Priorities vs. Schedule

As I sit here on a Monday morning looking at the things I didn't get done on my usual Sunday Prep Day I feel strangely relaxed. Why? Well this last week was packed full of emotionally draining tasks for our family but this weekend was all about our family coming together as one and so instead of stressing that food prep and kid prep tasks aren't done I am calm and happy. Happy that our family came first. Visits to the Pumpkin Patch with cousins and supporting our oldest daughter in her college activities are what are more important. Everyone may be slow to get up and we were 5 mins late to school but that's ok. We have important memories from this weekend. Daddy hugging his oldest daughter and telling her how much his loves her and is so proud of her brings me to tears just glancing back at that memory. Cousins holding hands running through the corn maze laughing brings a smile to my face. So I sit here thanking God for the wonderful weekend and memories he has given me and decide that cooking and cleaning can be done a different day!

"How Do You Do It All" Priorities

I often have people in my life who ask me how I do it all. I work, I play, I am involved with everything. I would like to say that a few years ago while conducting a meeting for my daughter's 8th grade trip I had a moment of clarity about "doing it all". It's all about priorities. Priorities.....
When people say to you "I don't have time" "I can't volunteer" " I can't coach" " I can't chaperone" Really what they are saying is it isn't a priority. Yes a Priority. In my life I have lots priorities and my husband, my kids, my family, my church, my career, my team are all priorities. In order for all of them to feel like a priority and to get everything done that surrounds that priority I do a few very important things.
First I identify my priorities. And even within them there are some that rank higher than others. My husband and my kids rank above all others and keep me the busiest. In order to keep a house that runs smoothly and doesn't stress out others I run a pretty tight ship. Any one of my children can tell you what is done on a certain day and especially on Sundays. My children have been well trained and are used to a schedule since birth. From early childhood, scheduled mealtimes and naps to now with chores and homework.

So Secondly as you can see I am a scheduler. I schedule everything out including my meals. I grocery shop for the month with all my menu planning. Next I start gathering all those little pieces of paper all us mothers receive. The kids place them on a corkboard in the dining room for all the world to see. I then make a monthly calendar. All sports, dad's fishing trips, mom's work trips, minimum days, class trips etc. are placed on our calendar. It's distributed out to anyone who may need to see it and one copy replaces all those little papers on the clipboard. This calendar gets adjusted weekly as we all know plans may change and something happens, almost always more gets added.

Next, the schedule, the meal planning and the set up goes from monthly to weekly. I have a very important day once a week. SUNDAY-PREP DAY. Sundays in my house are the key to the success to my week. I am an early riser I get up do some online coaching work, we go to church, have lunch and then we clean house, laundry and food prep. While food prepping I always like to prepare a big Sunday Dinner. Something that may take a long time to prepare like short ribs or baked chicken. With my helpers we get all of our house set up. Its nice and clean to start the week, laundry done, pantry and fridge set up and finally the Little Kids pick out their clothes for their ENTIRE week. No more arguments in the morning with this time saver! Especially with little Princess girls. Probably the biggest tip I can give. We end our day with a big dinner and a family movie.

Once you have you prep done in all aspects of your life, Family, Work, Personal it really can make all the difference and your days will run so much smoother.

Lastly, as I said I am an early riser before anyone in the house is up I could have accomplished 5 or 6 things. I get up early, have my coffee in complete silence and make my "Have to List" and my "Wish List". Your have to list is the things that must get done and the wish list is the things you hope you can get to but the world won't stop if you don't. After I have made my list a schedule reminders in my phone to keep me on track. I have very set times for social media never getting on during working hours, no aimless scrolling until my list and day are complete.

It really does make a huge difference in our lives when you have a few minutes to relax because you have set yourself up for success by planning ahead and prioritizing. I have found that the more I can be organized and stick to my schedule I actually have more time and less stress. Your family can feel it too. Whether you have a family and need to organize their days a little better or you run a business and need to get more done. Planning and priorities are the key to success.