Another week and I’m still struggling to get back into the swing of things. I think one of the issues I have is wanting to do too much. Everyone knows the statement of spreading yourself too thin and my caffeine crazed excitement for all things creative really does pull me in too many directions. I’ve been trying to cut myself out of certain groups and releasing myself from obligations, but it’s really hard to do. I keep trying to plan my schedule on a weekly basis, but continue to crumple up my planner pages in desperation. I was a project manager in a prior life, so scheduling is nothing new. Unfortunately, it’s a lot harder to schedule your own personal life and even more important, the whole reason I’m not a project manager anymore is because I didn’t like the regimented scheduling. It’s totally anal to try and account for all the seconds in a day. Even a more relaxed kind of project management system doesn’t really allow for the curveballs in real life. Living in Italy, I’ve learned to take it easy and enjoy the slow life. Even more, I cherish all those surprise and unplanned moments of the day with my family… you can’t schedule that!
As I crumpled up another failed planning of my week paper, even one that was bullet-pointed and vague, I realized I had to turn the tables. Sudden EUREKA! I don’t need to figure this out today! I probably never will even if I bang my head against the wall anyway. Let me just take it slow, day by day and see what kind of schedule naturally forms. Like reverse budgeting, because there’s only so many hours in a day. Instead of writing out ALL the things I need or want to do and trying to fit them into slots of the week, I’m just going to make a semi-priority list. Then I can just go through my days and see what I can get done as a weekly routine or daily routine. Adding one thing at a time, so my schedule slowly builds. It seems a lot less intimidating this way. For example, besides work and meeting those particular deadlines, my first daily routine will be to blog every day right here on tortagialla.com. That’s my first big thing, because it keeps me thinking, creating and sharing! I will be blogging each weekday on the following subjects:
- Mondays – inspiration, resources and links
- Tuesdays – let’s make something tutorial
- Wednesdays – freebie download
- Thursdays – creative workspace photos
- Fridays – thoughts as we go into the weekend
I suppose the only interruptions would be for super special series that I’ll release successively together 
That’s the “plan” anyway. Whew! I feel so much better after writing this post and sharing my thoughts. I hope you’ll be looking forward to my daily postings and can take something away from my build-a-schedule idea. We can always slow down a bit in our lives and schedules…enjoy the surprises and unplanned moments in your life! Ciao ciao and have a great weekend!
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14 Comments
I try to write a realistic list for each day, and then I give myself permission to revise on the fly as needed, because you’re right: life just isn’t that predictable. Sometimes the revisions are frustrating, but I still like having goals, and when I actually do cross everything off? Bliss!
Good luck to you!
Great tip…I think having goals keeps us moving forward, but we have to give ourselves room to break out when life takes over. I agree that crossing out a list feels wonderful…hehe!
I do a “staff meeting” once a week (with just myself) to get my brain in order, write a to-do list, and just stick to that for the week. But the whole nebulous “creative time” I allot myself usually ends up with me staring out the window and daydreaming or re-organizing my studio. I need to be more structured with my creative time- I bet if I had a schedule it would keep me more on track. Thanks for the idea
Hi Chel, what a great idea…to set aside time to think about your schedule…haha! Time to sort things out, I definitely agree on that!
I am one of the least organized people ever so lists and schedules and plans are just a foreign concept to me except for my blogging schedule – I’ve tried really hard to keep up my promise to myself that I will keep drawing every week and keep posting it to help me see how I’m progressing with that. So far so good, I’ve kept the promise going and I’m hoping to keep it going for a long time, we’ll see how it goes.
You’ve got a busy schedule going on here, I’ll be checking up on your progress
Hi Veronika! Well, not everyone has to be organized to function…whatever works I say. I think I have this weird tendency of wanting to feeeel more organized than I can really be…ugh! We’ll see how this all goes with everything else in life
But I know that I work better with the guidelines and goals…otherwise I’ll be sitting around drinking wine and staring out the window all day 
Linda!
Wow, you are ambitious : )
I think that schedules are great and they do help tremendously, and I think it’s wonderful to be able to dedicate your time to creating and sharing.
Thanks for your consistent visits to my humble blog : D
Hugs.
Maybe I am a bit too ambitious, but it seems minimal to me already..haha… thanks for stopping by!
Dearest Linda, i am one of those that always have too much as they say on my plate. I am too struggling with coming up with the right schedule for me. I do love the idea of having a schedule and believe that it could help me tremendously! Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts with us. I am learning from you!
Have a lovely merry happy weekend and love to you!
Hi Jacqueline…I totally know what you mean. I guess we are all still working out the routine and schedule and of course it might change ongoing as life changes. I’m glad my thoughts could help out, keep going forward!
linda i love the schedule idea i feel like i need this in a sort-of loose sway to hell me focus! like you there is so much i want to do:)
I hope this idea can help you…we’ll make it through for sure! Just a bit of fine tuning and slowing making progress
Thanks for stopping by!
Linda, my mom has a friend who will be traveling to Italy next week. She asked me to make a travel wallet as a gift for her friend and hinted that something that looks Italian might be nice. I thought you might know what sorts of fabric patterns or prints would be “authentic.” Any suggestions? Thanks!
Well, fleur de lis is actually a florentine symbol, so that’s a great pattern to use and there are lots of variations of what that can look like. Otherwise, anything flourishy with hints of gold or luminescent colors to be like the illuminated manuscripts. Also medieval shields and flags are common imagery, we have lots of medieval towns, so a lot of patterns come from that period. Otherwise, just use leather!