You can have the best laid plans, but they can still get laid aside.

I love a good routine. A consistent schedule. Knowing where I’m supposed to be and when to be there.

I do NOT like when those plans get changed. Especially when I had *just* confirmed them.

But it is bound to happen at some point and it’s important that you know how to handle those types of things.

First of all, give yourself grace.

I recently had a three week period where I knew my schedule was going to be a mess. It was ok though because I KNEW it was going to be messy. I had accounted for it and was using all the time management tools to make sure the things that *needed* to get completed were prioritized. I got through those three weeks and returned to being intentional about getting back into my routine. We all know that once you’re off your routine, there’s a transition to getting back into the swing of things… So here I was, trying to get back to my normal…which was already going to be different because I’m going to be a Soccer Mom for the next two months…but I was trying to find normal again.

Day 1 – Begrudgingly turn off the alarm (NO SNOOZE!) on a Sunday morning. Roll out of bed and make coffee. Sit in silence and enjoy it in peace. Hop in the shower when hubby’s alarm goes off and get ready for the day… Church. Grocery. Lunch with friends. Play date for the kiddo. (Is it still a play date when they’re teenagers??) Send email to customers reminding them about the #PlanWithMe that night….after creating graphics for said email. Follow up with hostesses. Take a break…and a nap. Leader call. Workshop video. Host Plan With Me – work on happy mail. Chat with hubby about schedule for the week. Watch tv with the hubs. Finally go to sleep.

Day 2 – No snoozing again. Coffee. Read while sipping on the coffee. Time to get to work (day job). Lunch time consists of talking to kids about school. Wrap up the work day. Then… Enter in the “joys” of small business ownership.

You can already guess this isn’t going to be anything actually joyful, right?

Hubby comes home briefly and totally blows up the schedule we had *just* discussed the night before. He needs me two nights a week at our restaurant…and not just this weekend. Mind you, I’m not good for much at the restaurant beyond dishes, serving items from the case, and checking out customers… Then he comes back at dinner time (so thankful he has taught our kids to cook…Nick-ster took one for the team and made us pork chops and steamed broccoli) and tells me that we have a private event the next night…and could use some help so that he’s not there all night. I had *just* scheduled a Crafternoon for my community for that night. *face palm*

Suffice it to say, with all the competing priorities, I only have ONE night a week for the next two months or so to run my business…workshops, community events, meetings, etc. Just one night. (Ok, technically two, but the second is Sunday and I’m not willing to add more to that day that I’ve already committed to doing.)

I’m not even 48 hours into a new schedule and it’s a mess already! What do I do?

Well the first thing I did was make a face. 🤣 Apparently. 🤷🏻‍♀️

And then, because these are things that are beyond my control and are rightfully moving up in the priority list, I accepted it for what it is and came to terms that things are just going to be crazy for a bit.

I might want to pull my hair out.

Ok, I definitely want to pull my hair out.

But I also know that it’s time to put on my big girl panties and just deal with it.

Grace upon grace upon grace, my friend. For you, for your significant other, for whomever or whatever caused things to go awry.

Alright, alright. I get it. I need to give grace. All the grace. What’s next?

Brain dumping.

Yep, we are going to just take all that junk that is rolling around in your head and put it onto paper. Whether you use a journal or our actual Brain Dump Insert, you’re just going to let it all out. Whatever you’re feeling. The stress and worries. The frustration. Whatever you are thinking about. (Also, I highly suggest making time for journaling during stressful times…it’s a HUGE help!)

Write down the things that you know that need to get done. From the little things to the big things, just get them down onto paper.

This exercise will free up brain space to actually find solutions to the problems at hand because it won’t have to rely on your memory…you can always refer back to your notes.

Then you’re going to work on taking the tasks from your brain dump and prioritizing them.

Highlight the things that MUST be done (and must be done by YOU). These are your non-negotiables.

Use a different color (or color coding dot) to identify the things that you should get done but the consequences are not severe if they don’t get done this week.

Use a third color to mark the “nice to have items” – things that have zero negative consequences if you aren’t able to complete them.

Here’s the fun one – find the items that you can DELEGATE and put those onto a sticky note with the name of the person you’re assigning the task to.

Last step with the prioritization – ELIMINATE! Yes, my friend! If there’s something on the list that can be done NOW in a matter of minutes, just go do it. Stop reading this and GO DO IT!

I have my list….but how do I fit it all in?

Are you ready for some magic?

Ok, I can’t promise that everything will work out perfectly. No matter how hard I try, there’s only 168 hours in a week…so there are limits to how much you can do! Recognize that and when you need to bring in others to help, do it!

When I know that I have a TON to get done but I don’t know how to make it all fit together, I like to use the Hourly Weekly Insert to map out my time. Pretty sure this one’s going to be in my planner longer than I had anticipated… This is a great insert for Time Blocking!

Time blocking will help you control your time instead of it controlling you.

Thinking about what you need to accomplish, map out your day with set time blocks for tasks. If you know that you need to work your day job from 8-5, but aren’t exactly sure what you’ll be doing in that time, just draw a box around the time. Once you’ve outlined your blocks of time, you can start adding in the tasks that you need to accomplish during that block. Taking your list of to-do items from your brain dumping exercise, try to batch like-items together and find space in your time-block to fit them in. Don’t forget to account for travel time if you have meetings – but consider whether you can make phone calls (safely and following all local hands-free laws, of course) or listen to professional development podcasts while you travel.

If you’re like me, you can use washi tape and stickers to add a little more sass to yours, as well as color coding your time blocks so you can see at a glance whether you’re supposed to be working on your business, or family tasks, or even when you’re supposed to be doing something for self care! It’s times like this when you are over-worked and stressed out that you should be intentional about ensuring you leave space to take care of YOU too.

Think things might continue to change? Yeah, me too… That’s why I will often use Frixion erasable pens when I’m doing this exercise. It allows me to easily move things around and not make my planner pages look like a hot mess!

Now, take a deep breath. It’s going to be ok.

You aren’t the first one to have your perfect plans have to be laid aside for the real world. You will make it through! And by “you”, I mean “me” because I’m definitely feeling a bit stressed at the moment! I do know that it’s going to be ok, though.

Before you get back to reworking your plan, tell me which part of this was an “a-ha” moment for you!

After that – it’s time to get back to making those best laid plans friend. Repeat this process as often as you need to. And remember – the best laid plans sometimes need to be set aside.