My internship at Disney as a store operations intern (fancy name for ‘store host’) just started few weeks back. For the past week my work schedule increased dramatically. My work week went from a wee 4-6 hours a week coaching to a whopping 28-30 hours per week. To tell you the truth, I’m not used to it. This is my first time having a “part-time” job that require that much hours. I found myself getting used to planning my days weeks ahead.
This might be a tad excessive, but I now have 3 calendars in which I organize my week. The three consists of: My Disney planner, iphone calendar, and iCal from my macbook pro. Again, it sounds a tad excessive, but let me tell you why by showing you my normal daily routines:
I have classes everyday in the morning, in which my planner will always be with me. Writing things down during class is so much faster for me than typing it into my phone. When I go home, I type up the exact dates and events from my planner into iCal on my laptop. Then I take about 3 seconds syncing my iPhone with my laptop (God bless Apple). Later on that day, I head to work. At work, I don’t bring my planner around; It’s big, it doesn’t fit in my pocket, it’s just impractical. But guess what? I have my phone with me! When needed I can always check my calendar with my phone and add more stuff to it. Then if anything is changed, I sync my laptop with my phone. All in all, writing things down multiple times help me remember it.
I have come to the realization that organizing your day is very important. It’s been proven that you can get a lot more stuff done in a day if you write it down into an organized thoughts.
Here are some steps that I do to effectively organize my day:
1. “The list”
In case some of you forgot, few weeks ago I wrote about making an effective to-do list. An effective to do list is your foundation to creating an organized schedule. Creating an effective to do list includes prioritizing your list and making it happen. Like with any type of prioritizing, you list the important ones first. When you’re doing your listing, do nothing else except the listing. Set aside 20-30 minutes to think about things that needs to get done within the next few days, weeks, or months. Also here are some things to keep in mind when prioritizing your list; final dates, how long it’s going to take, where is it, how big is it, just to name a few. Every events, have different things to keep in mind.
2. Divide and conquer
Once you have an effective list, decided how you want to divvy up your schedule. Do you want to plan days ahead? Weeks ahead? Hours ahead? (I wouldn’t suggest you do hours...) Months ahead? Remember to not go too far ahead. I personally go by weekly planning. For example, If you have a project that is due in a couple of weeks, divide that project within the next two weeks. Don’t let everything build up to just a day before. That would take away the idea of planning! duh! I know many of you works well under pressure, but let me assure you, working under less pressure is taxing on the mind and the body.
3. Write everything down
If you feel that you’re going to forget something, chances are... you will forget it. So always write down everything! Even if it is a simple task. By writing it down, you will record it in your head. You know one of those feelings that you get like you’re forgetting something really really important? Well, if you have your things organized and written down in your planner, you can get rid of that feeling by going over your planner.
4. Make a habit of checking
Once you have everything down, you have to remember the things that you put in your planner/ organizer. You can do this by making a habit out of checking your organizer. You don’t have to check it every half hours, maybe check it every few hours or when you fee like you forgetting something. By checking your organizer and making sure your day-to-day list is getting done you will be able to use your time more efficiently. anyway, it defeats the purpose of having a planner if you never look at it.
Dude, as far as organizing I cannot live without post-its... (desktop post-its as well). Have you been coaching since the end of high school? I had my stint last year with girls and boys JV volleyball but it kept me so busy...
Posted by: Andy | February 18, 2008 at 12:33 AM
Habit of Checking is huge! So many times I write something down and never see it again. Hows the disney internship going for ya?
Posted by: Ronnie | February 18, 2008 at 10:37 AM
good advice
Posted by: david | February 18, 2008 at 10:13 PM