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In Order Blog

Do You Know What Day It Is? Staying Organized & Having Fun in the Time of COVID

Have you asked yourself “what day is today?” more than once (a week) since you have been sheltering-in-place? The days definitely seem to merge into one another. Last week, a friend declared on his social media post, “From now on, the days of the week will be known as ‘this day’, ‘that day’, and ‘another day.’”

Parkinson’s Law states, “work expands to fill the time available for its completion.” If you have more time available to you, the task will take longer. When we have large expanses of unscheduled time on our calendars, it can be hard to be productive. Let me share an organizing secret with you: Schedule Your Time. Yes, even if you’re not working, or are home with kids, scheduling your day and your tasks helps increase productivity.

Time Blocking – start by blocking time for recurring events – meal prep; exercise; client work; homeschooling; laundry.
What’s Most Important? Figure out the 2 or 3 most important items to accomplish today, and schedule time to do them.
Buffer Time – Allow buffer time between meetings. In this COVID-stay-at-home environment, it’s very easy to schedule back to back Zoom, Slack, or GoToWebinar events with no break in between. Before you know it, it’s 3pm and you haven’t gotten up from your desk or eaten lunch. Pre-COVID, it’s likely you had to walk to another office or conference room, or drive from one appointment to the next, providing you with a much-needed break and a chance to stretch your legs.
Use a Timer – Use a timer to allocate a specific amount of time to a call or a task. Use a timer as a reminder of an upcoming appointment. I frequently set the timer on my phone to ring half an hour prior to a meeting so I have time to walk my dogs and refill my tea mug before the call. You can also set your timer as a reminder to take a break.
Integrate Tasks – Rather than having a separate “to do” list, integrate your tasks/to do’s into your calendar, and schedule time for them.
Schedule Fun! Make sure to build some fun into your day/week. Here are some ideas:

If you enjoy museums, consider taking a virtual museum tour.
The Guggenheim, NYC
The Louvre, Paris
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC
The Smithsonian, Washington, DC
The Vatican, Italy
• If you prefer cars to artwork, thanks to Google you can tour the National Corvette Museum

If animals make you smile, check out:
• The National Aquarium, Baltimore, MD
• The penguin cam at the San Diego Zoo is adorable as is the koala cam.

If space is more your pace:
NASA, Langley Research Center, VA

If you find you’re spending too much time sitting at your desk or on your couch, and want to build some fitness into your week, Peloton is offering a free 30 day trial membership with all sorts of classes. Even better, you don’t need to own one of their bikes to use it.

If you love to travel, here are some virtual sightseeing options:
The Great Wall of China
Hawaii’s Volcanoes

If you’ve been envious of your friends’ Facebook and Instagram posts showing them doing puzzles, but you don’t own any, here are two sites where you can do virtual puzzles.
Jigsaw Planet
Jigsaw Explorer

Want to continue your education? Maybe you’ve wondered what classes are like at an Ivy League college? Stanford is offering free virtual courses as is Harvard.

So, plan your day, plan some fun, stay organized, and stay safe & healthy.
If you need help managing your time or tackling an organizing project, In Order offers virtual organizing services. We also hope to see you in person soon!