Prepping for the month ahead can seem like a major chore for some people. For me, I LOVE IT! I love doing so many things and setting myself up for success not to mention it really is helpful for me to see the month ahead. Being pregnant again it helps me stay on track for appointments, blood work, meetings, goals, and whatever else I needs to have done also too.
The things that I schedule may seem pretty trivial however when I don’t leave the home due to covid and a stay at home mom it really does help to schedule everything even if I don’t always follow it too. For me it helps me feel a sort of normalcy because when I used to work and live back home I would schedule so much. Being at home you can get lost in the moment (which is not always a bad thing) and fall behind on things. For me it helps me to keep track of things such as my streaming schedule, or things related to streaming such as clips, scheduling tweets, blogging as well. I also have certain days I schedule writing whether that be for blogging or the books or poetry that I am working on. I also schedule in days that I do absolutely nothing because even those are important to have too. Right now in the prep for moving we are also going through certain things so that we can make sure that we are gutting out the basement and throwing things away to make things easier. I also have doctors appointments and blood work to plan and take care of due to moving and being pregnant and trying to make it as seamless as possible between changing doctors too. And of course it can change month to month on what is scheduled and planned.
The first thing I normally would do is I would write in my planner, This is the easiest way for me to see the month in advance with the days laid out. I can write it in pen or pencil whatever I choose to do and It is a clear way for me to see what is happening. I find this best to start with as I can sit in front of the TV and chip away at it. Normally I start about a week before the end of the month so I can change around dates that are possible to be changed.
After I have everything pretty well sorted I will then transfer the dates on to my calendar. I like to do this after my planner as I use permanent markers and well, if i make a mistake it low key gives me anxiety because I then have to either scratch it out or make it work because white out doesn’t typically work on that. And if that happens it legit gives me low key anxiety that the whole month is thrown off. It also hangs above my computer as a quick glace for me to see what is up and coming for the month. I feel like if I don’t do this before the end of the month I look up more often than not and get completely thrown off on what is going on for the month.
Lastly I use post it notes a lot. If it is something important or something I am keeping track of like an appointment or something I will write it there and put it on that and stick it to the bottom of my monitor. I find this to be easy since I see it all the time when I am sitting there working on whatever or gaming as well too. I keep so many post it’s around and stick them to scribblers and lists and things that it does help for sure I think.
The only thing that I Have never done before even when I was working shift work is put things in my phone. I don’t think I will ever use my phone in that way and truth be told I have seen more people miss appointments and things because they put it in the wrong date or the wrong time that I simply do not trust myself to not mess it up. I will sometimes text my boyfriend if I am on the fly for an appointment date or he does the same to me, but only because I typically do not bring my planner around everywhere with me and I don’t carry a post it either. As far as using my phone goes, I just don’t trust technology to not screw it up or even user error. Being 30 something years old I have never used my phone for scheduling and I don’t plan on starting it now.
Overall I would say to anyone who doesn’t schedule to not sleep on this. When you schedule things even if it means really relax scheduling it makes you feel like you do have your life together. I know some things I schedule probably don’t need to be scheduled and most times things re flexible, but in the long run it really can help with organizing your life. Knowing what to expect and what is up and coming can help to prepare for it, whichever it might be. I know being stuck inside during quarantine, not working and being a stay at home mom, prepping for a move across provinces, and whatever else, it really does help to have things laid out and feel like I am living a “normal” life where I can get grocery’s regularly or I can go to appointments for my son instead of having one parent go on them.
Are you a scheduler?
Or do you just wing it in hopes that everything works out and nothing clashes?
Do you use your phone to plan things or are you a pen to paper person like me?
Let me know in the comments below!
– Stacey
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Stacey J. Girard 