I don’t know about you, but I am calendar challenged! My paper calendar, when I try to keep up with it, is scribbled in, scratched out, and messy. My electronic calendar is not much better except that I can delete at will. In both calendars, I use colors to show my education work, my coaching business, my personal appointments and any other notes, like family, church, events.
Even with all this organizing, I still double-book myself! Less than 24 hours ago, I booked an appointment with someone, scrolled down my electronic calendar and saw I hadn’t scrolled down far enough. Sure enough, two things at the same time! Do you do that? Crazy, isn’t it? Do you wish you could overlap times, or multiply yourself sometimes?
Can’t keep “Rollover Minutes”
In reality, we each have 24 hours a day, 1440 minutes to plan and enjoy. We have this 24 hour cycle, 7 days a week, 12 months of the year for a total of 365 days of the year or 525,600 minutes. We all get the same amount and as a friend wisely noted, “they are not rollover minutes.” Once the time is gone, we don’t get it back.
How about you? What’s in your calendar? What criteria are you using to determine what goes in your calendar? What is most essential to you, your well-being and the well-being of those you love?
Reflect on what is essential
Take some time to reflect on what will give you the most joy, gratitude and love for the life you are living. How can you best care for yourself physically and emotionally?
Block in times that feed your soul first, such as rest, meditation, solitude, physical exercise, and intentional family time. What are essentials?
For example, my husband and I recently gave my son and his wife six overnight babysitting events to watch their girls for the next year. We have three on the calendar and will get three more in so that they actually occur. Another decision we have made is predetermined chores on which evenings such as grocery list and menus on Monday evenings. I am not a routine person so predetermining decisions such as chores has helped me get more things accomplished. I also meet a friend for exercise, again predetermined, so it gets me out the door.
Be intentional
According to research by Gail Matthews from Dominican University, if you
- write down your intentions (such as on your calendar),
- tell someone what you plan to do (such as a family member or friend) and
- report that progress to that person,
you are twice as effective in achieving your intentions as if you just think about it.
Let us know what essentials will be going on your calendar first so that your time is being used for you to enjoy. How will you use your 525,600 minutes this year? Post on NancyBoothCoaching facebook page and let us know your essentials or in the comments below. We’d all love to know what’s in your calendar!
Nancy Booth is a certified life coach and certified brain-based coach. She loves creating safe spaces for women going through life’s transitions to discover and support their visions for health and well-being in an overwhelming world, explore possibilities for next steps and find hope. She writes about taming the overwhelm and reducing stress, looking for ways to motivate, energize and inspire you! You can sign up to receive her weekly blog or contact her to find out ways you can begin to shed overwhelm and stress. It’s time to explore possibilities of new relationships, better life pacing and gain hope and peace.