Do you feel like you never have enough time in a day? That is the story of my life, cough cough workaholic here. Recently I’ve been working 60-80 hours per week between my jobs and let me tell you it’s been a whirlwind but I am loving every single second of it. I know it’s crazy how busy I stay, but luckily I have found a balance between working insane hours and maintaining a social life! I’m here to tell you how I do it! In today’s post I’ll be sharing 6 ways to stay on top of a busy life!

-Write It All Down!

I’m not kidding when I say that my calendar is my lifeline. Having such a busy life requires me to write everything down-even scheduling in meal and shower times. Having a written out planner helps me to remember all that I have to do and also keeps me from wasting time. If I don’t write it down it won’t get done. Typically my schedule is completely booked up 2 weeks in advance (which secretly kills me on the inside because I’m actually very spontaneous-but I’ve got to adult and that means planning-for now), even if that means writing in when I have free time or time for a date. In the same day I could be working all 4 of my jobs at different times in different places, so writing out the times of when I’m working is important to keep track of. Otherwise my life would be complete chaos. You may not be working a million jobs every week, your schedule may be simple and straight forward, regardless writing down a schedule for each day will help you to feel less overwhelmed when you are busy! I keep a written record in a planner that stays at home but I also keep everything in my phone because most times I’m on the go!

-Prioritize.

In order to keep yourself from feeling like you are drowning you need to prioritize throughout the week. Obviously for me, my work schedule takes first priority, but there are also other things that I prioritize like the gym, temple attendance, errands, making times for friends/dates, etc. Each week I decide how I am going to prioritize and what my main focuses will be for the week. For example, one week I might focus on taking the time to cook at home more and another week I might focus on staying caught up on laundry and cleaning. Sometimes the errands can wait, sometimes the errands need to be a priority. Use your own discretion in deciding what is important for you to prioritize and go from there.

-Save Yourself Time.

I am the queen of saving time. Some may call it lazy, but I call it effective. If you see ways to save yourself some time during the day, go for it. Some examples of how I do this are:

Ordering my groceries online-It’s incredibly convenient and saves me from spending an hour or two in the grocery store. If I have extra time I will order them and pick them up curbside at the store or if I’m crunched on time I will have them delivered to me. Plus this saves me from buying things I don’t need. I use smiths, costco and walmart. (Click the links to learn more).

Avoiding traffic-Another way I save time is by avoiding getting caught in traffic when I can. If I see there’s traffic on the freeway or a specific route I will take back roads or search for an alternative route.

Stick to the same area-If I need to go to the post office and the mall I will purposefully find an area that has both places. Basically I just want to be able to get all of my errands done in the same area, if possible, instead of having to drive all over to a million different places in opposite ends of town.

The point: If it saves 15, 20, 30 minutes…Do it. That’s time that you can use to run a different errand or time you can use to take a breather from your busy day.

-Remember You Aren’t A Superhero.

If only we humans had the capability of getting absolutely everything done on our list in a matter of moments, but we don’t have super powers. Reminding ourselves to take a break every so often is essential to being able to stay on top of a busy life. Sometimes we won’t get everything done that we need to and while we might feel defeated or stressed out we also need to realize that it will happen and it can wait. If I didn’t take time for myself or time to spend with friends outside of my hectic work schedule I would feel incredibly overwhelmed. Things will go wrong in your schedule or plans and you’ve got to learn how to go with it. Take a second to relax, don’t allow yourself to become a stress basket. You aren’t a superhero and that’s okay!

-Stay on top of it!

Staying on top of a busy schedule in life will always seem like a daunting task, but as you get into the habits of what works for you, you will feel like you can conquer the world. Figure out what routine is going to be most effective for you and stick to it. If you need to make lists, write it down, talk it out, do it! Hold yourself accountable. But never forget to take in life’s moments and all it has to offer! Enjoy your busy life and stay happy!