Don’t be alarmed!
Not sure if this is a weird habit or a good tip, but I thought I would share something I do that keeps me both on time and not rushed (or at least less late and not super frazzled). I set alarms on my phone for all sorts of things. I don’t follow the rule of not having your phone by your bedside (shame on me!) first off, so let’s get that out of the way. I used to just use my phone to set the alarm to wake up in the morning (and snooze). But now I use my phone (and Alexa and Google Home) to alert me / alarm me of different points in my day. Here are some examples of alarms I have set (and I have them set to repeat daily):
Get ready for bedtime (I give myself 20 minutes to stop what I am doing and get myself to bed). This helps a lot because it’s easy to push my own bedtime out if I am eating snacks, watching an addicting show, or diving in to a good book. But I always regret it when I do that. So the alarm for bedtime helps me get myself to bed!
Wake up time (I have an earlier time for Monday to Friday and a later time on weekends). I work out in the mornings so this is my wake up call. literally.
Get ready for school time (I give myself/kids 15 minutes to get out the door from the time of the alarm. I have 2 different school schedules so this is especially helpful.)
Wake up my daughter from her nap (so we can go pick up my son from school). I’ll let her sleep at latest until this alarm goes off and then we have about 15 minutes to get out the door.
Pick up time from school. I set alarms 15 to 20 minutes before I need to leave to pick up both of my kids. This is especially helpful for preschool pick up since my daughter is only at school 2 times a week for 3 hours each time. I am usually busying myself until the last minute with something so this help me snap out of it.
Get ready to go to after-school activities. I will set our Google Home or Alexa to alert us 20 minutes before we have to leave for a class so that my kids know they need to stop, clean up, go to the bathroom, get dressed, get their equipment, and shoes on so we can leave.
Doing chores and tasks. I block schedule my days and setting alarms for each of the tasks that I am working on (research for work, folding laundry, cleaning the kitchen, sending emails, etc) ensures that I can check off all the things on my list. If I know I am allotting a certain amount of time to a task, I will work as efficiently as possible. This can be a stressful and rushy sometimes but if I don’t set alarms I will take a lot longer than necessary, or get distracted.
It is definitely not necessary to use alarms for all of things things. I am sure most people do fine and keep on schedule for basic daily activities by just using a watch or looking at their phone. But I think it’s just the way I work. It’s easier for me to have these alarms pre-set so I can do what I need to in between different parts of my day and just focus without looking at the clock and feeling like time is controlling me.