Hi friends! Hannah, from I Heart Planners here! Being quite the expert on feeling overwhelmed, (just ask my husband) I’ve developed a few “tricks” to help myself out, and I want to share those with you!

When I think of overwhelming days, I think of two different kinds of days.

1. There are days when I have REALLY big things going on such as: a big project at work, a big school event, company coming over, a church activity, etc. Sometimes more than one of these lands on the same day. On these days, I am responsible for getting myself ready, my kids ready, our meals done in advance, attending the event, getting home and recovering from the event… extra laundry, extra stuff, exhausted kids, etc. You get the idea!
2. Then there are days that initially don’t seem overwhelming because I don’t have anything “big” scheduled. However, those are the days that I tend to pile on all of those “little things” like emptying the dishwasher, catching up on laundry, meal planning, washing sheets, cleaning bathrooms, empty my email inbox etc. All the little things that get left for the days “without a plan.”

Somehow these two totally opposite kinds of days, both leave me feeling overwhelmed. So, I’ve tried to figure out how to manage, not only my days, but also that overwhelmed feeling! Here’s the tricky part though. I don’t just want to NOT be overwhelmed. I want to be NOT overwhelmed AND I want to be productive! My goal is to manage my time better, so I can accomplish more with this day that I’ve been blessed with!

I have three tips for you! Two out of three are things that I do in advance when I see overwhelming days approaching on the calendar, and the last tip is for when those overwhelming days sneak in when I wasn’t expecting them! So here we go…

TIP #1 – Plan Out My Days

I bet we have a couple eye-rollers out there who are thinking, “Of course you are going to tell me to use a daily planner. This blog post is on getorganizedhq.com.” A year ago, I would have thought the same thing, but give me a minute to explain why I’ve come around. I used to be a hardcore weekly planner. I honestly felt like daily planning was a waste of paper and a waste of time for me because I didn’t have enough going on every single day to warrant using a daily plan every single day. I felt like my to-do list was too repetitive. I thought, “I’m putting LAUNDRY on my to-do list every single day. That can’t be worthwhile.” However, after hearing a couple ideas from Laura, I decided to give daily planning a try, and wow am I converted. I am so much more productive when I go into my day with a plan! When I write out my daily schedule plan, I write out ALL THE THINGS. I write out every little item and every big item that I would like to accomplish during that 24-hour period.

(Side note: I will often still use a weekly layout to get a good overview of my week, as a whole, but I use the layouts totally different now that I have a daily plan.)

The overwhelmed side of me hates the feeling of going to bed and not feeling productive. I counter that overwhelming emotion by actually writing out, “Load of Laundry. Fold Laundry. Put Away Laundry.” Instead of just putting “LAUNDRY” on my list, I separate it into the three separate tasks that it is. Here’s why: At the end of the day, if I washed and dried my laundry, but I didn’t get it folded or put away, the rule follower inside of feels like I can’t check off “LAUNDRY” but I can honestly check off “Load of Laundry” and feel satisfied with the task I was able to accomplish without allowing the unchecked boxes to define my emotion.

Here’s something VERY IMPORTANT to remember: A productive day is not defined by how many tasks are checked off my to-do list. The tasks I decide to give my time, determine if I am using my day wisely.

I used to look back at a day full of “little tasks” and wonder, “Did I even accomplish anything today?” because I felt like I have nothing to show for it. However, now that I have my to-do list, and I have “little things” checked off, I can look back at the end of the day and feel confident that I was productive and used my time well.

Planning my days is also helpful because I also know when I have those BIG events that a lot of time, energy and effort is going to be taken up in that task. So, if I have a big event, I will write that on my daily plan, but I will also write all the smaller tasks that it takes to accomplish that one big event. “Lay out clothes. Get girls dressed. Pack diaper bag. Etc.” I also try not to forget about all the tasks that come during the recovery period such as, “Unload the car. Unpack diaper bag. Wash clothes. (If the laundry was an immediate need.)” On days with big events, I’m certainly not going to be putting tasks like, “Clean the guest room” on my to-do list. That’s an unreasonable expectation to put on myself when I know that my time is already going to be taken up with something of a higher priority (hint for Tip #2).

Planning my days has been a total game changer for me personally. A daily plan not only helps me BE productive, but at the end of the day, it helps me FEEL productive.

