Feeling a bit overwhelmed? Well, here are the steps I follow to organize my time to make sure I get everything done, by Rosa Fairfield.
Photographs by Linda Smith.
If there's one thing in life I'm a expert at it's writing lists. I write at least five lists a day. I also really enjoy organizing things, it's fun... don't try to tell me it isn't. I was that super uptight control-freak kid at school... kinda like Monica from Friends. I've definitely mellowed out a lot over the years. Someone was asking for advice on scheduling and prioritizing the other day so I thought I'd create a post about it.
What do you want to achieve this year?
I like to write down a list of everything I want to achieve in a year. It's a broad time frame without being too open ended. I'm not talking about writing down goals. I don't know about you but whenever I do that, I just end up with a bunch of things I never achieve. Instead, jot down the physical activities you want to do: e.g make a film or start a blog about vampires. It's good to keep to very broad topics that can be broken down.
Break-up
No, I'm not telling you to break-up with your lover to free more time to work on tasks... although if you want to get stuff done having no social life is definitely one way to go about it. No, bad Rosa... don't break-up lots of lovely couples just because you believe romance is dead *coughs*. No, I'm talking about breaking the wide topics above down. Okay, so I want to make a film. What are the smaller stages I need to go through to make that film?
The art of juggling
I don't know about you but I'm always working on twenty tasks at once. In the modern world it's pretty hard not to be, kinda why we're all stressed out bunnies. To juggle tasks you need to prioritize, which is just a fancy way of saying: what do I need to get done first?
Sometimes this is easy because you already have a deadline set for you. For example, this university essay needs to be handed in next week so I need to focus on that or this client has told me the blog post needs to be written for so and so a date.
If there is no obvious deadline, it comes down to a mixture of what you haven't done in a while. For example, if I haven't scheduled any posts for my blog in a while, I know that has to become my main priority.
That's why it's good to have the big list so you can keep on checking back to it as a reminder that you're fulfilling everything and trying to give things equal time as best you can.
What do I need to get done today?
So, I think the art of prioritizing has led you to realize what you need to focus on. Now sit down with a pen and paper and make an actual real life offline list of tasks you need to focus on within that area. Okay, so I need to focus on my blog. What do I need to do within that? For example, answer emails, write content, edit pictures.
The list makes it so satisfying when you can cross something out. It gives you a sense of achievement.
Well, that's the cycle I go through to organize my days. Either it's been helpful for you... or it's made me seem like a total control freak... or maybe both?
