Sharing my favorite 3 tips for organizing your life to reduce stress, avoid overwhelm and make the most of your days.
*This post is part of our new series – “Simply Home Series”. Read more about that below!
The occasional comment will come in from a reader wondering how I do it all? I’m assuming they mean, how do I run a blog business, a planner business, build a home and be a sane mother for my 4 children?
My initial response is – a whole lot of prayer!
And yes, that is absolutely key for me in finding balance, joy, and success in each and every day – but I do have 3 other tricks up my sleeve that also aid me in all my life endeavors.
My hope in sharing them today is that you’ll come away with some tools and resources that can also help you manage and organize your day-to-day life to set yourself up for success and balance.
The key to it all – is planning.
It’s no secret that I am obsessed with planning, and I took that to a whole new level this year as I created the TIDBITS Day Planner. I so ached for my dream day planner, but could never find it.
WATCH THIS POST
For a more personal experience with me, watch this post! Hope you enjoy it!
So I did what every mother ends up doing, and that is adopting the philosophy . . . “If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself”.
I designed the TIDBITS Day Planner to be the perfect tool to help you manage your life, simply, but also to look incredibly beautiful and timeless in your home.
I love it so much (obviously) but these 3 tips will help you organize your days, no matter how you plan or what tools you use. If you are interested in learning more about TIDBITS Planners, go here.
3 TIPS FOR ORGANIZING YOUR DAYS
TIP 1: PLAN YOUR DAY THE NIGHT BEFORE
Want to hit the ground running each day? Plan the night before!
I love going to bed knowing exactly what my plan for the next day is. My mind is clearer so I fall asleep faster, and I don’t waste any time wondering what to do first the next day. When I have a solid plan for the next day the distractions weed themselves out.
This is my best productivity tip for you in order to make the very most of every second, minute and hour. Now, of course, life happens and you can’t very well know how every minute will go, but even just giving an order to your tasks will help you bust through each one when you have the time set aside to accomplish them.
Speaking of setting aside time . . . that leads me to my next tip!
TIP 2: TIME BLOCK
Just looking at a list of demanding to-dos can leave anyone feeling overwhelmed each day. Without knowing when each task will fit into your day, you’ll feel like your list is running you and not you running your list.
Any habits or daily goals you wish to work on will be the first things to go as you chaotically try to work through all those important things on your seemingly never-ending list of tasks.
What has helped me immensely to avoid overwhelm and realistically plan out my day is the method of time blocking. This is when you take your day hour by hour and block out certain parts for certain tasks and practices.
For example, I know when 5:00 am rolls around, I have 2.5 hours to completely devote myself to my deeply focused blog work. I’ve made my plan the night before so I know right away what I will be working on, instead of getting sucked into checking emails and scrolling Instagram.
Then, I block out the time I need in the morning once my kids wake up to completely focus on them and getting them ready for their day. Nothing else is on my mind or trying to pull my attention because I’ve managed my day so I can focus on them.
Once they are off to school, I’ve blocked out a couple of hours for exercise, reading my scriptures, meditating, and getting ready for the day.
And so the day goes on, where I know exactly what will happen each hour by hour, and can put all my focus on my perfectly planned out day instead of running around like a madwoman trying to do it all at all times – which does not make for a happy mama (in my experience).
I go as far as blocking out times for answering emails, spending time on Instagram, and even the precious hours in the evening where nothing is planned except enjoying my family and getting them to their activities.
Once I switched over to time blocking, my stress levels decreased exponentially! I knew it had to be a part of The TIDBITS Day Planner, so I included room to see your entire week at a glance, a spot to write those tasks, and then time blocking for you to manage every hour.
Every once in a while, I’ll allow myself a completely free day with no plan in my hours, and it is glorious.
Time blocking can truly help you avoid burnout and set realistic expectations of yourself.
TIP 3: PROTECT DAILY RELIABLE PRACTICES
My final tip is to create and protect time in your day for daily habitual and reliable practices. Please catch the word “protect” and defend those parts of your day with all your might.
We are creatures of habit. Our minds like consistency and reliability. When life begins to throw all those curveballs throughout the day, and you find yourself adapting to meet the needs of the situation or others, it will give you peace of mind to know you have a protected block of time (short or long) where you know what will happen. A time where you can collect yourself and fulfill your needs – whether that be physical, spiritual, or what have you.
Write those times down and plan for them each day!
This might look like something you do early in the morning before everyone wakes. Something like journaling, reading, working out – or whatever works best for you.
It might also look like taking a few minutes at your lunch break to read a good book, do some sketches, or research your new hobby.
It might look like stretching and sipping a cup of herbal tea before bedtime, going for a walk, or taking time to plan the next day before you call it a day.
Whatever fulfills and refreshes you, create and protect time in each day for those things. With these times and routine practices in place, you’ll be able to go throughout your day crushing your goals and working hard when you need to – knowing there is respite each and every day.
