Last year I started writing a weekly schedule to help me organize my time better. I was working through my life coaching courses and reading several of the books associated. I had never really done well at sticking to a schedule, or at least not a written schedule until my kids started getting older and we started to have more activities we needed to be at.

Even then, I didn’t schedule my time so much as I scheduled the family time and then I fit in the stuff I had to do somewhere amongst all the rest of the stuff. It worked well all the way up until my kids started driving. Then there were more options because we didn’t all have to go places together (although that’s kind of sad as well). But we got more stuff done in the same amount of time.

I found that earlier this year I actually like to have my weekly schedule. The things I included on my schedule we appointments with specific times, as well as the major chore(s) that have to be done throughout the week to keep the house clean since my kids are not home to do them a lot of the time anymore. I also included goals that I wanted to work on and broke them down into manageable pieces so that I could work on them a little every single day. This worked well all the way up until about the middle of June.

We got so busy with outside stuff that we needed to do like gardening and work, as well as stuff we wait all winter to do like hiking, that the written schedule went right out the window. The chores got done, but the rest of the schedule didn’t happen as planned. There aren’t too many appointments in the summer, I try to make it that way on purpose, and we don’t have to worry about waking up at crazy early hours of the morning for seminary and school. Everything is more relaxed.

But, as my last child headed off for his senior year of high school the other day, and my husband and other kids were off at their various jobs, I found myself wandering around the house with little to no direction and ending my days for several days feeling unproductive and almost a little bit lost. I then realized I hadn’t written out a schedule for a couple of months.

So, I printed out 4 of my weekly templates and got to work writing down the things that needed doing. I wrote down goals that I wanted to pursue as well as things I could work on throughout the week for upcoming markets and classes. I got back to the regular chore schedule so that I can make sure everything is getting done and not compounding day to day.

I then jumped in. Over the last year I have found that if I have a schedule and I work on the things I need to each week, that I feel more at ease and at peace. I actually have more time for spontaneous adventures and I feel more productive. I end my days feeling comfortable with what’s been done. I like the weekly schedule because I can see where I can adjust things ahead of time if something more pressing comes up, so I don’t have to stress about what I feel like I should be doing instead.

My weekly schedule is pretty simple. There is a place for the date range, space next to each day of the week for that days more structured schedule, and a spot for things that need doing that week but not on any particular day or time, just needs doing. Everyone needs something different from a schedule, but if you’ve never tried one, I would encourage you to try for a while and see if it makes a difference in your life.