3 Things I Swear by with a Busy Schedule

Balancing a full-time job with my blog and a photography business makes life pretty chaotic at times, but it also keeps things exciting! I often get asked how I do it all, and it’s something I’m continually trying to figure out and get better at. What I do know at this point is that I try to be as efficient and organized as possible, which doesn’t come naturally to me. As I’m getting better at navigating it all, I thought I would share a few things I swear by with a busy schedule…

The Right Undergarments

This may be an unexpected tip, but after years of hating and fussing with my undergarments, it’s a relief to finally have go-to pieces I can put on in the morning and not think about the rest of the day.

Working full time in PR and having two side hustles means I wear a lot of hats, but I try to do it all with grace. It’s important to me to feel good in what I’m wearing as I transition between roles and outfits throughout the day. When I purchased my first Natori bra last fall it was such a relief - I had finally found a bra that actually fit me. But beyond that, it was gorgeous and laid nicely under all of my clothing - no gapping, no bumps and lumps, no more ugly, plain designs. I was so excited that a few weeks later I bought one for my sister for Christmas! Now I’ve expanded my collection and I wear a Natori bra nearly every day. I have two of the Feathers design and also have the Flora (worn above), and love them equally (and they're so, so pretty). This makes getting dressed each day so much easier because I know my bra will be great under all of my outfits! Whether I’m at the office, taking blog photos or photographing a client, it’s nice to know my bra will take me through my entire day.

My Google Calendar
As much as I love my physical planner, I honestly couldn’t do all of this without my Google calendar (although I put it off for quite awhile). My work calendar is through Google, and now that I've moved everything else over I like that I can also have my personal calendar, work calendar, blog calendar and photography calendar combined in one place! I’ve found it’s the best way for me to keep track of everything because I always have my phone with me. Adopting this method has been key for efficiency and good planning!

Meal Planning

I’m no wizard at this (I know there are people out there who have everything planned out for the week down to their Thursday afternoon snack), but I’ve found that putting in a little time on the weekend to plan our meals for the week not only saves me time each day, but also helps us eat healthier. For example, if I have a photo session after work one day, then I know I need to have a meal planned that’s extra quick and easy or to plan a slow cooker meal. For my breakfasts and lunches I keep my fridge and pantry stocked with smoothie ingredients, eggs, salad fixings, and other basics I can mix and match quickly to put together a meal (check out my ‘clean eating’ highlights tab on my Instagram to see some breakfast and lunch ideas). 

I’ll do a dedicated post on this soon, but when meal planning I look at our schedules for the week, decide which nights I can realistically cook, and then plan a variety of meals from there. I like to do my meal planning and grocery shopping on Sundays for the most part so that I can enter a new week with a game plan and stocked fridge. Putting in a little time on the weekend makes my whole week run much, much smoother!

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What are some of your favorite tips for navigating a busy schedule?? 

Thank you to Natori for kindly sponsoring this post. All opinions are 100% honest and completely my own. And thank you to my readers for supporting brands I genuinely love and dream of working with.