Back to School Means Back to the Scheduling Juggling Act!!

Just finished my first week back to school!  Back to school for me means some MAJOR schedule changes!  Gone are the unstructured days of summer!  Hello back to back to back commitments! 

I find it easy to get overwhelmed with all I have going on.  In addition to teaching, and my side business, I tutor, ride my horse 4 days a week, work at his barn on Saturdays, work horse shows a weekend or so a month and still manage to fit it time with my hubby, dogs, family, and friends!  It's a juggling act for sure, but I wouldn't have it any other way.  I feel so lucky to be able to do so many things I love so much! <3 

One thing that has really helped balance my schedule is Time Blocking.  If you aren't familiar with the concept of Time Blocking, it is just what it sounds like!  Blocking out a specific chunk of time for a specific task or activity.  Research says that Time Blocking can increase your productivity by 150%!!! 

The first thing you need to do is make a list of EVERYTHING you need to accomplish on your average day.  Include everything that takes up your time. I use the Facebook Tracker Marina Simone created for her Moms & Heels Slay Online Sales free training group to know what I need to do for my business each day.  Send me a message if you'd like it! 

Don't forget to include things like responding to emails and messages.  Those tend to take up more time than we think.  Be sure to note if any of these activities need to be done weekly rather than daily.

Next, for each day of the week, create a daily calendar.  The blocks of time you have to work with are completely based on your individual needs. Some people work in blocks of 15 minutes other 30 or 60 minutes.  They don't all have to be the same.  Maybe you have a 15 minute block in the morning before the kiddos get up and a 2 hour block in the afternoon while the baby naps. It's all about what works for you.  If you are working your business full time, you will of course have more blocks to fill than someone who is working a full time job as well.

Drop in an activity you need to complete for each available time block.  I recommend mapping out your week on Sundays.  That way you have a plan for the entire week. This makes it is easier to stay on track.  I also suggest setting a timer.  There is something about knowing that you have an exact amount of time to get something done that helps keep me focused!

I am going to be testing out system a friend created to help with Time Blocking soon.  I will keep you posted on how it goes.  September is historically my craziest month of the year so I am in full Time Blocking mode.  My "Blogging Timer" is about to go off so it's time to wrap this up!  I will post a picture of my outlined week later to give you an idea of what I mean. 

Have a great week and let me know if you try this!!

Erin :)