What makes a Living Schedule different?

Most people make a schedule for everything they do once they leave their homes.  A Living Schedule accounts for your entire life, from when you wake up to when you go to bed.  While following a schedule may sound too rigid - it’s very freeing when you know all your wants and needs are accounted for.  You also have permission to deviate from the schedule when needed.   

Setting up the schedule has many components,  but it will help you manage your daily schedule.  Getting everything you want and need to get done regularly takes time.  The Living Schedule includes rest, play, work, recreation, social and free time.  No more FOMO or missing out on any part of your life (unless you never follow it!)

And even if you don’t strictly follow it,  that’s ok sometimes.  Nobody’s perfect.  The purpose of a schedule is that when you fall off the schedule or an obstacle or emergency arises,  you know where to step back into your life.  You can readily see and evaluate what was missed and re-schedule or make up as needed.  

Here are the parameters: 

1. Set a bedtime for yourself and a daily wake-up time.  Everyone needs a regular sleep schedule.

2. Add prep/hygiene, meal, and travel time based on how soon you need to be somewhere.

3. If you have a different schedule on different days, try to get up at the same time every day and fill that time with something else.  If sleeping in is your favorite thing - designate a day for it.  

4. Enter all fixed points (set default travel times based on location):  classes, meetings, and appointments, including haircuts, laundry, fitness, and nail appointments.  Regularly plan for these important things.

5. Create study/prep times each day.  Create or designate a study/prep space to support that demand outside your room.

6. Block out your social times.  Guilt-free fun is the best kind.  Allow for parties and a late morning the next day.  

Include in that schedule a comfortable lunch break; breaks to walk around the office; bio breaks; refreshment breaks - that way setting up two hours in the morning and 2 in the afternoon to work quietly maximizes your productivity and allows you to be available and social with others.  

Other things that you can do to help yourself:  

*  set the schedule above for yourself

* keep task lists in a central place

* Only check email before and after your work times

* set a weekly meeting with yourself to get ready at the beginning of the week, plan tasks, activities, due dates, etc, and then set a similar one for the end of the week to review the past week.  This also helps you keep work at work by putting a beginning and end of the week with all the week's info reviewed and planned.  

If additional help is needed,  My Life Tutors can guide them through significant transitions or on an ongoing basis until they have developed their Executive Functioning Skills and are fully independent.    

Check us out at Life Tutors http://mylifetutors.com  Or book a call here for a free consultation.