October Part 4 - Prioritize the Right Things and Build a Sustainable, Simplified Schedule

Week Four

Photo by Dose Media on Unsplash.com

Welcome to Part 4 of October’s focus inside The Simplified Year!

This week, we’re getting laser-clear on what’s truly non-optional in your life and crafting a schedule that actually gives you room to breathe. One that supports both your must-do’s and your deeper priorities.

So far this month, we’ve stripped back the noise, examined where our time goes, and found our sweet spot for busyness. Now, we’re bringing it all together. This week is about identifying what’s profitable or high-impact, protecting your non-negotiables, and building a weekly rhythm that gives you space to live instead of just survive.

How are you doing with this?

Be honest with yourself — have you been letting “optional” tasks eat up space where your priorities should live? Have your best intentions for connection, presence, rest, or progress been shoved to the leftover moments of your week? If so, this is your reset point.

Prioritize the right things and build a sustainable schedule

It’s tempting to fill our time reactively - especially when we’ve built a habit of busy-ness - tackling whatever shouts the loudest for our attention in the moment. But a truly simplified schedule starts with the essentials: the non-optional tasks that keep your life and work running, followed by intentional time for relationships, self-care, and breathing room, and adding extras in only at the end.

Remember, this isn’t about cramming more into your days to reach some undefined ideal of productivity. It’s about getting intentional about less, so what’s left actually matters.

Why This Matters (Mindset Reset)

Most of us are more overbooked than we realize. When the “nice-to-do’s” sneak ahead of the “must-do’s,” we wind up in a constant state of catch-up — stressed, scattered, and feeling like we’re failing at everything.

Money-making or money-saving work is often a big chunk of our time, whether it’s a job, running a business, reselling items, or simply keeping your household bills paid on time. That’s non-negotiable. But here’s the twist — so is your time spent enjoying the life that work funds.

If you’re spending every waking hour earning money but none living the life you’re working for, the balance is broken.

Non-optional tasks aren’t just about work and bills, though. They include things like rest, hygiene, and caring for the people who matter most. If you skip these in favor of “productivity,” you’re setting yourself up for burnout. You’ll use all your energy, and still have to do these things after.

What often happens is we underestimate the fixed time we already give to work, commuting, cooking, cleaning, and basic human needs. If you mapped it out, you’d probably find most of your day already spoken for — which explains why there’s so little “extra” time to work with.

This is why you must choose carefully what gets space. A clean floor will be dirty again in five minutes. Missed moments with your kids? Those don’t come back. Obviously I don’t mean you should never clean your floor. But if you’re obsessively cleaning it every day and not playing with your children or spending time alone with your partner… again, there’s something out of balance.

Not everything that feels urgent is truly important. In fact, many things you think you “have to” do are optional (at least some of the time) if you zoom out far enough.

When you decide what’s truly non-optional and keep that list short, you make space for the good stuff: connection, peace, play, rest, and breathing room.