Recent Newsletters
May 2009 -
How to Organize Your Life
Many of us suffer from super person syndrome. I just spoke about this at a conference in March 2009, for Adultcare Canada in Ottawa.Super person syndrome is something many of us are afflicted with. It involves unrealistic expectations of how much you can do in a day. We set our expectations far too high and think we can accomplish 16 things in one day. At the end of the day we realize we didn't get through out lists and we have negative feelings towards ourselves. Some people mentally just feel upset and overwhelmed. Others turn to comfort themselves with unnecessary shopping, eating comfort food or worse. The reason we don't finish is usually because it is humanly impossible to finish everything we set out to accomplish in the waking hours of a day. So be realistic when making your commitments to what you can actually accomplish.
We all have busy lives. For some it involves work, keeping our house in order and household chores, and family. For some it's parents, for others it's both parent and children, friends, and carpooling kids to events. The list can go on and on. Before we know it we feel frustrated or perhaps overwhelmed. You need to organize your life. Here are some simple steps to follow when organizing your life.
Step1 - Analyze Your Responsibilities
Begin by writing down what are the things in your life that you must do the necessary responsibilities. For example, laundry, grocery shopping etc. Then make a list of the extra activities you are currently involved in, such as parent groups at school or volunteering for a project at work. The extra activities or responsibilities are great and important, but if your life leaves you feeling overwhelmed it is time to look at your list and ask yourself, "What can I give up without feeling deprived?" If you can then let go of a few of the extra responsibilities for now, you can take them up when you have more time later.
Step 2 - Create Time Blocks
Next create your time blocks. A time block is a block of time that you commit and block off to do something just as you would a meeting at work or a dentist appointment. Look at your list of necessary responsibilities and begin to block off your time on a daily and weekly basis. Once you have all of these times blocked off look at your schedule, it is probably quite busy. Having a visual helps keep us from taking on more than we can handle and you have just created your own schedule using the time block method!
Do you see any free time in your schedule? This is time that you can use to nurture yourself, keep up with friends, and devote to your relationships.
Check out more Life Organizing Tips >>