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One of the things I never wanted to give up in life was my spontaneity.  In fact for years I fought against scheduling in my life.  I had a job that demanded much of me and to be honest I loved it.  During my working day I did not have to worry about a schedule.  My plate was full and the schedule was pretty much laid out for me.  When I wasn’t at work I didn’t want to be bothered with scheduling anything.  I wanted free time.

The idea was great, or so I thought, until one weekend when I was at home.  There are things one has to do at home… like laundry, grocery shopping, etc.  The weekend passed me by and the laundry was not done.  By Sunday night I was on a plane heading for my next speaking engagement.  I stopped to purchase underwear on the way to the airport.  My underwear was still in the laundry hamper.

Believe it or not, I felt rushed the entire week.  Somewhere in the back of my mind I was thinking about the undone laundry.  I learned a valuable lesson sometime during the week.  I needed to schedule my time, not work time… but my time.

I found myself feeling much like a robot when I returned home.  With a created “to do” list I set out to accomplish everything that had been left undone from the previous weekend.  It was a “bad” weekend.  Friends were going boating and I had to decline the invitation because of last week’s dirty laundry.

A schedule was the answer.  Laundry became a Saturday morning activity.  Once the laundry was washed, dried, and folded I had free time.  Not only was my time freed up but so was my mind.  That was the key.  I no longer had the nagging thought of dirty laundry waiting for me.

Creating a schedule eliminates procrastination if we take action.  In fact, I created a habit over time.  Every Saturday morning I got up early and did the laundry.  That left my day free to socialize with friends.  I could actually enjoy myself because I wasn’t thinking about what I should be doing and I was guilt free.  We have all felt the “guilt.”

While most of us work on a schedule of some sort, with so many of us now working from home it is easy to make our days a blur of getting nothing accomplished, of completing no tasks and starting too many tasks.  We create frustration and feelings of failure.  All this can be eliminated by scheduling our daily tasks. 

Perhaps, the idea does not seem very appealing at first.  However, over time… and it will take time to develop a habit… we will find that we can accomplish more and have free time to enjoy ourselves.  Free time with friends or free time to read or whatever you wish to do is important.  We all need that time for ourselves.  It is the time when we rejuvenate our minds and bodies. 

The suggestion for the day is to create a schedule and work the schedule.  Chances are you will find that you can rearrange your activities in such a way that you will actually have more free time.  Give it a try.