Organization is Key

If you’re anything like my husband, the title may scare you. His official motto has become “tentatively plan to play it by ear”. We could talk for days why this doesn’t work, but I’m going to keep it simple. For success with consistent workouts and eating healthy, planning plays a large role in the success of how that goes, which my husband does have a consistent and very routine workout schedule so we applaud him for that. We stay busy and fill our days with endless tasks. Our to-do lists are longer than what our day allows to be done. We plan our priorities. I have spent an entire day cleaning with the intention that in just a few minutes, after I finish this one thing, I will work out. Do you think it happened? Nope. It is difficult to stay on track when life keeps coming at ya! Here’s how I like to do it most days (I mean I’m definitely not perfect here and things happen!)

I plan to not play it by ear. I schedule workouts, meals, and in general I have a plan for the day. Granted that plan can change based on what comes up, but for the most part I know how the day is going to go. Organization has played a huge role in staying on track for me with goals inside and outside of living healthy. Here are ways I stay organized.

I plan, like use a planner kind of planning. I haven’t been able to fully convert to electronic calendars. I still love having my planner and being able to write in pretty colors. It’s what works for me, but if it helps to have it on your electronic calendar, keep up with things there. In my planner, I typically have meals, workouts, keeping up with posts. My planner is for outside of my day job, because I have my own electronic calendar for that.

I build time into my schedule that works for what I need to take care of, for example working out and stretching afterwards (very important to make time for a proper cool down!!). I’ve learned how long it takes for me to workout and cool down as well as other items in my daily life. Learning these things has helped me plan and organize my day based on these tasks. If I’m making a more complex dinner, I’m not doing a strength workout because that’s my longer workout. I will plan a walk/run for about 30 minutes.

Keep it realistic. If I need to pick my kids up 45 minutes after I get home, I’m not squeezing a workout in. I will use that time to prep something for dinner, research, or whatever I need to do. I don’t have enough time to warm up, workout, and cool down then travel to pick them up. I would just be setting myself up for failure and rushing, which I do not enjoy. Same for when I get up in the morning. If I want to workout, journal, and get going I need to allot that time and give myself ample time to do all that. That means going to sleep at a decent time because I’m often up earlier on the weekends (I love my quiet time in the morning!)

I’ve learned this is how I keep up with everything. When I don’t plan, I eat not as healthy, I don’t keep up with my workouts, and I feel more chaotic. I don’t like feeling disorganized, so I’ve taken the time to learn these things about how I work best. Don’t get me wrong, I still don’t get it right all the time, so please don’t get frustrated when things don’t go as plan. Be flexible and adaptable, but at least have the ground work laid to set yourself up for success. I know sometimes it seems impossible, but it comes with prioritizing and trying different things. I'm constantly adjusting and trying new things to see what works.