In today’s post we’ll chat thru…

① Why FREEDOM is FOUND in STRUCTURE.
② How to REFLECT + PREP for the month ahead.
③ Mapping out your MONTH + setting a few intentional goals.
④ And how to incorporate TIME BLOCKING to help you achieve more while also feeling FULFILLED + REJUVENATED.

LET’S DIVE IN. 🖤

Hey hey SISTERHOOD community! I’m pretty pumped for today’s blog and I know it’s gonna have so. much. value. bc it came STRAIGHT. FROM. YOU. In a recent conversation with one of my besties we were talking about how FRUITFUL our years have been so far. It’s wild…she hosted a VISION PARTY at her house in the middle of January and when we were looking back on all that we’ve both done in our journeys this year it was so crazy that NONE OF IT was alive when the year started. She started a breath work + cold therapy business that at the time wasn’t even really a thought…in fact, she was simply testing out cold therapy for 30 days after seeing the impact it had had on her husbands life coming out of the military and for me…I hadn’t started my podcast or The Sisterhood Membership at the time. We were simply holding onto tiny seeds of faith that the next right thing would emerge for us as the year progressed. As we were chatting I shared that I really felt like this has been one of the most productive years TO DATE when it comes to putting my head down and doing what matters most. And when she asked me about HOW I’ve made that possible…a lot of the answer had to do with my calendar.

I know TIME BLOCKING might not sound like the sexiest topic we could talk about in this space but I really feel like there's tremendous FREEDOM hidden in how you structure you day. We often associate structure and routine with limitations, but friends repeat after me…

THERE IS FREEDOM IN STRUCTURE.

By creating discipline in your life, you can profoundly impact your mental health, reduce stress, and boost productivity. More importantly, structure is a game-changer for setting and actually achieving your goals. So many of the women I work with are left feeling overwhelmed, chronically busy, and like they aren’t making much progress towards anything that matters to them. When I ask about HOW they are spending their time…usually it’s reactionary. And so today I want to breaking down how we can use our calendars and time blocking out our months + days to help us achieve more and feel fulfilled along the way

Let’s dive in. 🖤🤟🏼

1. REFLECT + PREP FOR YOUR MONTH.

Before we get to the week to week and the day to day, I have to start with how I look ahead at my month. At the end of every month, it’s POWERFUL to PAUSE and take a moment to reflect and connect with yourself. It’s a simple routine I literally WRITE into my planner at the end of each month so I can give the time + attention I need to this process. If you’re reading this in real time…pause what you’re doing and WRITE THIS INTO YOUR CALENDAR sometime during the last week of the month - “MONTHLY CHECK IN MEETING.” I promise that this process sets the stage for effective time blocking.

Here are a few Q’s I ask myself 👇🏼

▫️What are your current goals? If you haven't set them yet, it's time to define what you want to achieve.

▫️What are you proud of/celebrating from the past month? Acknowledge your accomplishments and practice gratitude.

▫️What hasn't been working so well? Why is that? Identify areas that need improvement and understand the root causes.

▫️What got your time and attention? Is it in alignment with your goals? Evaluate your priorities and ensure they align with your objectives.

▫️What have you been consistent with that is benefiting you and your goals? What have you been consistent with that is not benefiting you and your goals? Recognize your consistent habits and their impact on your progress.

Then. I take a moment to PREP + VISUALIZE for the coming month. A few Q’s I use to help guide me are:

▫️What would progress LOOK + FEEL like THIS MONTH? What would FULFILLMENT look + feel like, too? Visualize your desired outcomes.

▫️What are you committing to THIS MONTH? What is a solid GOAL? Set clear personal, professional, and self-care goals.

▫️What new habits and routines do you need to implement to better support your vision? Identify necessary changes to align with your goals.

▫️What plans/responsibilities are coming up? What obstacles might get in your way? How can you prep for those ahead of time? Anticipate challenges and plan accordingly.

2. MAP OUT YOUR MONTH.

Okay…now that you have some CLARITY on what’s working and maybe what needs a little tweak or shift in the coming month, it’s time to do a birds eye look at the month ahead. I want to help you SEE THE BIG PICTURE so that you can live with INTENTION all month long. Before I get into TIME BLOCKING my day I have to know what’s getting my YES on my calendar, right? This step helps you align your time blocking strategy with your real-world commitments and responsibilities.

Here's how you can do it 👇🏼

First grab your calendar and open up to the next month and write down any significant events, trips, or occasions that are scheduled for the upcoming month. This includes birthdays, work meetings, social events, holidays, trips, kids sporting events or school functions…all the things. Understanding these commitments helps you plan your time effectively and avoid last-minute conflicts.

