Be Realistic
When I learned the practice of calendaring back in 2019, I first applied it to my weekends. I was excited about tackling my growing list of home improvement hacks, adulting to-dos, and cleaning projects. I also saw how I could now cross off all the cultural and social activities that NYC offered but I hadn’t gotten to yet. As you may have guessed, this led to overly-ambitious weekend schedules that had me feeling exhausted by Monday and/or only getting through some of the items I had planned on.
So here’s how I course-corrected:
I planned pleasure first, and made sure to factor in time to rest that was actually restful
I considered prep-work and post-work. If I was going to clean, that means factoring in time for gathering my cleaning products and going to the store if they needed replacing. If I was going to cook a big fancy lunch, I needed to account for all the dishes that required cleaning after. If I had a yoga class, I’d set time to gather all the things I needed to bring, eat something beforehand if needed, check whether my water bottle was clean, etc etc.
I took travel time into account. It’s one thing to spend time at the farmers market, the Met, and my friend’s going away party all in one after, but how much time will I need to spend traveling in between each destination? What if the M train isn’t running and the F has been rerouted to the E line? (That’s New Yorker speak for: the trip may take much longer than assumed)
I added time to get in the mood. Whether it’s making a coffee to get me through zeroing my inbox or a walk around the block to give me energy to clean the bathroom, I factored in things that helped me tackle the task at hand.
I left lots of time for nothing (ie., bathroom breaks, time to respond to text, and lots of time to pet my dogs)
All of these actions add up to a much more realistic and kind calendaring practice. And when something is kind and realistic, it is much more likely to happen!
How can you be more kind and realistic in your schedule? Shoot me a line and let me know!