Agenda Organization
Ever since the 9th grade I have been obsessed with using an agenda to plan out my week. This may be because I went to a self-directed learning high school (trust me, it’s a long explanation), but I have always been driven to make sure everything gets done (I’m probably scarred from missing an assignment in 10th grade that cost me 2.5% of my mark… I’m not kidding).
Over the years this has been perfected as I went to university, and then when onto chiropractic college. So I have 12 years (!!!) of educational organization, that truly got put to the test, once I got out into the real world and became a doctor slash entrepreneur.
Suddenly I was in charge of making my own schedule, and it can get super overwhelming. I’ve tried a lot of different approaches, talked to a lot of people, and finally landed on something that works best for me. I have a system organize my weekend so that I stay on top of everything, don’t forget anything, and get my s#$t done. I usually do it Sunday so I can start the week fresh on Monday. Alright here we go:
Pick your planner: Whether it be an agenda, a piece of paper, a sticky note whatever you use to keep track of your life. For me I like to have an agenda with the days of the week on one side, and the other with space for notes.
Figure out your non-negotiables: What is most important to you in your life — super simple question, right? Obviously there is the basic things like, eating, sleeping, showering, but what I’m talking about is things your life is something that have there because you couldn’t life without it; it brings you joy, gets rid of your stress… you get the idea. For me it’s: time with my family & fiancé, working out, yoga, journaling so I put those things in my agenda first and schedule everything else around it.
Anything else scheduled: Do you have a dentist appointment? Coffee date with a friend? Business meeting? Networking event? Working specific times? Cool write it down on the day it’s for (don’t forget the time!), because again it needs to get scheduled around! It doesn’t have to be “work” related either, it can be wanting to read a book, or watch a certain movie, it’s whatever you want to make sure you get done.
Dump it all out: In my blank notes section on the half of my agenda page, I categorize my life into headings: my business, chiropractic, blog/Instagram, Bumps n Babes programming, wedding planning, etc. and then under each header I write out everything I need to do for it (i.e. post a picture of my agenda on my Instagram)
Plan it: So you know everything you need to get done! Now it’s like playing Tetris, fitting in everything in certain days. I go through my week dump out, and I try to give myself around 5 things to do on each given day, depending on what’s going on.
Get it done: Be realistic with your time and yourself, I have the habit of putting extra stuff on my weekly to do dump list and giving myself too many tasks to accomplish in one day. Which is ok, because I just spill it into the next day/week, so that I am always getting something done.
Cross it off: Ok this is the most satisfying thing to do of this entire process, when you are down something go in and actually check it, cross it, scratch it OFF your list. It’s like positive reinforcement of this entire process.
If you’re having trouble managing your time:Plan it by the hour: Alright disclaimer for this point is that I am always late. Except for work/patients. But everything else I am super late. Always. It’s a bad habit that drives my fiancé nuts. So I manage this by using the calendar app in my iPhone. It breaks each day up by the hour, and gives you the option for travel time (something I always forget to consider). I look at everything I have to get done in my agenda, and transfer it to my phone giving a time destination to it. It’s a really great visual to see what you need to do in chronological order. If I don’t finish something, I can just drag it to the next day!
Hope this helps! Let me know if it did, or what you do to organize your day/week/month/year, I love to learn new tips and tricks to keep me on track.
Xoxo,
Coffee loving chiro