TIP #2 – Determine Your Main Priorities

This tip is also something that I do ahead of time when I see overwhelming days on the horizon. You will notice on my daily plans that I always have a special section set apart from my regular to-do list with 3-5 things listed out. (Depending on the printable, I use the NOTES section or the MAIN PRIORITIES box.) This column is not just my wish list of things that I want to get done, but it is a list of the things that NEED to be done or there will be some sort of negative consequence. It’s the things that are going to keep me up at night if I don’t get them done. Everything else goes on my regular to-do list, and it is a second priority. Here are some examples: I recently was part of a diaper focus group, and I had to go pick up the diapers from a location. I had a limited time window, and I wouldn’t have any other opportunity to go get the diapers. This was a main priority. Another example: If I haven’t done a load of white laundry in 5 days, and my family is running out of underwear, then washing and drying a load of whites is going to go on my main priorities list. On a normal day when laundry is caught up, and everyone has plenty of clothes to wear, laundry does go on my to-do list, but it is not a main priority. If I haven’t gone grocery shopping, and we finished up the milk yesterday, I know that my husband isn’t going to have milk for his cereal tomorrow morning. Grocery Shopping is going to jump to my main priorities list. You may see these as extreme examples, but I think you understand the idea. I’m extremely intentional about prioritizing 3-5 tasks above all the rest and making sure if I don’t accomplish anything else, at least those things are done. I treat my to-do list as a wish list. These are things that I would *like* to get done, but at the end of the day, if I didn’t get to them, I can let go of the guilt because I know that I used my time to get done the things that were most important.

REMEMBER: A productive day is not defined by how many tasks are checked off my to-do list. The tasks I decide to give my time, determine if I am using my day wisely.

TIP #3 – Use a Focus Mode Sheet

This tip is unique because this tip is when the overwhelming feeling sneaks up on me. I didn’t see an upcoming day as overwhelming until it hit me. Instead of letting the overwhelming emotion control my productiveness, I have started using a Focus Mode sheet to help my brain do just that… FOCUS. I use this printable two different ways depending on the day!

The first way I use this printable is if I'm looking at my day as a whole. I start by writing “BREAKFAST, LUNCH and DINNER” on the first bullet point of three different sections. Then I pick two different tasks that I want to accomplish between each meal. They could be kid related, house related, cleaning related, computer related, etc. Of course, I must make the tasks reasonable. I can’t expect to both clean the entire first floor AND accomplish a huge grocery trip between breakfast and lunch. It just isn’t realistic. Set yourself up for success and choose two tasks that you know you can accomplish and write them down between each of the meals.

Just like the main priorities box in Tip #2, this tip helps me prioritize my to-do list, and keeps me away from distractions that are seemingly a good use of time. Here’s an example: Maybe I really need to focus on emptying my inbox, but when I walk in the office, I notice the shelves are dusty. I’m tempted to run and grab a cloth to clean them quickly, but with my focus mode sheet, I have intentionally determined that I need to give my time first to my inbox, then if I have time leftover, I can dust the shelves. Sometimes I use my time to accomplish productive things, but at the end of the day, if I haven’t used my time to accomplish the things that I really needed to do, then I’m going to feel guilty. I only have so much time, so prioritizing the things that I need to get done today is a helpful way to ensure I’m using those precious hours wisely.

The second way that I use this printable is on days where I’m not overwhelmed until I am presented with a huge chunk of quiet time that I know I need to use productively, but I have too many tasks staring me in the face. I often find myself running in a circle around my house. I start in the living room putting stuff away, but I get distracted by laundry, and before I know it I’m circling the house gathering laundry. Then I find myself needing to dust off the bedroom night table because that needed to be done, and as I cross into the living room to get my dust cloth, I realize I never finished picking it up. Anyone else ever done the circle?? I end up not tackling any one area well because I’m too busy jumping to the next task that pops into my brain.

If I have that big chunk of quiet time, I glance at my to-do list and pick the top three things that I want to get done. Then I write those down and ignore everything else. I turn down my phone (because that’s a huge distraction for me, and that’s not the best use of my time.) After those three tasks, I do a check-in! I check-in on my phone. I check-in on my kids. I get myself some water or a snack, and then I start all over with another three things from my to-do list.

Planning is so personal, so my tips might not work exactly perfect for you, but these are three things that really help me handle overwhelming days and still end them productively. It’s important to me to have productive peace in my life. Tasks and to-do lists are just part of being an adult, but I want to handle them wisely and with as little stress as possible.

REMEMBER: A productive day is not defined by how many tasks are checked off my to-do list. The tasks I decide to give my time, determine if I am using my day wisely.