Back to School, Back to Pretty | Scheduling

The Back to School, Back to Pretty series continues today with the second installment.  If you missed the first post on goal setting, you can get caught up HERE.

Today we’ll be tackling scheduling.

It’s the bane of many a mom’s existence – the family calendar.  Ugh.  Ours is so full right now that I get heart palpitations just looking at it.  While the family calendar is essential for keeping up with everyone’s activities, I also keep a calendar for myself that’s even more important – my daily hourly schedule. Or as I call it, my Kick Butt Routine.  It’s how I get stuff done and make time to take care of myself.

One of the first exercises in my book Get Pretty, Kick Butt! focuses on getting into a daily Kick Butt Routine. This lays the foundation for everything else to fall into place. When I left corporate America and started working from home, one of the keys to organizing my life was to treat my week days like work days. I like to call it “keeping hours”.

THE POWER HOUR

Today I’m going to share with you one of the juiciest time management tips from my book – the Power Hour. If you’ve been around here awhile, you may have heard me talk about it before.  The Power Hour is one of the single most important aspects of establishing your Kick Butt Routine.

I can’t say enough about the Power Hour. The first hour of the day sets the tone for how the remaining hours will go. So I get up a full hour ahead of the rest of my family for my daily Power Hour. It’s my own personal staff meeting, a daily planning session just for me where I set my intentions for the day and get them down in my schedule. I use this hour to strategize how I can be most effective for that day. This includes creating my daily Kick Butt Routine – an hourly daily schedule which, in addition to work, includes time for my workouts, quality time with my family, personal errands, housework and “pretty time” for getting dressed and ready for the day. This is also when I read devotions, write in my journal and have some quiet time to reflect on what I have going on in my life. I like to wake up early enough to watch the sun rise. It’s the most peaceful part of my day.

“But Alison…I HATE getting up early!”

OK, OK, I hear you.  I was not a morning person either until about two years ago.  If you absolutely cannot get up early, then plan your Power Hour for the night before.  Make it the last hour of your day, or schedule it when it’s most convenient for you.  It could be the hour immediately after your kids go to bed.  It doesn’t matter as long as you’re scheduling it.

It’s Your Turn: Try starting your day with a Power Hour tomorrow morning. Use this hour to plan out your day and spend some quiet time.

Ready for more tips? Get the book available on Kindle!

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