Time… it’s what everyone complains about, uses as an excuse, gets frustrated when there’s not enough, and gets anxious about. But what if we turned all of that negativity into positivity and possibility? It’s so easy to be a victim of time. The biggest stealer and culprit of stealing time is our phones. So let’s put them down for a sec and take a look at our days, filling them with productivity, real/present quality time with the people we love, and some relaxation. Time is the one thing everyone wants to find.
Andrea–
Personally as a mom to 3 and a partner to Justin, we have a lot of moving parts. We could not function without a shared calendar and grocery list. We use our google calendar and an app called Cozi that’s life changing. We also have a big, visual dry erase calendar to remember events or appointments for the week and it includes a list on the side for meals for the week. When you’re evaluating and rearranging your day, something always has to give. There are only 24 hours in the day and how you break them down and schedule or spend your time is so important.
How I run my Monday-Friday is basically 5am-7am is me time, 7-9am is getting my family fed, ready, and out the door, health coaching hours, and then being as present as possible with my kiddos from when they’re home to when they’re asleep and hitting the hay. I aim to get up before my kiddos 6 days/week and pick a weekend day to wake up when they do. The weekends are usually pretty social or spent traveling to visit family or for fun. But I always have a priority list to stay ahead of that overwhelming feeling of getting behind.
When it comes to to-dos, I am a list maker and I think there’s a difference in having a long running list that’s hard to follow and having a prioritization list and putting that into your calendar.
Brooke–
I used to think I was efficient at maximizing my time. It wasn’t until I heard Brooke Castillo’s episode on her podcast “The Life Coach School” on what she refers to as the ‘brain dump’ (or brain download), that I learned writing a million to-do lists a day is not the answer. The ‘brain dump’ is a simple hack that involves finding the items on your to-do list a home. It looks like creating a list of EVERYTHING you want to get done that week (and I mean everything), and one by one scheduling it into your calendar, finding the exact day and hour you plan on getting it done.
Once you’ve scheduled everything on your to-do list into your calendar, you throw the original to-do list away. The idea is to get it out of your head and into your calendar. As more things come up throughout the week that you need to get done, immediately schedule them into your calendar. If something unexpected happens and you don’t get something done when you initially scheduled it for, which will happen because – life, know that it is okay and you can still reap the benefits.. When this happens, simply reschedule it into your calendar for a new time. The more you have to reschedule things, the more frustrated you’ll get. You’ll wish you would have just completed it in the first place, causing you to start keeping the promises you make to yourself.
For me, the ‘brain dump’ has been especially beneficial during quarantine – living alone and having no one to keep me accountable, but myself. I have found that it keeps me productive, motivated and confident because I’m doing what I said I would do. I’ve also noticed that it allows me to be fully present and relaxed because I know that what I need to get done, will get done, because I already have it scheduled into my calendar. In addition to the ‘brain dump’, another thing that has helped me during this crazy Covid time, is Mel Robbins’ 5 second rule. Her rule allows me to follow through on what I say I’m going to do and mitigate the inner dialogue in my head of excuses why I shouldn’t do what I need to do. Mel Robbins says, “If you have an instinct to act on a goal, you must physically move within 5 seconds or your brain will kill it”. She explains, “because of the way your brain is wired, when your thoughts and feelings are at war and when there is a discourse between what you know you should be doing and what you feel like doing, your feelings are always going to win. If you don’t feel like doing it, you won’t do it– that’s why you need the 5 Second Rule”. The 5 second rule is exactly what it sounds like – count down from 5 (5,4,3,2,1) and when you get to 1, you blast off like a rocket ship and take action. The biggest thing this has helped me with is getting out of bed!
Andrea – I am so excited to talk about maximizing time because 2020 has been the year of maximizing time for me. I think the world tells us that you are either a night owl or a morning person. My mom has always been a night owl and because I lived with her, I adapted and identified with her habits until this year. My whole life I thought it would be impossible to be a morning person. I’ve never enjoyed getting out of bed, I took on the night shifts with my babies, and I even used language around my kiddos that put me in that “grumpy morning person” box. I am here to tell you that 2020 taught me something completely different.
I set two goals for 2020- make a serious effort to get up before my kiddos and read a book a week. Those are two very hard goals when you have small children, love nighttime, and are an extreme extrovert. If you think about it, when is the only time you have yourself all to yourself? If you own the morning, which means minimal or no cell phone use, you are starting the day off all about you. Nobody asking anything of you, no social media opinions on what you should be doing/wearing/buying, no emails to answer yet, no meals to cook, no social events- it’s wild. I literally spent the first two months of 2020 learning about myself, my desires, my aspirations, centering in my faith, and reading as much as possible from any self-growth book I could find. Some of us have been told or convinced ourselves that thinking about ourselves or taking time for ourselves is selfish. I learned by taking this time for myself that I can GIVE SO MUCH MORE to others if I give to myself first. I can pay more attention to others, feel confident in my conversations because I am centered in my values, I feel more confident about my physical/endurance goals because my exercise routine is on fire, I have my priorities laid out so my time is way more efficient for the rest of the day.
Getting serious about my goals and finding that time was a process. I started with my heavy hitters-sleep and work. I know that I work 30 hours/week at my full-time job, and I know that 7-8 hours of sleep a night was my aim so that I could be a high-functioning member of my family. That means that my normal midnight bedtime had to move to 9-10pm if I wanted to be up at 5am. Which also means, put my kiddos to bed and get right into my bedtime routine and asleep as fast as possible.
I don’t even know if I can express in words how good it feels to be in charge of my day. After fitting in a workout, some time for reflection, centering in my faith, having my breakfast and HOT coffee, and reading I am ready to take on the rest. It’s like I’ve filled the car up with gas, it’s running, it’s clean, my seatbelt is on, and the heat seaters are fired up- ready to drive! Instead of running on empty in a trashed car, with crumbs everywhere, the seat belt isn’t working, and I’m missing keys. Instead, I have clear direction and don’t have to stop for gas. It’s the BEST feeling to feel ahead of the day, ahead of the game, ready for the day and any curve balls that may come your way.
With gratitude,
Andrea & Brooke
Ivy Unleashed
Behind-the-Scenes Video
3 Gold Stars
1. Determine your prioritization system – calendar/phone/paper
2. Pick out a day of the week to regularly carve out 30 min for prioritization
3. Put devices away 30 min before established bedtime and incorporate something relaxing (bath, shower, journal, read, etc.)
Ivy Reflections
- When you have felt in control of your schedule in the past, what organization system was in place?
- What is the best time of day to fit in 30 minutes for yourself to relax or do something you enjoy?
- What is something you want to be a part of your day but haven’t created time for?
Piece of Gold
Push yourself to consistently be your very best, and you will grow a sense of pride of self-respect that redefines who you think you are and what you think you’re capable of.
Dave Hollis
Resources
- Cozi App – Family Organizer
- Hobby Lobby Organization Board – https://www.hobbylobby.com/Crafts-Hobbies/Kids-Crafts-Activities/Classroom-Supplies/White-Dry-Erase-Monthly-Organizer-Board-With-Wood-Frame—23%22-x-35%22/p/110770
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– Gold Ivy Health Co.
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