Whether you have a family yet or not, life always seems to be mega fast-paced. Whilst I’ve always been pretty organised, I still find it amazing that pre-kids I always thought I didn’t have enough time to do everything I wanted to do, yet now I have 3 of the ankle biters, I actually manage to do more (albeit spinning a few plates at times!).
If I know I’ve got a lot of things to do the next day, whether it’s work-related or child/life admin-related, I find that the following habits on a morning really help me hit the ground running.
1. Sort your workspace
Whether your workspace is an office desk, a home desk, or simply the place where you’ll be spending lots of your time that day, I find that having somewhere clean, tidy and inspiring REALLY helps. It’s cheesy, but I definitely subscribe to the mantra “tidy space, tidy mind”, and I find it hard to get focused if where I need to be is cluttered. I also make it appealing, with a couple of nice trinkets, decent candle, and a mint playlist. Job done.
2. Set Priorities
I usually try and set the day’s priorities the night before, as I find my ‘to do’ list floats around my head when I want to go to sleep. BUT, if I can’t do this, then I write them down first thing, so I know what to get cracking on with first. I always start with my non-negotiable’s and things that can’t be moved – i.e. meetings or events. From there, I list three main priorities that I want to get done, and put them at the the top of my list so they are easily visible. Finally, I jot down any other bits and pieces I would like to achieve that day (or week). Always remember that life is unpredictable – I try and allow room for movement and not get too stressed if it all goes a bit pear-shaped. Recently, a teething baby has scuppered some of my evening work plans, and as I write this I have a post-Halloween poorly Freddie in bed, who might not make it into school tomorrow. If I get my top three tasks done at the beginning of the day, anything else is a welcome bonus!
3. Make time for your crew
Texts, social media, What’s App…all great but can be really distracting throughout the day. If I can, I try and drop people close to me a line and catch up on chats at the start of the day whilst I’m having a coffee or feeding the baby, otherwise it will be playing on my mind later on. If I’ve done this, I really feel ahead of myself.
4. Werk, Werk, Werk emails
These can feel never-ending! I try and clear the important emails at the beginning of the day within 10 minutes (I often set a timer!), and then schedule some time to go back to non-urgent ones later.
Do you have any tips/advice for starting your day productively? If so, let me know in the comments below and I’ll quote you and add them to this blog post.
Find some of my other Life Organisation posts here.
