I can remember back to the time when I first had a baby and everything was about her. We did everything according to her schedule and were at her beck and call day and night. Because of this, we let some other things slide, like our marriage, date night and being mindful of keeping that intimate connection that we lost due to lack of sleep.

During one of my late night feedings, I remember reading an article about how to put the spark back into your marriage when you have kids. It said to schedule in that time on your calendar, so you don’t forget. That was actually one thing we never really had to schedule in but what it drove me to realize was the need to schedule our daily life now that I had another little person to take care of each day.

This was almost 10 years ago and before Luci was born, I never really used a calendar. My memory was really good probably because mommy brain hadn’t taken over yet. Then one year for Christmas, my mother-in-law gave me a giant desk calendar and I thought “What am I going to do with this? How am I going to use this on a day-to-day basis with the baby?” She and I really didn’t have much of a social life so it stayed pretty blank. I had no idea how much I would come to treasure it over the years once I started having more children.

When the barrage of children happened, we started utilizing the big calendar all the time then I added in a daily planner for myself and it kept getting more and more detailed as the years went on. I began color coding names, activities and work items, so I could keep track of everyone with a glance of an eye. On paper, our lives became organized and so did I.

Whether you’re a stay at home mom running your family’s activities or you are a work at home mom who has a business plus organizing your kids’ activities then it pays off in the long run to see everything in one contained space. Planning the week and the month is an easy thing to do but you have to remember to do it. Sometimes the weekly planning goes by the wayside and during those times, I’m less on the ball and feel anxious that I’m going to miss something.

On the flip side, on the weeks that I map everything out down to the minute, I am 100% more productive, can easily stay on tasks and feel calm about how the day is going. In turn, I am on track to meet the goals I set for myself at the beginning of the month, when I keep to the schedule. Distractions, like social media, are harder to sneak in because there is a set plan of what needs to get done and I like the feeling of checking things off my list. Besides, what could be a 4-5 hour work day could easily turn into a 10 hour day when you are winging it and that’s where the burnouts happen.

You lose track of the reason you set goals in the first place, no matter what they are. Let’s say you have some health goals you want to meet and you don’t have a plan for how to reach them, then the odds of success are slim. Not knowing when you’re going to exercise, how much water to drink and lack of meal planning will kinda sorta get you towards your goals. If you want definite results in some form or another then head to your local office supply store and grab a daily planner along with a giant wall calendar for your family. The great thing about those is everybody can see what’s going on for the week and get excited for plans coming up.

Once a month, I update the calendar as a whole and Sunday afternoons are my time to plan out our business schedule for the week as well as meal planning together as a family. We’ve decided as a whole that if we each choose a meal for the week then we are picking something we know we will like and then I don’t get overwhelmed with creating a new plan each week.

As weird as it may sound, the more organized you become, the more you have time for fun. When life is all jumbled up and disorganized, your mind spends it time focusing on what is supposed to be happening or worrying about forgetting something. But when you know your days are planned out, then your mind is free to relax and have fun!