And here’s the thing. This SOUNDS SO SIMPLE, right? But how often do we let the simple things slide? It’s so easy to set aside a day at the end of the month to do this and it’s also really easy NOT to. But I promise you that doing this is going to create so much FOCUS for the month ahead. And it’s hard to know where you’re going if you don’t have FOCUS surrounding it, right? this is where the STRUCTURE will actually lead to freedom. So don’t skip this step.

3. SET SOME GOALS.

Now that you’ve reflected on the past month and have a general overview of your upcoming month, it's time to set some goals. Each month I like to think thru WHAT I’d like to do to move the needle forward…both personally and professionally. I look at relationships that matter. I If you need some help in the goal setting department, check out a previous post I shared about how to use The S.W.I.T.C.H. Method™️ for goal setting. But in general…here's how you can approach this 👇🏼

Personal Goals: These might include health and fitness goals, self-care routines, personal growth goals, goals for your relationships, home, or spirituality. Setting clear intentions for your personal life ensures that you're nurturing your well-being. I like to consider relationships I’d like to nurture. Routines that maybe have turned into ruts…that need a little sprucing up. How I want to move my body this month or care for myself - mind, body, and spirit. I also look at projects I’d like to complete around the home or memories / outings I’d like to schedule into the season. This is where that question from our prep + visualize exercise comes into play…

What would progress + fulfillment LOOK + FEEL like THIS MONTH?

Professional Goals: Okay I know not everyone following along is a business owner or content creator. But setting professional goals can be really helpful…esp if you’ve been feeling a little flat. Back when I was a teacher…goals didn’t feel all that fun to set. Benchmarks and test scores felt like the only drivers of my success and that didn’t feel right for me. It also felt like a lot of goals were out of my control in that industry so I never really set goals in my work until I became an entrepreneur. And if that’s you…if you can relate to that feeling…maybe the goals don’t have to be forward motion.

Asking yourself how you want to FEEL at the end of day and setting boundaries around your time might be the goal.

Or maybe it’s not bringing work home or practicing saying NO.

Maybe the goal is to plan an out of work hang for your co-workers once this month to get to know one another better.

Or it could be that you ask for the raise you know you deserve this month.

Shoot. The LACK of professional goal setting could even be an indicator that maybe it’s time to start making pivots in what you’re doing and that’s okay too!

Here’s the thing. There’s no one size fits all to this. But the key is AWARENESS. If you lack awareness then it’s really hard to take action. So these first few steps - taking a moment to get honest with yourself thru reflection + visualization, mapping out your month…where you’ll know what you’re giving your TIME to, and then setting some goals…all of this is DATA for you to make the next right move.

Remember that in these first steps…messy action is a MUST. You won’t be perfect. You might reveal a few things you’re not proud of. And it might be hard to come face to face with our reality. And I get this. I’ve lived this out AND I’ve seen it time and time again. Women come to me desperately wanting change and then a few months in decide to go back to living the life they had begged me to help them break free of.

Like it or not…change comes with resistance.

One of the reasons we get stuck in goal setting + truly where we give our TIME to is because we set the goals…we set the intention…and then we treat them like Genies in a Bottle…like the intention is enough. Like the goal is enough. Not really, friends. Intention is GREAT. Goal setting is amazing. You know I preach about it all. the. time. But it’s not enough. Your good intentions won’t create your dream life. Your goals written in a dusty journal won’t manifest themselves. It’s in the DOING that our intentions become a reality. It’s in the ACTION that we move from goal to goal. So let’s dive into the LAST STEP…the part where we actually DO THE DANG THING.

4. TIME BLOCK WEEKLY.

If you’ve never heard or tried time blocking, it’s basically a way to direct your focus throughout the day that involves breaking your day into distinct blocks of time…each dedicated to specific tasks or activities. Time blocking is a highly effective method for simplifying your weekly planning and it’s something I’ve done for YEARS. It helps me stay focused + intentional with what gets my time and making sure I find a BLENDING of all the things that matter to me. I sit down on Sundays and create a GENERAL TEMPLATE for the week (most weeks look the same)

Let me break down how it works 👇🏼

① RECURRING BLOCKS.

Start by blocking out anything in your week that is RECURRING, such as morning + evening routines, work, meals, classes, workouts, kid’s drop off or activities, and church. Let’s say you work 9-5 Monday thru Friday, block those hours off each day and write WORK in the middle. You can even include buffers before and after for commute time, if necessary. Next I like to look at what I eat and those times. If you have specific schedules for your kids, this is where you can include those (like dance class on Wed from 5-6pm). I literally make a skeleton of my “normal” week and inside each BLOCK of time, I write the activity I’ll be doing.

I want to note here that my morning routine + workouts get WRITTEN into my planner every week. I don’t leave that to chance or hope for it in the cracks of my day. I’ve learned that if I don’t first take care of ME in the day then other things will hijack my time AND I will also lack the motivation as the day lingers on. Even though I might not “want” to get up in the morning and show up for myself…I always know I feel better and that it’s an appointment I made with myself.

