5 Tips to Better Manage Your Busy Schedule

Sometimes life can be quiet busy and we can easily get sucked into the infinite number of  things we have to do on a daily basis. Managing a busy schedule may sometimes seem as a big task on its own. With all of the responsibilities, the obligations and the expectations, it may even become so overwhelming over time that it causes us to feel anxious and becomes a major source of stress and frustration in our life. Between managing our personal and professional affairs, we find ourselves trying to make it all work, all at once. Unfortunately, more often than not, we end up wearing ourselves out and that can eventually impact our productivity, our motivation and our well-being all together.

Nonetheless, that is why learning to better manage a busy schedule is an essential ability to develop and continue to work on as we evolve both on a personnel and a professional level. If you are someone who generally has a lot on their plate and have to keep up with your busy schedule on the daily, here are a few tips that could certainly help you.

1. Make a to-do list

Writing things down black on white is a great way to first get started. In fact, making a to-do list of all the things you have to get done helps you see your tasks concretely and allows you to free your head of that information. It also allows to organise your thoughts and to keep track of your tasks. As you go through that list, you can cross off these tasks one by one and move on with you day with a feeling of accomplishment.

2. Keep an up-to-date calendar 

One of the best ways to stay organized and manage your busy schedule is to keep an up-to-date calendar. Not only does is allow you to have an overview of all your activities, but it also motivates you to plan out your week or month according to your needs. Keeping an up-to-date calendar also allows you to evaluate how flexible you are when comes the time to deal with urgent or last minute projects. If you make an effort to keep up such a calendar, you can certainly use it as a reliable tool in your life to make plans for small and big things you want to see come to life.

3. Prioritize

Sometimes, we might have so much to do at the same time that it seems too overwhelming to deal with in one day. Your to-do list may start to get longer by the hour and chances are you will probably not be able to get it all done. That is why learning to prioritize is a good skill to acquire. You first start by assessing the importance and urgency of each task you have and then assigning it a priority. This way, you can focus on what matters first, and take care of the other items on your to-do list at a later more appropriate time. Prioritizing is an excellent way for you to learn to become more productive and more importantly efficient in your work.

4. Delegate

One thing for sure, contrary to what we would like to think, sometimes it is simply impossible to do it all, and that is absolutely normal. We can easily get caught up in our ways and put more weight on our shoulders than we can handle. Often, that ends up doing more harm than good in the long run. Learning to delegate is a good way to lighten the burden sometimes. As you go over you busy schedule and your to-do list, take the time to see what tasks you can delegate to your colleagues, team members or partners. This way, you are dividing the workload to efficiently manage you time and energy. Plus, it helps build trust between team members and allows you to grow together as a team and count on each other to become more successful.

5. Take a break

Managing a busy schedule is often daunting. The countless hours, resources and the amount of energy you have to put in to reach your goals can be very draining physically and emotionally. That is why it is absolutely essential to make time for yourself, and only yourself. You are allowed to take a break from it all once in a while. Actually, you should even schedule that into your calendar. Take the time to breath, to live in the moment, to recharge and most importantly to appreciate the lessons from your losses and celebrate your wins big and small.