5 Ways To Fit More Of ‘What Matters’ Into Your Day (Part 3)

September 10, 2019

How can you make all this planning fit into your yearly, monthly and weekly planning? Sit down and “chunk” your schedule, starting at a year, and work down to a week by week scale to relieve overwhelm. I am giddy with excitement to be here chatting with y’all again, my friends.

Today marks the last part of this series and we are going to chat more about scheduling in the form of chunking - how it works and how it can work for you.

We will also create an action plan together to kickstart your days with what matters to YOU, whether it be simplicity, greater intention, more time for a side hustle, passion project or P

 

CHUNKING - is a classroom literacy strategy taught to be used when learning to comprehend texts of length. It is a way to help students identify key ideas, organise and synthesise information. This strategy can also be effective when looking at our yearly, monthly, weekly and daily schedules.

*Chunking* up our schedules, and routines into bite-size pieces, reduce overwhelm, increases productivity and offers opportunities for authentic personal growth in doing the things that matter to us (my heart sings with this one).

Let’s look at an example of what this could look like for you, starting with the yearly schedule & routine and moving slowly through to the daily schedule & routine. Pick up your pen and notepad again… Write down the yearly events, activities, celebrations that you plan to live out in your year ahead. Then flag post your busy months...the months where you know it is going to be a juggle (launch season if you’re a bizMum or the end of year events for the PLAYtime Mummas) and where your systems and spaces need to be working at their best. Start to think of ways you can alleviate the pressure during this time eg. Outsourcing jobs such as meals, social media, household chores for this patch of time. Then, gradually, move into the weeks of each month, thinking about the things you would like to achieve each week around the routine and schedule and how you can make this happen. For you, this might be family traditions, more PLAY in the daily routine, more opportunities for self-care, spending increased time socialising with friends… whatever it may be,  it is the things that matter most to you.

Chunk these tasks down even further and match them up with some goals. Then, allocate each one to specific days and times in your schedule. Remember, days and times where you instinctively know it will work best for you because it fits your life. And before you know it, what began as a yearly mountain of tasks, events and ideas is now broken down into tiny bite-size pieces that offer you a sense of clarity, achievement and purpose. Use this as a guide to get clear about what really matters most to you and a reminder of the direction you are heading…leading a life by design that gives you back time to fit more of what matters to you into your days.

 

 

…so, it wouldn’t be a true celebrateplay guest blog for Padtastic if we didn’t leave you with a short list recapping the actionable steps in this blog to help you take the next step in your PLAY journey, an inspirational quote to help you find your PLAY mojo, a helpful tip that will instantly give you a starting point to add more PLAY along with a simple PLAY challenge to kickstart your first step to sharing your progress.

 

ACTION PLAN

Start with that ONE part of your routine after writing the list of many (home and/or PLAY) that are not working so well. Jot down some possible solutions and bite-size by bite-size, work through the list, making changes along the way in order to create spaces and systems that fit your life. Once you have an established working routine, build on this to see the daily routine fill with more of the things that matter to you eg. play.
Remember writing things down helps to MAKE IT HAPPEN. Write your goal onto a fresh piece of paper from your favourite notepad and stick it to a place where you look every day eg. planner, car, fridge, wardrobe, vision board. This is your daily reminder of where you are going and trying to achieve – stay focused!

 

Create a new daily habit of ‘Set Me Up Nights, where you prepare the resources (toys and activities for the PLAYtime Mummas) needed for the following day.

 

Create spaces and systems that fit your life – determine what spaces and systems can use refining to make your everyday life easier. For the PLAYtime Mummas, this may begin with home organisational systems such as meal planning, laundry schedules, zone cleaning, timed tidy ups and then move into the introduction of a Toy Rotation, a visual timetable, meal prep distractions and/ or packing away routines. Remember to try things that you know instinctively will work for you and try one thing at a time. Small steps are key.

 

Chunk up your yearly events, activities, celebrations into bite-size pieces that fit nicely into your monthly, weekly and daily schedule.

• TIP - You know those conversations your little ones have during PLAY, and the questions and comments they make about their likes and dislikes, friends and interests...jot them down on paper…any piece of paper you have handy. Not only will they guide your PLAY ideas and give you inspiration; they also make for great keepsakes.

 

• CHALLENGE – I challenge you to batch collect some play resources this week and see if it makes a difference to your daily/weekly routine.

 

 

 Missed Part 1 and Part 2 of 5 Ways To Fit More Of ‘What Matters’ Into Your Day? Catch up on our blog.

Remember to leave us a comment about how you implement organisation in your home life already, or if you will try our tips and action plan!

 

 

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