Daily To Do List to help stay on track with habits and goal setting

 

I have to be honest that I have struggled with creating new habits that I want in my life and sticking with the goals I set because life gets in the way, especially with 5 young kids.  There are nights when I’m up all night with a sick child and I’m too tired in the morning or days that the twins are having melt downs and I spend my day trying to manage that.  I always have good intentions, but inevitably, something happens and I have to practice this thing called flexibility instead of sticking to my plan 😉  Enter my new DAILY TO DO LIST that has changed my life over the past month.  In fact, one week, I purposely didn’t use it and everything went back to the way it used to be until I started using it again the next week.  It is helping me keep my New Year’s Resolutions and keep up with habits that sometimes get forgotten in the busyness of a day.

I looked and looked for a calendar that would give me what I needed but nothing did and so my husband finally bought me a week at a glance calendar a couple of weeks into the new year.  Its what I had used in the past but it hadn’t been giving me what I fully needed.  So, I’m using it to write my appointments and things I need to do each day, but I’ve added my new “every day” or DAILY TO DO LIST to each week so I can mark items off throughout the day, feeling accomplished every time I check mark a square, and stick with my goals.  If you want to use it, here’s the Xcel spreadsheet so you can adapt it to your own needs and goals.    I’m not proud of some of them, so please don’t judge me!  Most of these were things I did either on a semi-regular or occasional basis anyway, but having the list helps me to get back on track if that pesky flexibility issue gets me — which pretty much happens to me every day 😉

So, honestly, it sounds like such a simple idea but if you’re having a hard time reaching your goals, remembering to help your 2nd grader study spelling each night, or just creating better habits, give it a try and I’d love to hear if it helps you.

Tips for Creating Your Own List:

• Just print one copy and make notes on the back throughout the couple of weeks you use it.  The next time, edit it to add or remove items.  The list I’m using now went through a couple modifications and will probably change again as I see other needs in my life throughout the year. 
• Tape it to your calendar — I tape it on the side so I can open it up like a page and still use the calendar that’s underneath it. 
• Gray out any spaces that you don’t need.  For example:  I don’t exercise on Sundays, so I just grayed out those boxes so I don’t feel the need to fill them in with a check mark.