Creating a Schedule
Life Map a.k.a. Calendar
In addition to scaling back on some of my time commitments, one of my multitude of goals for 2022 is to do an even better job of balancing my life. A strategy that helps me when life is getting a little too crazy to manage is to create a calendar for myself. On it, I map out what days I work on which area of my life including teaching, studio practice, building my company, family and personal well-being. Any calendar will do but for me I like to use a dry erase board formatted like a calendar. It is a great tool, I picked up at Pottery Barn several years ago. This allows me to reuse the board each month and adjust the schedule as needed.
When creating a ‘life’ map which is what I call this calendar, I include all the things that require time. Writing it out helps me ensure that I am managing my time and making room for the things that are important to me such as studio time. Visually mapping out these tasks helps me compartmentalize each area so that when the day comes, I know that I can focus on certain things and not worry that something is falling through the cracks. Once I’ve completed all that is listed for that day, the time that is left is open to whatever I want to do, this ensures that in addition to being productive each day, I’m also building in time to relax and do additional things that bring me joy, like gardening or reading a book or spending time with the family!
A typical week might look like the following:
Monday: Teach, Blog (which is related to building my company), Practice French, Work Out
Tuesday: Teach, Workout, Practice French, Paint or Research for Painting, Teach at ASLD
Wednesday: Teach, Workout, Ceramics open studio, French
Thursday: Teach, Workout, Practice French, Paint
Friday: Teach, Workout, Practice French, Work on Palisade Posh
Saturday: Ceramics class, Clean-house, Workout, Practice French
Sunday: Church, Workout, Practice French, Garden
Depending on if I have random errands or appointments, I will work those into the schedule as well. The greatest advantage to creating a life map like this is that it makes sure I schedule in creative time which can very easily be consumed by other things like work or family responsibilities etc… By writing down which days I will work on which studio projects, it ensures that I will carve out that needed time to work in the studio as everything has its place on the calendar. This allows me to accomplish a great deal during the week and helps me live a more balanced and joyful life!