② ADD IN EXTRAS.

Add in anything “extra” from your monthly map. This is why I said it was KEY to map out your month earlier bc at this point you can refer to your monthly plan to understand any extra commitments that might throw you for a loop. This is where I add in those meetings, events, trips, holidays, etc and give them their proper place on my calendar.

③ GET INTENTIONAL WITH YOUR GOALS.

Okay. But it doesn’t stop there. At this point you should be able to see CRACKS IN YOUR SCHEDULE and this is GOOD. What I allow in those cracks is where I see REAL PROGRESS in my life. This is where I add any activities that would help me achieve my goals (from step three) and/or help me FEEL FULFILLED + REJUVENATED.

First let’s talk about goals. I’ll use real examples from last month. I wanted to make sure that my husband got a space on the calendar in a fun way so this was where I got intentional with planning date nights. I also knew that see my friends + family when I went to Austin was a priority so it’s where I made sure that I arranged dinners ahead of time so people could plan ahead. It’s why we started our DIY Fireplace project and it’s why I painted the door on our home. Everything that got my attention was first a GOAL + INTENTION I set for myself. I don’t hope I’m a great friend or wife…I make sure I show up to be so. I don’t simply wish I had a beautiful home…I make sure those projects get a space on the calendar. I don’t cross my fingers and pray I’ll have time to workout…I pencil it in every. single. week.

But second…goals don’t have to be the only thing that fills cracks. Hear me say this…

YOU ARE ALLOWED TO HAVE FREE SPACE ON YOUR CALENDAR WITH NO PLANS OR PEOPLE TO FILL IT WITH.

The cracks are where I can check in with myself and see what TRULY needs my YES. Maybe the project was really important to me but I got sick and need a moment to rest. Cracks allow for this. Margin allows for this. Maybe you had a really though week at work and you just need an evening of nothing. Cracks allow for this. Margin allows for this. It’s not always rest, but man…do I feel extra grateful for the margin when I need the rest. And it’s the REST that allows me to get back up and do MEANINGFUL WORK…ACHIEVE MY GOALS…and LOVE + SERVE OTHERS WELL. I learned this year that I don’t work so I can rest. I rest so that I can do meaningful work…so I can hit my goals. The super power of my time blocking isn’t a perfectly planned day. It’s cracks. It’s margin. That’s the secret.

✨ BONUS TIP ✨

Stick to Your Schedule. Seriously. You spent all this time and effort reflecting, prepping, setting goals, and making a game plan. Honor that stuff. View each block of time as sacred appointments with yourself. Minimize distractions during these periods and do your BEST to be present in the block you’re in. If it’s work…be at work. If it’s date night…be at date night. If it’s your workout…be there. As best as you can bc we know life isn’t always going to be “perfect.” At the end of the week, when you’re prepping to time block out your next week…reflect on your past week and make tweaks as necessary.

JK…ONE MORE BONUS TIP 😉

I know I talked about weekly meetings to block everything out, but I know that day to day things can shift and so one last tip for you before we wrap up is to take 5 min at the end of EVERY DAY and check in on your blocks for the following day. Get your mind prepped and ready for what you have ahead of you so you can wake up FOCUSED + INTENTIONAL for how you’ll meet the day and show up to your blocks.

Okay…not the world’s sexiest topic but man has it been a GAME CHANGER in my life and I just wanted to pass this little gem of knowledge along to you…bc these are the things they aren’t really teaching us in school, amen?

Taking a breath to pause and reflect on how things are going.
Visualizing what a successful month ahead could look + feel like.
Mapping out your month so you can make the memories + fit in what/who matters most.
Setting some goals so you have something MEANINGFUL to work towards.
And then getting focused each week by blocking out your time and placing boundaries around what gets your ATTENTION.

It’s powerful stuff friends. Maybe not the first time you try it…but when you can come BACK to this over and over again? It’s those consistent reps that you start to see the real progress. And I love that for you.

Last thing. I know it’s easier to have a template to go off of so I created a FREE time block template that you can download HERE. Steal my time blocking schedule for the week and tweak it to make it relevant for YOU. Oh and then tag me on social bc I wanna celebrate you! I truly believe that structure and routine offer the freedom to live life on your terms. By reflecting, connecting, and using time blocking, you can simplify your life, reduce stress, and increase productivity. And with a clear plan in front of you, you'll navigate your month, week, and day with purpose, nurturing your personal growth and self-care journey. And that growth? Well that looks so freaking GOOD on you, sis.

STEAL MY TIME BLOCKING TEMPLATE + A BLANK PLANNER TOO

Remember. I’m always rooting for you and I can’t wait to hear + see how this topic is inspiring you. Do me a favor and screenshot this and tag me @inspirebeautybritt with your light bulb / fist pumping moments so I can celebrate WITH YOU. 🖤🤟🏼

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