Calendar Causing Overhwhelm and Busy

Calendar Causing Overhwhelm and Busy

by | Planning-Organization-Productivity

This post comes on the heels of the series on Be Less Busy. Why does your calendar cause you to be overwhelmed and busy? What if I asked you to consider that, it’s the thoughts you have about your calendar. Let’s take a step back and peel back your thoughts.

Calendar

When your calendar is causing you to be overwhelmed and busy, are you using it the right way for you? You must be wondering what I mean. 

Do you know if you’re a person that requires white space in your calendar, or do you think it is better when you schedule your day with color-coding?

The trick is to figure out when your calendar triggers your brain. Test it out and pay attention to how you’re feeling. I have clients that want to have every minute of the day planned, and I have others that need to see that they have space. 

Here’s the big secret it will be different for each of us. 

Plan for enough time

Nothing will get thoughts of overwhelm going faster than getting behind schedule. Or maybe that’s just me? 

Are you doing something new? Despite what you think,  things take longer than you think to get done. Until you have a good measure of the amount of time it will take to complete, make sure you double what you think it will take.

Scheduling too much

Do you overschedule? Scheduling too much on your calendar is a ticket to thoughts of busyness and overwhelm. 

For example, you are booking back-to-back meetings for hours without time in between. Another example is double booking your time on your calendar. Because that never ends well, stop people-pleasing. Be respectful of others and their time. 

Calendar Causing Overwhelm and Busy?

Plan for Fires

Undoubtedly not planning for fires; you know they will happen. Create space in your calendar to allow your actions to shift. 

Planning for fires is something that I do with my clients, here is how it works. On your calendar, you have blocks of time set aside for fires. 

Stay with me here; the fires will not magically happen at these time blocks. When you have fire blocks, you’re able to shift items around on your calendar where they would have gotten skipped over in the past. 

Here is an example for further clarification. At 9 am, you’ve blocked time to work on a proposal for a client. Suddenly, at 9:15 am, you have an urgent employee issue that requires your immediate attention. 

Shift the proposal to your fire block that you have in your calendar. I recommend my clients have two one-hour fire blocks in the morning and the afternoon. 

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Little Side Note

Here is an older article, and it is still great information!

​Other suggestions when your Calendar Causing Overwhelm & Busy

Use the Pomodoro Method; work for 25 minutes on and 5 minutes off. It will increase your time management and efficiency. Here is an article to read about it.

Your calendar may be causing overwhelm and busyness because you’ve not planned for self-care. What I tell my clients is self-care is not all able bubble baths. It is about exercise, eating healthy, mindfulness. It is the activities that renew you.

Creating a dream day is an activity I have my clients do when they are working towards a big goal or vision. What is your dream day or week? If you have a Google calendar you can set up a calendar for your dream week that you can turn on and off. It will let you compare your current schedule to your dream schedule.

I know you’re ready right now to get out of the thoughts of overwhelm. I can help you. The link to apply for private coaching is below.

Private Coaching

Why do I believe in the power of private coaching?

Because it is truly life-changing. When your coach asks you that mind-blowing question that suddenly allows you to see what you've been missing all along that was literally right in front of your face.

You just need someone with a different perspective to help you see it.

Are you ready to experience life from a different perspective?

Spots Limited Apply Today!
Find Balance Digital Download
Say Bye-Bye Stress and Busyness when you create routines

Say Bye-Bye Stress and Busyness when you create routines

by | Planning-Organization-Productivity

Stop. Are you running around feeling stressed and busy all the time? After all, we love to add more and more to our day. Have you ever paused to pay attention to the actions that you do routinely? Do you find yourself doing the same steps in your day? Such as getting ready in the morning to what you do before you go to bed and everything in between. How do you clean your house? Also, my personal favorite is a meal planning routine. These are perfect areas to create mindful routines. If you’re thinking, heck no, Michele, I’m a hot mess, it’s time to consider adding a few mindful routines to your life.

Why I love to create routines

As a matter of fact, what I love about creating mindful routines is it cuts down on the number of decisions you need to make. You’ve invested the time upfront in creating the routine. All you have to do is repeat all the steps, so you’ve already done the planning and deciding ahead of time. I don’t know about you; it makes me happy to cut back on decisions.

