How to Organize Your Day…and Love Your Life!
The hunt for the perfect time management and productivity hacks continues…
We’ve looked at organizing your digital world so you can stop wasting time searching for those long-lost documents.
We’ve looked at organizing your brain to improve your focus and boost productivity.
Now it’s time to organize your day!
How To Organize Your Day
When you organize your day, you no longer feel like someone else is in charge of your reality. Because you’ll be in charge.
When you organize your day, you’ll naturally set boundaries that enforce your priorities around what’s worth spending your time on.
When you organize your day, you can stop telling yourself stories about what you do and don’t have time for. “I don’t have time for that” will turn into “I’m choosing not to make time for that”.
The first step to organizing your day is to find a system for planning and managing your time.
My personal favorite is time-blocking.
Time-blocking is the practice of setting aside blocks of time on your calendar to devote to accomplishing specific tasks. Basically, you schedule a meeting invite with yourself to commit to getting something done. With this method you’ll know exactly WHAT you are going to get done and WHEN you’re going to get it done.
If you’re not sure where to get started, download your free Time-Block Like a She Boss template for an example template to schedule your day for success.
Part of organizing your day also includes establishing and scheduling a routine you’ll actually want to stick with. I.e. a routine that includes tasks and habits that reinforce your goals and that you enjoy doing.
A daily routine can reduce your stress and anxiety by removing the mental load caused by constant decision-making. It can also make you more efficient by enforcing good habits you complete on auto-pilot.
An organized day provides structure and organization to your life so you can stay focused and on track amidst a world filled with distractions and competing demands.
So let’s get to organizing.
My Organized Day
As you start to build out your own organized day, it can be helpful to see what works for others. So let’s take an inside peek into my schedule and routine.
This routine is scheduled on my calendar to ensure I make it a reality. (Remember: Scheduling makes it real.) I know what and I know when I’ll do the things I’ve deemed most important.
An important piece of establishing a routine to organize your day is to continuously re-evaluate and iterate. This is my current daily routine. But it looked a little different a few months ago. And I’m certain it will look a little different a few months from now.
Priorities change. Circumstance change. Interests change. Let your routine change along with it!
How I Organize the Start of My Day
The Workout
The pillar of my morning routine is to start with a workout.
I prefer working out in the morning because this is when I feel in complete control. There’s no extra mental weight from an unexpectedly stressful day and no temptation to skip the workout in lieu of an impromptu dinner out with friends.
Regardless of when you want to workout, it will take some planning and organizing.
If you work out in the morning, it requires planning your bedtime the night before to make sure you get enough sleep to wake up ready to go.
If you work out in the evening, it requires planning your work and dinner schedule as well as allowing some flexibility to adjust your planned workout based on the day’s events (such as switching to a yoga class instead of a 10-mile run if the day was particularly draining.)
If health is a top priority for you, organize your day around your workout and timing of choice.
Journaling
The next piece of my organized morning routine is allowing time for journaling.
Daily journaling is when I process my thoughts and emotions. I’ve found doing this in the morning helps me to release worries and get ready to approach my day in control of my thoughts, instead of letting any anxiety or negativity take charge first thing.
I tend to be more of a freestyle journaler versus working off prompts. I start with writing down the top goal I’m working towards as a constant reminder followed by three things I’m grateful for. Then I just keep writing and letting my mind go where it goes.
Reflecting on what you’re thinking and feeling can help you feel more aligned across all pillars of your life. Even just 15 minutes can create ripple effects throughout the day.
Fuel (aka caffeine)
After getting ready and sitting down to my laptop, I enjoy my first cup of coffee. I’m doing half-caf these days as the full caffeine version makes me a little jittery. I love the taste and ritual of a morning cup of coffee, so I’ve tried a few iterations of this routine to keep this piece of joy in my morning.
Something to consider if caffeine is a preferred part of your organized day: Science shows delaying caffeine for at least 90 minutes from the time you wake up has some benefits.
When you wake up, your body’s cortisol levels are naturally high. Cortisol is a hormone that helps you wake up and feel alert. So waiting 90 minutes allows these cortisol levels to decrease naturally. Caffeine consumed after this period is then more likely to boost your alertness and energy because it doesn’t compete with the peak cortisol levels.
Breakfast
Finally, after I finish my coffee, I have a small breakfast which currently consists of two hard-boiled eggs.
