Feeling Overwhelmed? How to Better Organize Your Daily Calendar

It’s everywhere. On your phone. On your desk. On the wall. Even on the fridge. The daily calendar that sorts of rules your life, telling you what to do and when.

But it can be overwhelming, chaotic and even debilitating if you don’t manage yours correctly. Let’s show you how.

It’s a bit ironic. Things in daily life that’s supposed to help us, can often make life much more complicated. Cars are supposed to improve traveling—but we waste precious time sitting in traffic. And the fast food you love, isn’t always healthy. Similarly, the daily calendar on your desk sparks anxiety in many people, rather than helping you get through your day in an organized fashion.

So, let’s help you have a more ‘Carpe Diem’ feeling each morning, all because your plans for the day are managed correctly.

It’s easier than you think and the ‘side effects’ are more spare time and less stress!

 

Tips for Managing Your Daily Calendar at Work

Do You Need a New Approach to Managing Work?

Some people accept a rushed and stressed lifestyle as the norm. But much of it can be managed so you can experience a calmer, happier day to day life. If any of the following applies to you, perhaps it’s time re-evaluate your habits and mindsets:

• You procrastinate all the time, resulting in fewer items on your daily calendar getting done than you hope for
• The fear of forgetting important details trouble you often
• Your job description has developed so much, that you’re struggling to keep all the balls in the air
• Your inbox has multiple unanswered emails—all the time

 

What else can you add to the list?

Guess what! A few tips for your daily calendar can lead to a better, more productive plan and workflow.

 

Daily Calendar Planning that Works…for Work

At the office you can’t skip any responsibilities, but you can do them in an order that improves outcomes.

Start off by listing all your tasks and rating them in terms of:

• The amount of time they require
• How challenging the task is
• Whether you like or dislike the task

 

A simple spreadsheet can help you gain perspective of what awaits in the coming week. Don’t forget to add the due dates.

	Duration	Challenging?	Do I enjoy the work?	Due date
Task 1	10 minutes	Yes	No	Monday
Task 2	1 hour	Yes	Yes	Thursday
Task 3	45 minutes	No	Yes	Friday

For one thing, many people are more productive on Mondays, Tuesdays and sometimes Wednesdays. This may be because your mind is still sharp after the weekend’s rest. Therefore, on your daily calendar, pick Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays for more challenging work.

Your spreadsheet will tell you where it can fit in, in between meetings, lunch breaks and travel.

Later in the week and especially during afternoons when you’re bound to start feeling fatigued, do the work that’s easier and that you like doing as long as it’s not due early on in the week.

Using this method, you’ll maintain a more consistent rate of productivity. Follow the workflow you set for yourself on the calendar and although you face challenging tasks as well, you’ll tick more items off the to do list than usual.

For the satisfaction of ticking off items, never underestimate the power of chore tracker apps. Other bonuses include:

• You can use it for yourself or with your team.
• It’s quicker than writing in your paper-based diary.
• You can view the calendar on your mobile, on the go.
• Users can keep everyone updated about completed tasks, even when they’re not in the office.

 

How to Manage Your Daily Calendar at Home

What’s Your Greatest Challenge at Home?

Home life can have a range of stressors that lead to things on your daily calendar not getting done. A first step to fixing it, is to identify the problem areas.

Take a moment and get some perspective on what you need to change at home.

Whether you’re living with family, friends or flat mates, identify the top three challenges you face in your house. Some examples of common problems to overcome:

• I don’t have time for chores
• Other people in the household aren’t doing their share
• We regularly have conflict about house chores and responsibilities
• I would like to eat more home cooked meals, rather than takeout
• There’s too much clutter to properly clean-living spaces

 

Your unique scenario may have other challenges. Write down your major frustrations and consider how the following tips can help you solve them.

 

Home Management and Maintenance Tips

Although you live in the space and can see what needs to be done, you still need a plan for housework.

First off, become more organized about tasks, grouping chores in order to know what needs to be done on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. You won’t create healthy home maintenance routines without first implementing a plan.

A plan is easier to follow when you display it visually, which is why chore wheels and daily calendars on the fridge are so popular in households. And now, thanks to technology, resources like chore tracker apps such as Enzo make task management even easier.

Secondly, reassess who is doing the work. Perhaps it’s time to divide chores equally between you and your roommate, even though he or she is only renting a room from you? And you’ll be surprised how efficient kids can be with chores—they’re smart enough to handle basic chores even at two years old.

With more people helping, assign tasks to everyone. Once again, apps are super helpful in this regard.

We suggest all households schedule a decluttering day once every few months. Clutter encumbers proper cleaning, which is demotivating to everyone—leading to less productivity around the house.

Lastly, commit to planning habits that will simplify workflows throughout the week. For example:

• Create a week’s meal plan on a Saturday
• Shop for the week’s ingredients over the weekend
• Chop up and freeze portions of vegetables to make mealtimes easier on busy days
• Use your washing machine’s timer feature so a load is washed and ready to hang when you wake up in the morning

It may take a while to form new habits but having more spare time and quality family time is worth the effort!

 

General Tips

In any scenario stated above, try and implement these tips. They can help you cope better—and some of it’s simpler than you think.

 

How’s Your Sleep?

Anyone dealing with a full calendar and workload may consider sacrificing sleep to get some work done. Don’t overdo it and don’t make it a habit!

Many experts will tell you that proper rest is part of how you keep up high productivity rates. And that’s the only way you’ll get through the tasks on your daily calendar. If you’re feeling tired because of a lack of sleep you’re bound to work slow, procrastinate and lose focus.

The better option is to add a few hours—eight hours are ideal—of sleep to your calendar, so you don’t use that time for anything else.

 

You Need Some Cardio

Rest is important, yes. But so is exercise. You may become more energized if you go for regular runs or gym sessions. Apart from helping to deal with debilitating stress, exercise can also lead to more productive work sessions.

So, those tasks on your well-organized daily calendar may get done a lot faster than before!

 

Downtime is a To Do Too!

And now, what to do with all the time you’re saving and have for yourself?

It’s silly to schedule relaxation into your daily calendar, right? Or is it?

If you know your schedule is busy most of the time, you won’t take that leisurely walk in the park or spend time with the family unless you plan for it. So add it to the calendar!

By setting aside those hours for yourself, you’re prioritizing personal time. If you don’t, you’re bound to find an excuse to fill up your diary with yet another meeting or chore.

 

The Power of No

In many of the scenarios you face each day—whether with family or colleagues—you’ll have requests to assist. When last did you refuse? Do you realize how much pressure you add to your day by helping others instead of prioritizing YOUR daily calendar and its tasks?

Perhaps you can’t say ‘no’ to your boss, but you can be honest about what a realistic date of completion would be for the report he wants. And colleagues? Some people will always look for the easy way out, taking advantage of your good nature. So, don’t always agree when they ask for help. It’s up to you to create boundaries and teach them what they can reasonably expect of you.

When it comes to friends and family, be kind, but firm about what you’re able to do. You can only be a good friend or family member if you have the energy and time to give. So, guard against giving so much of yourself that you end up fatigued and burnt out.

 

Manage Your Calendar – Don’t Let it Rule You

When your to do list is long and seems the day is way too short to get everything done, take a moment.

You CAN get back in control of your day—at work AND at home.

The Enzo chore tracker app is an excellent tool to help you get it right. And since it’s easy to use, it will be effortless to incorporate and have family members or colleagues join your network. Eventually, your daily calendar and its tasks will be much less overwhelming to look at.

Download now or ask a question in the comments section to learn more about it.