You see, when you sit down to create a routine for cleaning, meals, any weekly or daily repeatable activities, you are no longer required to make decisions around this. Instead, you kind of go into auto-pilot. 

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Daily Routines

It’s funny; my morning routine was pretty extensive. In the past, it made me stressed and overwhelmed. You guessed it; I based it on what others said they did in the morning instead of tapping into what felt good to me. 

After that, here are the things in my morning routine that do not change from day to day: time with the LORD and drinking a quart of water when I awake. I get ready for the day, a quick walk outside with the dogs, which I refer to as my daily commute to the office. Once in my office, with my first cup of coffee, I spend time journaling. This simple routine allows me to feel centered. 

Of course, this works for me. You do you, create a routine that allows you to feel at ease and centered. 

Just in case you’re wondering, when do you exercise if I do not exercise in the morning? The answer? In the afternoon, specifically at 3 pm each workday. When I worked in corporate, I did this during my lunch break. As a work-from-home entrepreneur, I’ve played around with this time, and 3 pm is my magic time. You see, this is when my mind begins to lose focus, and I get antsy. Oh, and so do the dogs! You may have seen my Reel on Saylor if you follow me on Instagram. She knows it's time for a walk. What do you think your magic time is to exercise? 

Let’s look at a typical evening routine if we are at home and not sitting in a bleacher.  Accordingly, I’ve created a habit of setting myself up for a morning that feels at ease. 

The coffee maker is ready to go, my first-quart jar of water is sitting on the counter to grab along with my iPad, I’ve filled the dogs’ food dishes before I head off to bed, a quick mind sweep of all the random thoughts and to-dos in my mind. 

I think you’ll agree with me that a morning that feels at ease sets the tone for the day. Do I have you wondering how you can create an evening routine that provides for a stress-free morning? 

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Say Bye-Bye Stress and Busyness when you create routines

Create A Sunday Routine

Sunday is a big routine day for me. This routine is when I set myself up for the whole week. To be honest, if I do not get this, my Monday doesn’t go very smoothly until I get organized. Of course, if I know my Sunday will be chaos, I’ll map out at least Monday, if not the whole week on Friday afternoon. 

Here is how I lay out my Sunday routine. 

Clean all the bathrooms.

Clean the kitchen.

Plan the meals for the week, and the grocery order is put in for my son to pick up on his way home from classes at the community college. 

I write out the week's schedule and meals on the kitchen chalkboard. You may agree with me; I do not have enough decision-making power for this dreaded question after making decisions all day. Mom, what’s for dinner? 

Review the work week and create a schedule and a list of to-do items. 

These routines create space in my mind, I know when it will get done, and I do not have to decide or think about it. 

Yes, preparing for the week ahead is what I consider Sunday Funday. 

After all, having an organized and clean home allows me to feel calm and at ease in my mind.

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Little Side Note

A routine can be a simple checklist with a few notes on ideas to make it go smoother. 

How about a laundry routine?

Let’s discuss creating a laundry routine. Without a system, this may cause the feeling of busyness. This laundry system works for me; it may not work for you. Create a strategy and routine that meets your needs.

My laundry routine:

Tuesday is for washing my clothes. Because I’m a work-for-home entrepreneur, this day works for me. Since I use the Pomodoro Method, I can fold and put things away during my five-minute breaks. I race to see how much I can get done in my five minutes.

Thursday is for washing towels.

Sunday is for washing bedding.

Everyone else in this household washes their laundry.

My husband always has washed his laundry.

Once our children were in fourth grade, I showed them wash laundry. My oldest daughter documented the process for washing laundry with photos the first time she washed her laundry. If you’re wondering, when my kids were younger, I traveled for work 50-75% of the time. When you’re only home two days a week, you figure out how to get things done. Basically, my husband was a single parent, and I looked for ways to make his life more manageable when I was gone.

I know that you’re ready right now to ditch your crappy thoughts of overwhelm and busyness. I can 100% help you! The link to apply for private coaching is below.

​

Private Coaching

Why do I believe in the power of private coaching?

Because it is truly life-changing. When your coach asks you that mind-blowing question that suddenly allows you to see what you've been missing all along that was literally right in front of your face.

