If you’re anything like me, your work life is demanding. I try to keep things organized but I let unexpected emergencies get the best of me and they can quickly occupy my day. I call it ‘busy being unproductive’.   This week’s mantra:   ‘I am not going to allow life to take over’! To stick to this I’ve decided to plan my week around what is important and valued in my life, and taking control. Here’s what I am going to do to keep myself focused and on track.

1. I started by taking time on the weekend to create a schedule for the upcoming week. I made sure my home office was quiet so I could give it my undivided attention and I made a list of everything that was important to me for the upcoming weeks.
2. I rated the list in order of importance and I then plugged all of those tasks, events and activities into my calendar.
3. I put the tasks I am used to procrastinating with for the first part of every day.
4. I schedule times to check email; once in the morning, once around lunch and once before I call it a day.
5. I went through my email account to see if I missed anything from the week before. I added responding to emails and returning phone calls right into my calendar.
6. I made sure to put time in for myself every single day.
7. I booked all my meetings two weeks in advance.
8. I made a commitment to myself that I am only going to meet with people that I absolutely want to meet with. I find I can get lost in meetings pretty quick but not this week. This week is about not letting life take over!
9. I created the same routine for Monday to Friday to hopefully get into the swing of doing this every week.
10. I created a checklist so I can check off everything I accomplish

This is a good start for an unorganized person like me! I feel confident that my week is off to an organized start and I will let you know how it goes. Please share any tips that work for you! And wish me luck!

Until next week!