Does your schedule feel out of control?  Do you get to the end of the day, week, month, year, and think “I wish I would have had more time for ___”, or “I don’t have any time to spend with ___.”  I did too (and still do at times)!  And while I won’t try to pretend it works perfectly every time, I’m going to make one small suggestion in an effort to take back control.  

It’s so easy to become swept up in the mix of work, school, kids activities, and housework that you lose all control over your schedule and end up feeling like you just can’t seem to make time for the things that really are important to you – and for a balanced life.  

At the end of the day, week, month, was your time spent on things you and your family value and need most?

One of my favorite sayings is “if you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” 

I probably like it because I’m a natural planner, but I see it played out over and over again.  When I don’t make a plan to be intentional with my time, my time is stolen away – along with the opportunity to be intentional.

While there are so many directions one could take in suggesting ways to help you take control of your schedule, I would like to suggest just one today – focus on making a plan for each month.  We’ve all seen social media images of colorful picture-perfect white boards used for planning. While some may use a white board, mine looks nothing like that.  In fact, mine is pretty ugly, but it serves a wonderful purpose – being intentional with, and safeguarding, my time.

To put it in very practical terms (because that’s the way I like things), at the very end of each month, I begin putting together a plan for the next month. 

As I start filling in my calendar, I take the following steps:

1:  Add primary commitments, including things like doctor’s appointments, board meetings, and family gatherings.  I don’t include the non-negotiables like work and church. Those are the same every day and week, so I already know where they are.

2: Next, add secondary commitments that have set days and times to the schedule, like kids’ sports games and practices.  While these have been added at this point, they may get erased if an item of greater priority needs to go in its place.   While I believe it’s important for my kids to be a good teammate and fulfill a commitment to a team, if there is a sibling’s birthday or once-a-year chorus concert, those items are going to cause a sport to be erased every time.  We do things as a family – and that’s important to us.

3:  Add events that are of top priority, but flexible as to when they are scheduled.  Knowing my family and our priorities, some of these include:

• A monthly game night, movie night, and date night with my husband (Eventually, I’d love for this to be more than just monthly).  
• A focus on scheduling time outside in nature – whether that’s a nature walk, a bike ride, or trying something new. 
• A focus on relationships – through one-on-one dates with our kids, taking time to spend quality time with our parents, whether it’s celebrating their birthday or having them for dinner, or scheduling time together with another family we want to get to know better.  
• Striving to complete a monthly random act of kindness, which can be done in a variety of ways.  
• Having fun – with at least one day reserved for a fun family outing.  

This sounds easy enough, right?  But our issue is – we can’t do all of these things and have all three of our kids playing multiple sports.  Therefore, we do our best to limit sports, while giving our kids exposure to activities so that we can find their gifts and interests.  We determine what is most important to us and then we don’t let ourselves feel guilty for not keeping up with the pressure to fit in. 

We’ve decided as a family we can’t attend every birthday party, baby shower, graduation party or other event we are invited to, but we will make our best effort to be at the ones for those that mean the most to us.  It’s about building strong relationships with those we’re closest to, rather than making an effort to attend for fear of missing out.  

However, we do need community.  I encourage you to be intentional about planning to spend time with friends and families that hold similar values and interests.  We all need a community that makes each other feel better after time together – spend more time with those people.

As you begin this exercise, the overriding goal is to think about what is going to fulfill you and your family as you go through the month instead of draining every bit of energy from you.  Think about things this way:

• Is your schedule harming any of your important relationships?  
• Are your kids asking for more time at home?  
• Think about what isn’t working, and be committed to making a change.  
• Do what is right for you and your family – which will look different for each family.  

And may I even be super daring and suggest scheduling one, two, three, or maybe even four days for rest?  Rest is hard for me, but I know it’s incredibly important.  However, even rest can look different for each of us.  Rest for one person may be a nap, while rest for another may be a long nature walk.  We’re all so unique – isn’t that awesome?

I challenge you today to not try to keep up with the rest of the world, but to protect your schedule and guard your time to make sure your family is functioning in a happy, peaceful, and well-connected manner. 

And I encourage you to find joy in not only taking control of, and being intentional with your time, but seeking ways to use your time to bless others, which in turn, I believe will bless you.  Throughout all of it, take time to connect with those you love.   You’ll never regret what you gave up in the short term when it means you and your family are more at peace and well-connected in the long term.  And…HAVE FUN.  Life is meant to be enjoyed – plan to have fun with those you love.

With intention,

Drew