Summer brings us long days and warm nights, outdoor picnics and road trips—unstructured and spontaneous. August flies by in a flash and September hits us hard with work projects, appointments, school schedules, and family events—structured and stressful!
How can we ease this transition and maintain our sanity? By taking each day, one at a time. We all have good and bad habits when it comes to managing our day, but the key to getting it all done (or enough done) is to simplify and stick to three easy rules!
First, identify all that needs to be accomplished and list in order of importance. Begin each day with a good cup of coffee or tea and determine what must get done today. Don’t make other people’s urgencies, your priorities. Develop your plan and stick to that plan no matter how many people attempt to get you off track.
Social media is fun, but do you really need to know that your friend Karen is having a bad day? Eliminate time-wasting activities that don’t bring value or quality to your life. Keep disciplined throughout the day focusing only on your goals.
And thirdly, delegate. At work, don’t take on responsibilities that belong to others; trust them to do their jobs. At home, kids are very capable of small simple tasks and spouses are more agreeable with the words “will you?” and “please”.
Summer’s easy pace doesn’t have to end on August 31. By practicing good habits – identifying, eliminating, and delegating, it will be a breeze to maintain that Summer mood all year round.