You might notice I didn’t mention any ideas for scrolling through social media or watching Netflix. While I do love those things as much as the next person, I dare say they are not the kinds of activities that truly refresh and fulfill us. Just food for thought.
I hope you enjoyed reading my tips and discovering the ways I organize my life to avoid overwhelm and make the most of my days. I’d love to hear your favorite takeaway or what you do to manage it all. There are many good ways for us to organize our lives, but the key is finding what works best for you.
I’d love to have you swing by TIDBITS Planners to shop my TIDBITS Day Planner and TIDBITS Notebook. I’ve poured my heart into these babies and hope they could be a wonderful tool for you to make the most of your days. I’ve also created a digital planner and digital notebook for those who may prefer that. If you want to try out the pages to see if you like the layout, you can print them for FREE here!
SIMPLY HOME SERIES: Favorite Organizing Tips
Finally, I want to share that this post is the start of an exciting new series for my blog, one which I’ll be doing with some of my nearest and dearest blog friends each month.
This new series is called the Simply Home Series – and we will be sharing content that will help you create a simple home and life you love. The theme for today is ORGANIZING, which is why I choose to write about organizing our life and days. That and the current state of our home is a disorganized construction zone! But we’ll get there with a lot of planning and hard work!
Please take a minute to visit the blogs and organize posts of all my dear friends who will be joining me in this monthly series. I know you will love what they write and share!
I am so excited to have this small group of talented ladies to collaborate with to bring you inspiring content for your home and life every 3rd Thursday of the month.
Maison de Cinq: My Five Favorite Organizing Tips
Seeking Lavender Lane: Organizing the Spice Drawer
Shades of Blue: How I Organize & Store My Home Decor
So Much Better with Age: Seasonal Decor Capsules
Thistlewood Farms: Nine Simple Organizing Tips
Tidbits: Three Tips for Organizing Your Days
Great tips! I didn’t realize I could print sample pages of your planner to try out?! I’m excited to do that! Time blocking sounds way more my style than any other calendar/planner system I’ve come across. I’ll try it and find out now! THANKS!!!
Oh, glad I mentioned that then! The printables are way helpful to see if it will work for you. Time blocking saves my sanity! Hugs!
Your planners are soooo gorgeous, Cami! I love how you plan out everything. So fun being in this series with you!
Hugs, Jamie
Thank you my dear friend! I can’t wait to dig everything out of our storage and organize it like you have shown in your post. Currently, it’s like a bomb went off! Ahh!
Well it’s a good thing that all your readers don’t take your same view of social media or you would need to find a different line of work. I didn’t realize that looking at these blogs are a waste of time, not fulfilling or a means of being truly refreshed. This is the first time I visit your site and probably the last.
I’m sorry Margo, I think you misunderstood what I was saying. I truly enjoy reading blogs and looking at social media. But as a content creator, I have to limit my time or I wouldn’t have time to create any inspiring material. I don’t think it is a waste of time at all, but my point was in saying that there might be other things like going for walks, enjoying our family, reading scriptures – that might refresh us better than social media. I think science has proven that as well. For me, ensuring there is about an hour in the morning and an hour before bedtime where I am not connected with the world, helps me connect to myself and my loved ones better. I feel healthier for it. During the day, I soak in as much inspiring content online as I have time for, and love every second of it. I hope that helps you understand what I was saying better – but of course – this is just my opinion. We can each manage our lives as we see fit. Thanks for stopping by!
I love the idea of time-blocking and have been wanting to try it! Just knowing how much you get done in a day is making me want to give it a try!
Thanks so much for your post Cami and I’m so glad you’re part of our new series! 🙂
Sheila
xo
It saves my sanity Sheila! Not all months are as busy or disciplined, but when I need to be, it’s how I manage it all. So excited for our new series! Thank you for bringing us together!
You inspire me Cami! I am such a wing it kind of girl, but that’s not doing me any good -lol- Love your beautiful planner so much!
I’d say winging it has been serving you well! Everything you do is so inspiring! Thank you for your support Deb!
Great post but I could not get the video to play completely.
Oh shoot! It’s from a YouTube player. Hopefully it is working now!
Time blocking! That is brilliant! I tend to make things pretty loosey goosey for schedules around here because babies tend to do that to me, but I love the is idea to put a bit more structure and intention into my days. I def feel more accomplished with some structure!
I’ll admit, there are times in my life where I can be more loosey goosey – and its so nice! But when a lot is going on, time blocking is my sanity savor! But girl – I hope I didn’t discourage you! I am out of the baby stage and my kids schedules are more reliable. True, I wish I would have managed my days better when they were little because I felt so chaotic, but just soak in all that baby time as you can! Use a pencil in your time blocking . . . and let the needs of your kids keep you adaptable. Hugs!