Daily Schedules

With only so many hours in a day, it can often feel like time is slipping by with little fulfillment and an incomplete to-do list. Perhaps there is a mental wishlist of enjoyable things to do or goals to achieve, "if only there were the time". Well, with a little planning, there may just be enough time after all.

Step One: Lists

To create an effective daily schedule, begin with a blank schedule, one that shows each day of the week and the waking hours. Then create a list of what must fit into the schedule, things that should fit into the schedule, and things that would be wonderful to have time for. Do not hold back, write it all down! The goal is NOT to create a rigid schedule that must be adhered to each day. The goal is to see what is possible, and perhaps find a rhythm that feels right. The schedule is meant to be changed as often as needed to reflect what is realistic and enjoyable. Try one out for a while, see how it feels, then adjust as needed.

Step Two: Non-Negotiable Times

The next step is to fill in all of the non-negotiable and non-flexible times of the day (work for example).

Step Three: Wake and Sleep Times

For this next step, determine how much time should be spent each night sleeping, then decide when those wake and sleep times of the day should be (the example below would allow for about seven and a half hours of sleep). Everyone is different, but determining these wake and sleep times first will quickly show the waking hours of the day that are available for scheduling out.

Step Four: Meal Times

Now it is important to work meal times into the schedule. Planning enough time to prepare, sit down, and enjoy the meal can feel luxurious and it is such a simple adjustment to the daily schedule. Perhaps weekday breakfasts and lunches will need to be a bit shorter, but planning for an hour or more on the weekend can be a special treat. Perhaps small snacks need to be scheduled between main meals for medical needs. Perhaps the last meal of the day needs to be a specific number of hours before bed to allow for proper digestion and improve sleep. Everyone is different.

Step Five: Health Times

Personal health and movement should be a top priority. Start small and simple if movement and exercise are not currently a regular part of the day. If it is a current routine, this step will be easy to schedule. Perhaps other areas of health need to have time set aside each day to care for. If so, fill it in.

Step Six: Prep Times

An important part of a daily schedule is the time it takes to prepare for the day and prepare for the end of the day. These prep times should account for the routines currently in place but can allow for some dreaming of what those times of day could look like. Perhaps just enough time for a quick shower is all that is needed, or perhaps a luxurious evening routine could include face masks, dry brushing, and more. These prep times can vary from day to day as well.

Step Seven: Pet Care Times

If there is a pet in the home, they require specific times scheduled during the day to care for them. Some pets require daily care (walks, training, playing, brushing fur, or caring for teeth), weekly care (trimming nails), and monthly care (trimming hair, bathing, treating paws). Perhaps monthly care can take place on the fourth Sunday of each month.

Step Eight: Family, Friend, and Personal Times

These times of day are the sweetest and make life the vibrant and wonderful thing that it is.

Step Nine: Homekeeping Times

The home is not going to care for itself, and caring for it is what makes it feel like home. Homekeeping, like caring for a pet, requires daily care, weekly care, monthly care, semi-annual care (twice a year), and annual care. Daily care may consist of making the bed, doing the dishes, or getting the mail. Weekly care may consist of washing the car, laundry, cleaning bathrooms, dusting, sweeping, mopping, vacuuming, or planning meals. Monthly care may consist of cleaning the refrigerator, pantry, or microwave. Semi-annual care may consist of cleaning light fixtures, fans, walls, doors, baseboards, carpets, windows, curtains, oven, or the mattress. Annual care may consist of cleaning the garage, basement, porch, gutters, outdoor furniture, or annual landscape care.

Perhaps annual homekeeping can take place on the first Sunday of each month, semi-annual homekeeping on the second Sunday of each month, monthly homekeeping on the third Sunday of each month, and leaving the occasional fifth Sunday free of any homekeeping at all.

Additional homekeeping, as outlined in the image below, could consist of grocery shopping each week and weekly landscape care (mowing the lawn in the summer, monitoring irrigation systems, or simply taking some time to intentionally spend time in the yard, enjoying what each season has to offer).

Hopefully, this helps to make that precious recourse of time feel better spent, more enjoyed, and more fulfilling.

Until next time,

The Maple Press

Lunchbox Roundup: 2022

With the upcoming 2023-2024 school year approaching, sharing last year's lunchbox roundup seemed fitting. Each morning a quick moment was set aside to snap a photo of that day's lunch before it was hurried away to school. Here is a lunchbox roundup of all the favorites from the last school year. Enjoy!

Nut Butter & Jam Pancake Sandwiches | Cucumber Slices & Dip | Blueberries | Gummy Worms

Bagel & Cream Cheese | Celery Sticks & Dip | Apple Slices & Nut Butter | Gummy Worms

Salami & Baguette Slices | Salad with Olive Oil Dressing | Olive | Grapes

Mustard & Sour Cream Potato Salad with Parsley | Hard-Boiled Eggs | Crackers | Pear Slice & Grapes | Gummy Worms | Dairy-Free Chocolate Milk

Nut Butter & Jam Sandwich | Salt & Butter-Dipped Radish | Yogurt with Jam | Graham Crackers | Grapes

Thanks to PlanetBox, each lunch was a joy to create and a treat to use... seeing that each day the lunchbox was brought home with every tasty morsel eaten! It certainly helped that these lunches were made for a never-picky, second-grade foodie who prefers vegetables over grains most days of the week. Lunchtime was still a wonderful part of the day during the Summer break from school, but there will always be a special kind of mealtime magic reserved for these home lunches sent to school. So excited to see what this upcoming school year's lunchbox favorites will be!

Until next time,

The Maple Press

Wildlife Garden

Reconnecting with the natural world has been the desire as of late. Previous publications here on the Gazette have been centered around the changing season, the slowing down of life, and the refocusing on those simple pleasures of nature. One of the ways The Maple Press has brought those wonders of nature home has been through Wildlife Garden.

Wildlife Garden is a Swedish company skilled in designing high-quality, sustainable products for the home and garden. They craft with environmental consideration and the intent to provide knowledge of the creatures they make. The hand-carved wooden animals are made true-to-life with Scandinavian design and come with an informational insert card full of facts about the species. The brand outlines on its site that each product is painted with environmentally friendly colors and made within highly ethical working conditions.

Until next time,

The Maple Press

This post is not sponsored or endorsed by the brand featured. The Maple Press is not receiving any form of compensation from featured brands. The Maple Press values the time and effort that brands put into creating a customer experience and The Maple Press enjoys the process of discovering brands that align with The Maple Press's mission to savor the simple pleasures of life. The Maple Press finds pleasure in the process of purchasing products from brands featured, trying them out, and sharing them here.

The Maple Press does not contact brands for any type of compensation or free products for featuring them here at The Maple Press, nor does The Maple Press ask for any special discounts for readers of The Maple Press. This is not to say that other brands and influencers who provide sponsored posts and endorsements are not valuing the brands they feature. The Maple Press recognizes that the support of a brand can happen in many different ways. This is simply the way The Maple Press chooses to support brands at this time, and this is to demonstrate transparency about how The Maple Press goes about supporting brands featured on The Maple Press.