Do you have a plan in advance of your day or do you let things just happen as they might?

Do you have things like chores, time to relax or meal preparation penciled in?

Even the best laid plans can get set aside when need be but if you don't have anything planned, chances are you're not going to get anything done!

How do you approach your day and how far in advance do you set things up? Do you sit down with your calendar/planner/phone each night and take a peek at the following day so that you know what's coming and there are no surprises?

How far in advance do you meal plan? Do you try and have a general MP set for the week or are you the type who is scrambling at 4:30 to figure out something for dinner?

Eh, increasingly, it seems like I "plan" my day around DD's schedule, which changes from week to week and, sometimes, daily!

DD submits the times she's available to work 2 weeks in advance and receives her work schedule the Friday before the start of the work week (she'll know this Friday, what days and hours she's scheduled to work next week). That's when she tells me what her schedule will be and I plan my comings and goings based on what time I have to drop her off/pick her up. I try to arrive 15 mins. prior to her work ending time, because, sometimes, she finishes 10-15 mins. early. Last night, for example, she was scheduled to work until 8:30 p.m., but she finished by 8:10 p.m.

My days tend to be quite structured in some ways, especially on the days I have to go to work - wake up at 5:30 a.m., try to leave the house by 6:30 a.m. (don't always succeed!), drop DD off on campus and go to the office. Leave office between 5:30 and 6:00 p.m., p/u DD and go home around 7:30-8:00 p.m. That is if DD gets off work before 7:30 p.m. If she's working till later than 7:30 p.m., I go home from work, and then, go for DD.

I generally don't schedule much in terms of errands and chores during the work week, because of our crazy schedules.

Weekends tend to be a bit "catch as catch can"! DD has gymnastics Sat. morning, 9:30-10:30 a.m. Which means, 9-11 is blocked off. The rest of my weekend schedule depends on whether DD is working on Sat. afternoon and/or Sunday. I fit in the laundry, grocery shopping, house cleaning, etc., around her schedule.

Fortunately, my work schedule enables me to have every other Monday off, and this quarter, at least, DD has classes until 5:30 p.m. on Mondays, so, very often, my Monday off from work is when I do the grocery shopping, banking, schedule appointments, etc.

Sometimes, however, I "plan" to do certain things at certain times and they don't get done because I am too tired! And so, somethings go undone.

Bless, I'm constantly astounded by your schedule and what you do get done.

I have always been a schedule oriented person. I tend to do certain tasks on certain days.

I make a to do list for the next day before going to bed each night. It includes small tasks, like taking meat out of the freezer & bringing in things like detergent from the garage, as well as larger tasks. The small tasks are included because I tend to forget them if they are not listed.

I have a "week at a glance" calendar which gives me a heads up for appointments & events. I also note things like when it's time to bleach the showerhead & clean the coffeemaker.

I usually plan meals around the weekly grocery ads. I have a limited number menus that DH can & will eat, & because I have limited space, I do a small amount of stocking up when there is a good sale.

I will include meal preparation on my to do list, if I need to start it at a particular time.

I don't put relaxation time on the list, but I have a habit of having tea time at about the same time each day. I have tea & a sweet & go through the mail. The tea & sweet make that task a bit more pleasant.

The past 6 weeks have been quite hectic with way more appointments & events than I like, so my normal schedule has been out of whack, & my house is showing signs of neglect. After next week, things should settle into a more normal routine, I hope.

I, too, am in awe of Bless. She packs more into her day than almost anyone I know!

i have an irregular sleep wake cycle. i never know whether i'll wake at 10am or 4pm. i have a list of tasks i need to get done and decide each day which ones i'll tackle. this week the biggie was taking in my earnings statement which had to be done before 4pm. b/c i was up early, i also decided to shop for a new dw.

today i had a dr appt and i'm getting my dw tomorrow. that will make a total of 3 early days for me this week. next week i have another dr appt on tue, so i'll catch up on sleep sat, sun and mon

mary

i loosely schedule the first 9 hrs from whenever i wake to working on errands and household tasks and reserve the last 7 hrs of the day for computer time

mary

Mary, it sounds like you have a plan which works around your sleep schedule. As long as it works for you, that is all that matters.

Although, I must admit that I am rather envious that you are able to accommodate your irregular sleep pattern! Believe me, the only way I manage to wake up at a certain given time is because I have TWO alarm clocks set to wake me up! How I wish I could sleep till I wake up naturally! But I can't afford that luxury. I'd probably sleep in till 10:00 a.m. or so, and that would never do! DD will miss her classes and I can't imagine my supervisors at the office will look too kindly if I came to work that late! Maybe one day, when I've retired!

Yikes, we were taught to use a 'planner' in high school and old habits are hard to break. I know it got me through university, that PT job and working for my dad. I still used a 'school planner' at the start of my 1st job where I finally twigged on to the professional planners that even had fold-outs for planning projects. Thanks to the brilliant ladies at GON back when I joined, it finally dawned that a day timer also helped keep household tasks on track. We have a basic M - F routine of tasks for us all which incorporates Maria's calendar to keep monthly & annual tasks from slipping through the cracks. 9 PM ETE still gets rid of our clutter from flat surfaces.

When our schedules were incredibly hectic meal planning was quite rigid as that had been my mom's system. For example the big, special meal of the week was Sunday, always a pasta dish Monday, plan-over/leftovers Tuesday etc. I now have a more flexible schedule so two weeks of meals primarily based on store loss leaders are not so day specific except Friday remains leftover buffet. I still prep dinner early in the morning or as part of 9 PM ETE as I find 5 - 6 PM is when my body needs a rest. I can pop dinner into the oven to bake and I need only make a salad and serve.

Summer meals tend to be protein incorporated into a salad, sandwich or BBQ and never seem to be at a set time.

Bless: I could never manage your schedule. Driving 2 hrs each way on the S. California freeways M - S would do me in. I can't imagine working all day followed up with a 2 hr. commute, cook, clean pet mom, laundry, chauffeuring and daily care of DD, shopping, banking and all your religious activities.

Cyd: When you list it all like that, it sounds like a lot! No wonder I feel tired when I get home and want to nap! But when I am doing it, I feel I am not doing enough, that I should be doing more! I feel I am not doing things correctly because I don't have a more rigid routine, when it comes to house work, at least. Things get done, and usually on time (when it comes to bill paying, etc.), but the elephant in the room is the lack of a set schedule/routine for doing them. "Go with the flow", I guess, is my MO.

Got up at 5:20 AM, got me a cup of coffee, caught up on my latest shows, swept the kitchen, gathered & took out the trash, sorted laundry, started laundry, cleaned off surfaces, dusted living room, swept living room, now time to make up the beds, clean the bathroom, clean the kitchen, do my paperwork, gather bills, and make my shopping lists & menus. And got company coming at noon. Too much to do today. How is your day going?