Intentional (grace filled) Planning
Create a plan.
Offer grace to yourself every day.
Make a choice.
As we enter day 16 of our family quarantine due to COVID-19, I find our days have slowed down. WAY down. In so many ways, it is a welcome breath of fresh air to the busyness of life. A newly discovered gift of slowness. (Forced upon us, but still a gift.) We spend our days reading, watching tv, completing puzzles, and playing. The to-do list seems less pressing because the deadlines are now fluid. After a few weeks of fully embracing the slowness, I look at the to-do list and the wish list of future projects, and I wake up. The truth is that the two weeks of slowness and stillness are a gift, but perhaps I am not fully taking advantage of this time. Perhaps what I need is to find a way to combine the slowness with tackling the creative projects and spring cleaning. I don’t want to sacrifice one for the other.
A few months ago, I developed a way to manage my daily schedule. I needed to include several things into every day:
manage the household
work on developing internship program
spanish language learning
complete an enneagram coaching course
research and develop my writing
write
intentionally develop relationships with our staff and friends in the DR
spend time with Hubs
support Zoey and Scottie
and somewhere in there, carve out space for personal priorities like spending time with Jesus, diet, exercise, reading, etc.
Years of creating and recreating to-do lists and waking up with good intentions often led to feeling like I failed because the list didn’t get smaller. Years of dedicating hours to my job and ministry, while my dreams and passions received the leftover energy and time. This desire to be intentional is imperative to having intentional, productive days, but it is just as important to create a way to offer myself grace within the schedule. Just because something didn’t get accomplished that day does not mean I failed. Grace given freely to myself is what encourages me every morning to begin again. To keep pressing forward.
Sunday, I created my schedule for this next week of quarantine. Each day contains my top 5 tasks, a few bonus tasks, and my personal priority list. I choose to look at this time of quarantine as a gift not a punishment. During this time, I want to work on some creative projects, practice my Spanish, and complete the Enneagram coaching course. I hope to create moments for Scottie and Zoey. Moments of play and laughter, and not moments of fear. I desire to spend time with Hubs dreaming, relaxing, and strengthening our marriage. Perhaps creating a balance between slowness and accomplishment is the ultimate gift because when this quarantine is over and life returns to normal, I want the intentional scheduling of my days to continue.
Interested in my technique for scheduling my days? To receive the FREE Daily Planning Sheets, complete the form below.
As always, I do not give any challenge to my friends without taking that challenge myself. It always starts with me and includes an open invitation for you to join me.
Create a plan.
Offer grace to yourself every day.
Make a choice.