If you are like me, you are chained to a planner.
I have not one, but FOUR google calendars, and I keep a weekly and a monthly whiteboard calendar. Being organized brings me a lot of peace, so I embrace it!
I’d like you to take a moment a look through your schedule for the week. It’s probably chock full of meetings and appointments for work. Perhaps you’ve got your kid’s extracurriculars in there, along with a few things you are doing for your community. Those are all meaningful practices, but take a hard look at how many of those scheduled events are specifically about bringing more joy into your life.
Let me guess: You’ve got two hours free at the end of one week day where you’re planning on “doing something fun - maybe.” How long will it be until that window gets swallowed up by another task? How many of these appointments will go over, pushing everything further and further into that two hour window?
I know because I’ve been there. These days I’ve learned that I need to specifically keep appointments that are joyful. For me, seeing friends is really supportive and it brings a lot of levity into my life, so I put hangouts in my planner right next to all those important client coaching sessions and theatre rehearsals. By intentionally planning social time into my week, I am able to follow through on it without canceling.
My husband and I have regular dates that we are really specific about. We take the time to acknowledge when we need a date night, a date day, or even a date breakfast. We’ve learned to identify those seasons in life when we know we are both going to get busy and we schedule time to be together.
It can be a challenge to keep these more joyful appointments. I’ll admit, it makes me nervous to say that I am not available to reschedule a client meeting during my time off. Coaching is my job (I need to make money!) and I genuinely want to be there for people. But it is really important to me that I have a joyful life, so I make sure that I’m keeping that balance and doing those things that bring me joy outside of work.
Whether it’s working in the backyard with your significant other or grabbing some drinks with an old friend, don’t just be chained to your planner when it says you have to work. Let your planner hold you accountable for joy as well!
Originally published on Linked-In
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