I often see comments here and in other places I am about how much I get done. Like most things you see online (or even in the real world) your view is, of course, skewed. You see what I do get done, but you don’t see what I don’t get done. You don’t see the millions of little choices I am making or sacrifices to make sure I carve the time to do the things I want to do. I have written about this before, but I don’t think we can ever be reminded enough. My life is far from perfect. I yell at my kids. I fight with my husband. I fail. I get rejected. I cry. I worry. I hover. I annoy. etc etc. I’m human after all. I think I am pretty good about being honest (and not too whiny) here but feel free to tell me if I am not. Not even for a moment would I want you to think I’m anything other than a flawed person struggling and trying to do her best each day.

I am also very lucky in that I have a patient husband who forgives me regularly and with whom I’ve already shared 17 years of my life. So he’s patient and kind with me. So are my kids. They play a lot on their own. They listen to my requests. They are easy going and kind. They forgive me when I mess up. They also don’t have a lot of activities or playdates so I am not carting them around all day. I have a full time job so I work a lot and while my job is flexible and wonderful, it supports our family and I prioritize it over activities and playdates during the week. I don’t cook. I don’t clean. I tidy up, run dishwasher and laundry etc but those do not take the same amount of time of course. I have no idea where my iron is and I haven’t vacuumed once since we moved here two years ago. I have a wonderful cleaning lady who comes every other week and I am deeply grateful for her and the time that grants me. I rarely talk on the phone and rarely do one thing at a time.

So all this is to say that I do a lot and I don’t do a lot of other things. It’s all about prioritizing. Having said that, I’ve recently had some major revelations about what helps me get things done. I’ve also realized getting things done is a really really big part of me. Something that makes me happy. Some people get stressed with deadlines and long todo lists. I am the opposite. I thrive on deadlines and get frustrated when I don’t have a lot to do. So I have found ways that help me get things done and I wanted to share with you in case any of you are like me. Here’s some of what works for me (these are not in order):

Schedule I am a strong believer of schedules. That’s why I have one here on the blog. I schedule my posts for specific days. It keeps me honest and it helps me schedule my tasks. I have daily, weekly and monthly schedules for things. For example, I weigh myself every Wednesday. Or I take family photos right after I exercise each weekend day etc. I find that scheduling a task makes it more real. It’s like a meeting. If it’s on my calendar, I show up and do it.

Organize Similarly, I make lists and organize myself daily. For the last two weeks, I’ve been writing a personal and a work todo list every night before I go to bed. This way, before I wake up and face that day’s disasters, I already know what needs to get done and I can get up and get one thing done before I check my mail or do anything else. During the day, I check off items and anything that didn’t get done moves to the next day’s list. (if it still needs to get done. sometimes they are moot by then.) I write my lists by hand but that’s cause i like to. I used to do them on the computer. I like the feeling of pen.

Do Anyway I wrote about this in the newsletter. I learned not to wait for inspiration to strike. If I scheduled something or if it’s on my list. I do it. I don’t wait to feel like it. I just sit and do it. Almost always a few minutes into it, I feel like doing it. So now, I just do it. No matter what.

Figure out the Frog I figure out the one thing that has to get done. If I did only one single thing on each list, which would it be? And then I do that first. For personal, it’s always exercise. If my exercise is done for the day and I dropped the ball on everything else, it was still a great day. The other thing about eating the frog first is that it puts you on a roll. It gives you a push and an adrenaline. So then you’re pumped and ready to get more done. So when I make my lists, I always identify the frog and underline it.

Choose Wisely Time is a limited asset. Not everything is going to get done. So I prioritize my life according to my personal goals. I don’t cook because I don’t like doing it and I don’t want to spend my precious time on it. I feel like as long as I give my family a nutritious meal, it doesn’t matter if I cooked it. I use that time to do art, to read to my son, etc. It’s personal to me. Some people love to cook. It calms them, it’s bonding time, etc. That’s great. I don’t judge at all. I just think you should spend your time on your own choices. Not what you think you should do or what you feel guilty about etc. We all have things we have to do but we also get a lot more choice time each day than we’d like to admit. Choose wisely.

Discipline This is one of my strongest assets. I am very disciplined. Sometimes I want to read longer but I remind myself that it’s time to move on to something else on my list. It feels hard to tear away from the book, TV, game, whatever but everything on my list is something I cherish so once I start the next thing I am always happy. I just need to keep myself disciplined. I also work before I play. So I exercise first thing. Then I can relax and have my coffee. I read to my son before I read for myself. Etc. I try to stay very disciplined and focused.

Hold Yourself Liable And probably the most important one is that I hold myself liable. I value my tasks and make sure I do them. I look at my scrapping, reading, exercising, etc the way I look at my tasks at work. I would work hard not to disappoint my boss and I work hard not to disappoint myself. I set my goals and then try to have high integrity, even if just to myself. No one will care if I stopped doing my art journal. But I will and I value that as much as I would if it were someone else. If a task is becoming cumbersome, I revisit that priority and reassess. I might change it. I might even scrap it. But it’s always a conscious decision.

And remember, I fail often. These are just things I try to do. When I succeed, they are what make me succeed so I wanted to share. I hope this was helpful in some way.