6 Ways to Keep Up with a Busy Summer Schedule

The lazy days of summer are often anything but lazy. Kids are home, activities are in full gear, trips and vacations are being scheduled. There are graduations and celebrations, visitors arrive and visits are planned. and the list goes on. So how do we keep up with it all? Here are some tips to bring the chaos of your summer schedule to order:

Keep a Schedule: Sounds obvious, but the more you pay attention to your calendar, the better you will be at not getting over-committed. Plan out all of your time. By adding everything to your calendar, you will really know if you are able to allocate the time to a new activity.

Choose Wisely: Don’t opt in for every social engagement or opportunity that comes your way. Be choosey about what you can fit into the schedule. Overcommitting causes stress and also leads to household clutter and chaos.

Set Notifications: We can’t remember everything, but our smartphones can. Set reminders and notifications to help keep you on track. I like to suggest two alerts: One the day before and another one hour before departure. Also, if calendar items have locations included, apps like Waze will alert you when it's time to leave which is especially helpful if they'll be traffic on the way.

Carve out Down Time: Down time is the best medicine to combat stress and chaos. Add time to rejuvenate right into your calendar. If you're constantly busy, you'll never have time to re-group.

Delegate:  You can’t do it all, so get help when and where you need it. Outsourcing help with things like organizing will definitely lighten the load.

Create a "Not To Do" List: If you’re busy writing "To Do" lists, consider writing down what you can eliminate to rid yourself of unnecessary chaos. There are always things we'd like to eliminate, but this is about what we can eliminate--be careful, they are different!