on top of everything: 

• Your Planner is Your Lifeline - Pick out a planner that works for you and will help you get your tasks, projects and to-dos in order. I use the Day Designer A5 Planner (review to come) and it is everything to me. I like writing down everything I need to do in my planner and also figure out my daily schedule. It really keeps me organized and reminds me of of what my priorities are. Once you have your planner picked out, make sure to use it and make it your everyday guide. It's not just a planner, it's your lifeline - your guiding light! 
• Set Weekly Goals - Every Monday morning I do a Monday Brain Dump. I list every single thing I want to accomplish that week in my Monday To-Do List section. From that list, I pick out key to dos (around 5)  that will be part of my weekly goals. Those designated weekly goals will be the bare minimum of what I need to accomplish for that week to make me feel that the week has been productive. The rest of the to-do list that did not make it on the weekly goals are secondary goals and I tend to do them when I suddenly find a down-time or I finish a task sooner than expected and suddenly have a free time. 
• Prioritize Your Task List Everyday - There's a never ending cycle of tasks that I need to complete everyday. To make sure that I stay on top of it, I follow the Day Designer's Daily Top 3 which is a list of the top three things you want to accomplish that day. I usually assign at least one of my selected weekly goals on a certain day as my primary to-do. I sometimes add my secondary goals as well. But the first thing I try to accomplish everyday when my day is starting is my Weekly Goal that's been assigned as my primary daily task. Obviously, if you're working with due dates and projects with deadlines, the way you prioritize your tasks might be different. The key is to figure out a system that works for you! 
• Block Out Times for Each Task - When I assign my to dos, the daily scheduler part of my planner is where I block out certain parts of my schedule and dedicate it to specific tasks. I go by one simple rule: if a task is not blocked out, or scheduled, it does not get done. I try my best to give myself enough time to do each task. For me it is better to overestimate a little bit, than to underestimate your time limit because you run into the possibility of being behind schedule. At least if you finish the task earlier, you have extra time to get your other minor to-dos done. Also, I lump smaller and shorter tasks into a big to-do when blocking them out on my scheduler. 
• Set Your Phone on Airplane Mode When Doing Your Tasks/ Studying - This is probably a no-brainer but something that most of us don't really do. It is very important to do this though, because it is so easy to get distracted by notifications and go down into the browsing wormhole. I know that the  FOMO  is real, but seriously, you will most likely not miss anything that important! Most notifications can wait a few hours! What I do to help prevent this, is to set phone check times, like for 5 minutes every hour of productive work or something like that. I also tend to tell a few people that I'm working on something and may not respond right away. Most people will understand this and they are also quite busy living their life, so you'll be fine. A little unplugging will help boost your productivity! 
• Schedule Your Workouts in the Morning - I schedule my workouts at 6AM every morning. That's the time of the day where most people are still asleep and nothing really needs to be/ gets scheduled that early in the morning. By doing that, I'm making sure to make time for working out and I don't have any valid excuse to really skip it. 
• Prep Your Breakfast and/or Lunches - I like making at least 3-4 batches of my overnight oats on Sunday evenings. It's very easy and takes me about 10-15 minutes and it's pretty much my on the go breakfast. On Monday night I usually cook and try to do my meal prep 3-4 lunches as well. It usually takes me around 1-2 hours. That's also when I tend to watch my weekly shows so I'm maximizing my time. 
• Prep Your Stuff the Night Before - It's very important to pack your stuff the night before. I usually get my workout clothes ready and place them by my bed so I can just change in them quickly in the morning. If I know that I'm going to have to shower at the gym and head straight to work/school, I know to pack a duffel bag with my change of clothes and bare minimum toiletries, maybe some makeup. 
• Stick to Your Schedule - The most important thing that I've learned the past few months is to make sure to stick to your schedule once you set it. It can be very difficult for you to do that because certain tasks takes longer, or you get stuck in traffic, blah blah blah. Being behind schedule is alright, it happens, but whenever you can, try your best to catch up and stay on schedule. 

And that's it! Those are my most utilized methods that's helping me handle everything on my plate right now! With that said, I leave you that quote above. Hopefully, this post have been helpful to you!