We live in a world where there are so many things to do, but it feels as if we have so little time to accomplish these. One thing that I get asked a lot when I start talking, is about time management. If you haven’t looked at the time management principle, you could go to TimeManagementPrincipal.com and download the freebies. You can learn about the four quadrants of time and the different resources that you have to manage inside of your business. Download the freebies by clicking the button below.
There are so many different types of planners and calendars that I personally use in my business. I have a wall calendar that I use for managing family schedules and priorities right.
Because yes, we are business owners, but we’re moms first we are wives first. And mommy happy ain’t, nobody is happy… But the reverse is also true. If nobody’s happy, then mama ain’t happy. So making sure that your personal life is not in shambles is very important. I actually prioritize my personal life schedule over my business and work schedule. And the reason why I make sure that my personal life is top is because I dealt with adrenal burnout.
If you’re not familiar, it’s when your body has been in fight or flight mode for too long, and your body stops making the stress chemical. According to the theory, if you have long-term stress, your adrenal glands burn out from prolonged production of cortisol. So adrenal fatigue sets in.
That’s why I prioritize my Personal calendar over my Work calendar because when I was in the corporate, I was working 60 to 70 hour workweeks. That’s how I got myself burned out because I was doing that. I was working 12 hour shifts, sometimes six days a week and right, I was working that much.
That many hours a week is one thing, but doing that on top of managing a family. Getting the home priorities taken care of, was really also a part of what happened during that burnout season.
And I wasn’t willing to sacrifice. I’m no longer willing to sacrifice myself and my family in order to make money. Now, yes, money is important. Businesses are important. But in this time of my life and after everything that I’ve gone through, prioritizing my home and family life is number one. Everything else comes after that.
And so, having my family calendar and managing data is one of my top priorities, which is why I really like the calendar that I have. It’s big, it has a lot of space, and it allows me to write everybody’s things on the calendar – right being in a household with two cars and three drivers.
Managing that family calendar is really important.
Here’s an example… Last week, I was scheduled to go to see a chiropractor. I was scheduled to have to go to my chiropractic appointment, but my daughter also had a breakfast meeting that she had to go to now. We had some miscommunications, our wires got crossed and she wasn’t home and it was time for me to go to my appointment. I look at that error as , “Oh, that right! It wasn’t written on the calendar!”, and when I was a working mom, I was like “If it’s not on the calendar, it’s not going to get done”.
So if my kids came back and said “Hey, Mom, I need this”, or “There’s this happening today” and because I work days and I also work night shifts and weekends.
I get it that it was hard for my kids to keep track of my schedule. It was also really difficult to balance their schedules as well. And so, I just had to make a rule that if it’s not on the calendar, then it’s not going to happen.
If they wanted to make other arrangements that was fine, but there are times where I would have been double booked. And I know that sounds kind of harsh, but I wasn’t willing to stress and run myself ragged in order to just fulfill and say yes to everybody and everything at that point.
There’s so many different ways that our brains work when it comes to how we see the world and how we process information. So just because you see a mentor that has a calendar set up a certain way, or you see all of these planners and right all of these influencers who are promoting different planners and calendars, it doesn’t mean that that calendar is the right type for you, right?
📒 If you’re more of a linear thinker, then you can go with a calendar that’s more structured.
📓 If you’re a more creative person you might need, a journal planner versus a straight up calendar.
It just depends on how you see the world and how you process information.