Organize my time – Structure my life – Implement daily routines

As a blogger, I am like every self-employed, my own boss and have to take care of my time management. So by the beginning of 2018, I read a bunch of ‚How to organize yourself‘ & ‚How to be more productive’ guides. They all agree on one essential thing: create a schedule. Hmmmpf. My first reaction. I always wanted to live spontaneously. I wanted to be my own person and do my own thing. Besides, keeping a routine is hard work. But if smart scheduling helps I will give it a try.

“Either you run the day or the day runs you.” - Jim Rohn

So here I am blocking time for regular meals, emails, and my deep conditioning sessions. I mean, I worked with calendars before but not as detailed as this one, planning every 30min of my life. Lo and behold: when I was done my head felt 5kg lighter. The awesome thing about this calendar is, it covers all of my To Do`s not just work related stuff.

This is how the calendar works:

1. SET YOUR MONTHLY GOALS:
First of all, go into brainstorm mode and make a list of your monthly goals. Write down everything you want to accomplish, long-term and short-term. Then structure these goals into sections and assign a color to every section.

My sections are:
a) Julia Dalia
b) Paper Work
c) Life
d) Home

2. ASSIGN TASKS & TIME:
Break your goals into specific tasks and assign the time needed. E.g: Let’s say your monthly goal is „Sell Clothes on United Wardrobe“ then one task is „Take pictures of clothes to sell on United Wardrobe“ which will take „1hrs“. This list will give you an overview of how much time you actually spent on certain things. Also, schedule to schedule: at the end of each week/month take some time to plan the following week/month.

3. CREATE YOUR CALENDAR: 
Put your tasks as time blocks into your calendar. Plan honestly, you know yourself. For example, I am not a morning person. That’s why my schedule starts at 08:30 and I grant myself a generous amount of time in the morning. The start of the day is essential: don’t check your social media accounts right after waking up, but implement a healthy routine that will help you stay focused and grateful throughout the day. Even on the tough ones. I dedicate the morning to reading the Bible, some quiet time and then I hit my knees and say a prayer.
Also very important: EAT THE FROG. It means tackling the most difficult tasks at first. It provides a much better workflow. If you don’t know how many tasks will fit into one day at first, just estimate. And if you don’t achieve everything don’t worry, just reschedule at the end of the day. Slowly but surely you’ll get a feeling. Also, consider the best times for certain tasks. For example, I love to write in the evening or on the plane. So I have that in mind when I create my calendar. Keep your daily to-do list manageable and not overwhelming. And when you’re done give yourself a pat on the back and call it a day. Scheduling should make you feel good.

To be honest I am also sharing this with you to stay motivated. Using the calendar for 2 weeks increased my productivity and I got so much more stuff done each week. To structure my life also limits my procrastination problem, I know exactly what I want to get done and when – which makes it more likely that I’ll do it. Establishing a positive daily routine is a liberating self-investment. NOW I know I got a lot to do but I also know I can be on top of my game. Do you want to become more structured than you already are? 😉  I created an exemplary template for you. Download it here:  Daily Planner Template

I hope this helps you to reach your goals. If you like this post feel free to leave a comment! 🙂
xx
Juli

My Look:
Blazer: Hippy Happy by Anju Rani | Body Blouse: Esprit x OC | Pantsuit: Esprit x OC | Shoes: Converse | Ring (left): Maria Black | Ring (right): Maria Black & Yuka by Guliz