You just need someone with a different perspective to help you see it.

Are you ready to experience life from a different perspective?

Spots Limited Apply Today!
Find Balance Digital Download
Do you know what is important to you?

Do you know what is important to you?

by | Planning-Organization-Productivity

Do you know what makes you happy? If asked would you be able to list off all the things that make you feel peaceful and at ease? Do you know what is important to you? What most people don’t realize is that defining your priorities is a key to the thought of being less busy.

Do you know what makes you happy? 

While we think that happiness can only be achieved when we have reached a goal or we have (insert the big shiny object you’re longing for). When really we only need to stay in the present moment and begin to figure out what brings us happiness. 

I finally understood that happiness is found every day when I look for it. 

In a similar fashion to when you purchase a new vehicle and start to see that vehicle everywhere you look. It’s because it’s now in your consciousness. Our minds begin to pay attention and we will see that vehicle everywhere we turn. 

Here’s the secret, if you want to feel happier in your life. Start to pay attention to the little moments of happiness that you have throughout your day. 

Here are a few examples for me, it’s the vivid colors of the sunrise and sunset. Starting my day quietly read scripture to hear God speak to me. The very first sip of coffee in the morning, feeling the warm mug in my hands and that yummy coffee smell. The look of excitement on my clients’ faces when they have a breakthrough. Case in point, even bringing those thoughts into my mind brings a smile to my face. 

Do you know what is important to you? 

Have you investigated your thoughts on what you consider to be your priorities? What do you feel in your heart of hearts is important to you? When my clients do know the answer to what is important and a priority to them, I encourage them to spend time in their journals. 

Here is the journaling prompt for you: If I did know what is important to me what would they be?

You hold the key to stop being so busy.

You guessed it, that comes down to defining your priorities. What do you truly want to give your time to?

Why is defining your priorities a key to feeling less busy? If you know where your true priorities are and you say yes to those over areas you consider to have a lower priority you’ll be consciously spending time in areas that fill you with joy. 

Let me ask, can you remember a time when you felt totally at ease? Can you remember a specific time? As you go back to that time now, go right back to that time, float down into your body and see what you saw, hear what you heard, and really feel the feelings of feeling totally at ease? 

What were you doing? Is this important to you? If it’s not, why? You see my point right? If you felt totally at ease why are you consciously not spending time here? 

Important To You

Busy Badge

Do you love your busy badge so much? What thoughts do you have around being busy? Lastly, does it build you up in some way?

Be that as it may, do you wonder what it would be like to not feel busy all the time?

Do a mind sweep on what is important to you. What are your priorities? Then put them in order.

You want to fill your time with what fills you up.

Are your top priorities causing busyness and stress?

Let me ask, what are your thoughts on that priority? Why is that? The solution is simple, figure out how you can shift your thinking to be in alignment with the priority.

It all boils down to this our perception is our reality, and we can change that if we choose.

Here is an article on well+good as an additional resource. 

Most important, life is all about how we perceive it. Here's what I mean we perceive life based on our experiences.

Some are good, like do not touch a hot stove. On the other hand, we hold on to thoughts that keep us stuck in the mindset of busyness and overwhelm.

It starts in our thoughts, with the willingness to see things differently. You guessed it to get out of our own heads and be willing to step outside our comfort zone.

I know you’re ready to throw away your busy badge and begin to see your life from a new perspective. Is this something you’d like for your life? Below is the link to my private coaching application.

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Little Side Note

Above all be kind to yourself. All good things start with self-compassion and self-love.

✁ Just a Snippet 

Here is just a snippet of the important points, you know for the skimmer in you. 🤪

  • Defining your priorities I feel is a key to the thought of less busy.
  • Do you know what makes you happy?
  • Have you investigated your thoughts on what you consider to be your priorities?
  • You hold the key to stop being so busy. That comes down to defining your priorities. What do you truly want gets your time. 
  • Journal on this, if you did know your priorities what would they be?
  • Why is defining your priorities a key to feeling less busy? If you know what truly is important to you and you say yes to those over areas you consider to have a lower priority you’ll be consciously spending time in areas that fill you with joy.
  • Above all be kind to yourself. All good things start with self-compassion and self-love. 
  • Did you miss last week? Here is the link.