Our lives are flooded with schedules, business meetings, and to-do lists. We rarely have some spare time for ourselves, which is kind of a bore even if we are habituated to such tight schedule. All of us want to lead a balanced life, so why do we keep juggling a million of things at once? Either we say yes to everything that is expected out of us, or we are too busy attending all the social gatherings. Either way, stuffing our calendar with too many things can prove to be a serious threat to our sanity.
When there are so many tasks and events that you can remove from your calendar, there is a way to stop over scheduling. Read on to know more on how to knock off overbooking.
Know your priorities
You cannot say yes to each and every task even if you wish to, with such a tensed schedule. So make a list of tasks that are of higher priority and cut out the ones which does not matter much. This way, you would save a lot of time and can manage to get some time for spontaneity. Do not miss anything important which will affect your health in a negative way. Stay organized by keeping a list of tasks with higher priority. Also mention few tasks that can be done if you get some spare time.
Consider the outcomes
Set your goal clearly and make a list of values that is important to you like career growth, freedom, money, family, health, etc. It will be easier to prioritize tasks if you know whether doing it will contribute to your goal. Compare the list of tasks with your top values and if they are not relevant, remove it from your calendar, this will help you stop over scheduling. If your goal is clear to you, it will be easier to focus on the things you should do and things you should avoid doing.
Think before saying ‘Yes’
Many people have a tendency to please everyone by taking on extra tasks even if they need to squeeze it into their schedule. Rather than saying yes right away, check your schedule, consider your goals and then say yes if it fits into your schedule and gives you the suitable outcome. It is not obligatory to keep everyone happy if it costs you your priorities. You can explain the person about other commitments you have and you do not want to say yes to something that you can do perfectly with dedication.
Choose your medium for scheduling
The problem is people use different mediums to keep their schedule- scheduling apps, notebooks, and calendars. They use all of these to maintain their schedule and end up forgetting where they wrote specific tasks to be done. It’s better to choose your favourite medium and stick to that. If you like a toolbar extension, install it. If you like writing things down, do it and dump the rest. Physical calendars are my personal favourite, I know this may sound old-fashioned, but they are quite flexible, we can write in the margins, and create unimposing to-do lists.
Spare some time for yourself
Schedule in your personal time, which you can use to do things that you love, may it be having a bubble bath or shopping. Also, you can take up some undone tasks during this time. You cannot stick to schedules all the time, so sometimes you need to spend a weekend without any prior schedule. You need to realize that you cannot be best at your job and other social responsibilities if you do not provide enough time to yourself.
Hopefully, these tips will help you to stop over scheduling yourself and get some spare time so that you can be consistent in achieving your personal as well as career goals.