Oh hey there! Today I thought I’d share some actual footage of me trying to get through 2019 as a new mom of 3 running 2 businesses…

Basically, it almost killed me but in all the best ways possible. 2019 was the year that I hit a breaking point and had to learn how to SLOW down. No more hustling just for the sake of it. No more mindless busywork. No more scrolling and comparing (oops, still did that one but working on it).

It was also the year of seriously taming my schedule. Our tiny daily decisions are truly making up our lives, so I started becoming way more intentional with them. I changed my morning routine, when I worked out, when I checked email and even how I wound down at the end of the day. No moment was too small to lovingly infuse with intention and presence.

These tiny scheduling tweaks didn’t feel like much at the time but over the course of the year, they added up less work, more income and most importantly, more time and energy for my people. And the changes I made came down to 4 words: THEME, MARGIN, VACATION & GRACE.

Theme Days

"Theme days are saving my life." When I heard Emily P. Freeman say that on her podcast The Next Right Thing (please go subscribe immediately - it's truly one of the best moments of my week), I sat up and took notice. Like Emily, I have a lot of moving pieces to my work, and I want to nurture all of them without feeling scattered and stretched too thin.

I started applying general themes to my weekdays and couldn't believe the peace it brought. Yes, I accomplished more because I was batching my tasks. But really, the miracle was in the mental energy saved. I no longer felt guilty about not working on client work when I wrote my own content because I knew Friday was coming, and it was all going to get done.

Do you have multiple projects going right now? Or maybe life is just really full. My Monday theme is... LAUNDRY. And I kind of love it. I have a tendency to get overwhelmed with all there is to do, so starting my week with a mindless task that keeps my hands busy is the best thing for me (and for my family who needs those clean clothes).

Margin

I love a quiet Sunday afternoon with nothing but hot coffee and a fresh planner. I can dive in and schedule my days down to the minute with the best of them. And I've done that many times. It always feels so satisfying in the moment, and then reality hits.

Someone gets sick or a client needs edits or the baby is up all night, and suddenly my beautifully color-coded schedule feels more like a trap than a dream.

So what's the answer? I'm still working this one out but part of the solution is MARGIN. Blank space to think or catch up or just catch your breath again.

It's also where all our best ideas come from. Those moments in between our carefully-planned lives.

Plan Vacation Time

When you're just starting out as a business owner or freelancer, it feels impossible. The funds aren't there, and you already feel behind. I get it.

But maybe there are small ways to find rest amidst this busy season of life. If you're a naptime hustler, could you give yourself one afternoon per week to read or rest your eyes on the couch for a few minutes? Could you take the evenings off? What if you started planning a vacation that won't be able to happen for a couple years? The planning is half the fun, so start incorporating it now!

Grace on Grace on Grace

To wrap up our week of all things SCHEDULES, I can't leave out the most important part... Grace.

Grace with yourself when it doesn't work out. Grace with your people when they get sick or have tantrums or just can't keep themselves entertained for 30 freaking seconds so you can reply to an email.

Here's a pic of me super pregnant with Alice, hiding out in the gym locker room to finish a big client project. I had wanted to be done before the third trimester. I had wanted to use that gym daycare time to actually work out. Nothing was really going as I had planned, and I just had to accept the frustration and fit in the work where I could.

No matter how hard we work to plan the perfect schedule, if it involves humans, it's probably not going to work out the way you'd thought. And that is so hard for me to accept, and I'm figuring it out as I go. Just know that you're still doing a great job, even when the schedule goes out the window. There's always next week.

And now, I’d LOVE to hear from you! What small daily habits or tweaks have made a difference for you and your family? Send me a message carrie@carriemadormo.com - I can’t wait to reply back to you!