This is actually a new addition for me. I’ve skipped breakfast for years. But my doctor recently recommended adding breakfast back in with a minimum of 10 grams of protein as a means to stave off anxiety. So it’s a routine switch-up I’m experimenting with.
The rest of my day consists of following my time-block calendar to complete whatever work projects are the top priority before I shift to my end-of-day routine.
How I Organize the End of My Day
Work Boundaries
After years of uncontrolled overworking, I’ve been able to structure my day and stick to my boundaries of logging off by 5 PM.
I no longer feel the guilt-fueled pull to keep working if others are online or respond to after-hours messages because I know I can get to it all during my regular working hours. This shift allows me to make space for the other things that are important in my life, while still maintaining a successful career (quite honestly, a concept I didn’t think was even possible a few short years ago.)
If you’re at the start of setting some boundaries around work, remember, it’s okay to remind people of your boundaries. If your organized day includes logging off work by 5 PM, don’t feel obligated to answer that 6 PM IM or email. Ignore it. Schedule a response to send at 9 AM the next morning. Or let them know you’ll look into it first thing in the morning.
Easy Dinners
I love to cook. But in 2020 when we moved into our current house to begin what became a 3-and-a-half-year renovation project, priorities shifted.
We didn’t have a functional kitchen for about a year and a half, so my regular cooking routine took a back seat. Eating healthy is still important to me so I found another way.
First I started with a meal kit delivery service and eventually moved to my maximum easy button meal prep which consists of a Costco haul of precooked meats and frozen veggies. A healthy meal prep routine that takes about 15 minutes every two weeks. Not too shabby.
I plan to incorporate cooking back into my organized daily routine someday. But for now, I’m choosing not to make time for that.
Walks
If you know anything about me, you know I’m obsessed with my dog.
So making time for more “walkies” has been a top priority for me. Because, let's face it, walkies make him oh so happy which brings me nothing but joy.
I’ve started fitting more walks into my schedule with a new habit I call my “digestion walk”. After each meal, I take a 10-minute walk.
It turns out, walking after a meal has some great benefits:
Improves your digestion which can reduce bloating
Reduces heartburn
Prevents post-meal energy slumps
Lowers blood sugar by improving insulin sensitivity and the uptake of glucose by your muscles
Helps you get in your daily step goal for some bonus calorie-burning
In addition to the great physical side effects and making my dog mom heart happy, this is also a great time for some productive meditation if I’m solo or a great time to connect with my husband when he joins.
Wind Down ‘Me Time’
While I’m a productivity junkie and organize my life in a way to get a lot done, one of my favorite pass times is binging on some good TV. Plopping down on the couch after a day well spent is very relaxing for me. So, I plan for it.
I pick the time I want to be done for the day to fit in some Netflix and plan everything else around it. When you plan for this kind of leisure time, it removes the guilt you might feel from doing something that feels “unproductive”. Because you’re just following your schedule!
I’m not a fan of squeezing every minute of the day into hustle or pushing towards goals. Find a balance that works for you with whatever season of life you’re in. But get rid of that guilt around your “guilty pleasure”. If you want to do it, make time for it. Let it be a priority and a part of your organized day.
Bedtime
The final piece of my organized day is a pretty strict bedtime.
I plan backward to determine when I need to be in bed ready for some shut-eye, including any bedtime “prep work”.
Since I aim for around 8 hours of sleep that usually has me in bed by 9:30 PM. I have a nightly skincare routine (which makes me feel like I get a luxurious facial each night.) This ritual takes about 20 minutes so I start my at-home spa date around 9:00 PM. Keeping all of these pieces organized helps me ensure a successful and well-rested start for the next day.
Don’t let your bedtime be an afterthought to an organized day. With enough sleep, you’ll have sharper thinking, improved focus and attention, and a better immune system which just makes life a little bit easier!
So What?
Organization is truly the ultimate time management and productivity hack.
From organizing your digital world to organizing your mind to organizing your day, every element contributes to a more efficient, focused, and productive you.
Imagine waking up each day with a clear plan, knowing exactly what needs to be done and when. No more frantic searches for lost items or missed deadlines. Instead, you can enjoy the peace of mind that comes with having everything in its place. This newfound clarity will allow you to spend more time on the activities and people you love. Which is a goal we all can get behind!
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About Me
Hi, I’m Kara. I’m a former workaholic turned time-management expert. I help women stressed out in their 9-5 get more done, in less time, so they can get back in the driver’s seat and start living a life they love.
