How a Well-Organized Calendar Can Contribute to Holistic Well-Being

Have you ever been stressed by missing an important customer call or worse, your child's basketball game or your mother's birthday? Do you find yourself scrambling in the morning and entering your day feeling like you are already behind? Do you find it impossible to get everything done and find balance in your life?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, organizing your calendar may put you back on the road to nirvana. Ok. Maybe it isn't that good but it will help reduce stress which WILL do your body good:-)

Let's focus on looking at your calendar in different way. Often, you can perceive your schedule as restrictive and something that is just too hard to maintain. However, by just shifting your perception a little bit, time management can actually be freeing and help you to get you what you really want. A well organized calendar will:

1. Show you inconsistencies between your values and how you actually spend your time. Just like other areas of your life (i.e. losing weight, budgeting, etc.), your calendar is all about awareness.  Once it is laid out in black and white (or in colors:-), you can see where your priorities lie. The key is getting your calendar in line with your values. If a clean house is your priority, that is what will show up on your calendar. If you value your job, your time will be consumed by your career. If your kids are number 1, guess who will be on your agenda? The problem with those who are unsatisfied with their time management is that their values do not line up with how they are actually spending their time.

2. Help you with emotional barriers. Sometimes, you can sit down at the end of the day and feel guilty about everything that you didn't get done that day. By having a well-organized calendar, you can reflect on your day and really see that you didn't waste a day in your life. Maybe, you planned to clean the basement but instead, cruised the net all day. What a waste, right? Maybe not. Go back and look at what you really did. Maybe you really needed to brainstorm a project for work. Or maybe you had an idea that you really needed to exorcise. Or maybe, just maybe...you needed a break. Which leads me to my next point...

3. Ensure that you show up in your life. A well-organized calendar will show you how much you do for others but, what about you? Make sure that you are on your calendar. A work out, a mani and pedi, or lunch with a friend are great ways to refuel your mind and spirit. I can hear the objections right now. "Yeah, I wish I had time for a mani! I have too many responsibilities" As a wife, mother, sister, friend, caregiver, volunteer, businesswoman, gardener, baker, I am completely in touch with that emotion. However, may I suggest that you cannot afford NOT to make time for yourself? Along with all of your other responsibilities, you are also charged with keeping yourself going. So, look at your calendar and find a pocket of time for you and DO NOT feel guilty about it! It is your responsibility:-)

4. Empower you. If knowledge is power, then a well-organized calendar is a turbo blast to your life. If you know how you spend your time, you can confidently turn down requests that do not line up with your values. The next time your neighbor asks you (the stay-at-home-mom) to pick up her kids for the third time this week during your afternoon meditation, you can say, "I am sorry. I would love to help but, that just doesn't work for me." You can say that confidently because you know that you aren't just "lying around doing nothing". You are honoring your body's request for rest and it is your responsibility to take care of yourself!

As you can see, tackling your calendar isn't an exercise in futility. It is definitely a necessity!

But, if calendar management isn't your forte, you are in luck. It's mine:-) In the coming weeks, I will be reposting a calendar management series I wrote a couple years ago. So, I hope you will come back to check that out. And if calendar management seems like way more than you chose to handle, I have a calendar management package that may be right for you. Check it out here.