When and how to update your time management plan

Confession time again. Here’s a big one, folks. 

In the past few months, I have really been struggling with productivity. And I hate it. I hate not being where I want to be for the year. I should have already finished the book I’m writing. I should have done another draft of the nonfiction book. And there’s the book I wrote last year for Nanowrimo that I’d really like to be editing right now. Then, of course, there are all of my other responsibilities that are slacking. 

A recent change in my day job schedule forced me to sit down and look at how I’ve been spending my time. And I realized that I had to make some changes. 

Now, what do I mean by a time management plan? This is the way you schedule your time and the tasks you need to accomplish. 

My time management plan worked for a long time. These days, it’s not. So it’s time to make a new one. 

There are a lot of reasons why your time management plan might not be working for you anymore. So it’s a good idea to consider how you’re doing things every six months or so. Here are some reasons your time management plans might have to change. 

Your priorities will change

Life changes. You change. Your priorities are going to change. Maybe you’ll get a new job or promotion. Maybe you’ll be inspired by a new life path. Maybe your family grows. Maybe you feel like you’re being called to do a different kind of work. 

Whatever the reason, your goals are going to change. your priorities will change. And that’s good. 

Your obligations will change

Some changes to your life are ones you cause intentionally. Some changes are totally out of your control, but now you’ve got to deal with it. 

Maybe your family grew in a way you weren’t expecting. Or you have a loved one dealing with an illness. Maybe you yourself have fallen ill. 

There are any number of ways life can start asking more of you than it did before. Some are blessings. Some aren’t. All need to be taken into account. 

Your goals will change

When I started working on AA, my goals changed. My workload changed. When I decided to drop everything last year and write a completely standalone novel for Nanowrimo, my goals changed. When I realized I had three novels and a podcast season sitting unfinished on my desk, my goals changed again. (To finishing them!) 

When I realized that I was miserable most of the time, as I did recently, my goals changed as well. 

As your goals change, what you do to meet those goals will have to change. 

Your energy level will change

This is the one that’s really been getting me. I just don’t seem to have the energy I used to. I don’t have the patience I used to. Part of that’s getting older, I’m sure. Part of it’s being angry at the world and majority of politicians. 

But this, honestly, has been what’s dragging me down. And I’m sorry to say, it’ll probably happen to all of us eventually. And while that sucks, it’s just part of getting older. 

When you’re rethinking your time management style, it’s important to be realistic. Consider not just how many hours you have in the day, but when your good hours are going to be. 

Here’s what I did when I realized I wanted to redo my time management. 

Step one: Pull out a planner or a virtual planner. Start by filling out out all of the requirement on your time that you can’t change. For most of us, this starts with our day jobs. School and work obligations are usually not something we control. So that goes in first.

Next, consider when you need to rest and commit time to self care. You need to sleep. You need time to cook meals and make sure you have clean clothes. You need time to play, to have completely unstructured time. Even if it’s just taking thirty minutes during a day off work and not planning anything for that time, that is so important. 

Now you have a better idea of how much time you have to focus on your passion projects. And yes, even after all this time, writing is still my passion. So, when are you going to work on your passion? 

I take an hour of writing time in the morning before work. This is pure creating time, not time spent on social media or other business writing work. 

I spend the evenings with my husband and pets, caring for our home and each other. 

So, when does the writing business work happen? Well, I’m blessed with two days off a week, so I spend one day working on that. Social media graphics, marketing, submitting, all those good things. I do try to get some writing done that day, but I try to keep everything at no more than five hours. 

The final day of the week is spent taking care of my home, spending time doing fun things with my family and running errands. 

This is all a lot slower than it used to be. I need time to write for pleasure and therapy. I need time to read for pleasure too. Hell, I’m a witch. I need time to contemplate the moon. I need to take my dog to get his nails clipped and stop for coffee after. In short, I need to plan my life so that I have time to live it. And when I take some time to update my time management, I allow myself to keep living well. 

Don’t forget, I just updated my Preptober Planner for the new year! Check it out now on my Ko-fi shop.