I hope you had a great week! This past week was busier than usual for me. I usually go to bed around 10ish every night; sometimes 10:30-11. This week I went to bed after midnight each night and then woke up early each morning.

I’m so happy it’s the weekend. Somehow I was able to sleep in until 9 this morning and it felt so nice (usually I can’t sleep past 7:30, even on the weekend).

Anyway, this past Wednesday I was reminded about the importance of doing your “Nighttime Blueprint” and how it can not only help you remember your tasks each day, but also save you from embarrassment in case you forget appointments (which is what happened on Wednesday).

But before I tell you the story, please know that I’m posting this story with full permission! Names have also been changed for privacy.

Okay, so here’s what happened: It was Wednesday morning at 7:29AM and my phone rang. It was Sarah (Sarah comes to my house during filming days and helps me with getting things ready before we film).

She called one minute before she was supposed to be here and said she completely forgot about our appointment until her phone reminder popped up one minute in advance. And because she forgot our appointment, she wouldn’t be able to come altogether because she had a 9:30AM meeting to make.

Now, Sarah has never forgotten our appointments. She’s always on time. She’s always so helpful and she seems to always be so organized.

So when she called and said she completely forgot and wouldn’t be able to come at all, I was understanding. We’ve been working together for awhile and this has never happened before. In fact, this is really unlike her. Sometimes you just forget. We all do.

I actually felt really bad for her while we were on the phone. She sounded so embarrassed and was just so apologetic.

I told her not to worry about it and I’ll just see her next time. In the back of my mind, I was kind of bummed because now the rest of the day would be off schedule and I really needed her help doing the things I can’t do alone. But what can you do? You just move forward and do the best you can.

However, this whole situation could have been prevented.

How?

If Sarah did her Nighttime Blueprint.

If only Sarah spent 10 minutes on Tuesday night outlining her schedule of tasks and appointments for Wednesday, this probably wouldn’t have happened. Ten minutes on Tuesday night could have saved her from the embarrassment of having to call me (and probably feeling embarrassed next time she sees me) and possibly feeling disappointed at herself throughout the day.

So, my question to you is: are you missing appointments or forgetting to do tasks? If so, spending a few minutes each night outlining tomorrow’s agenda can save you from the embarrassment of forgetting appointments and/or tasks which leads to last minute changes in schedules and disappointing others and yourself.

The good news is that this task (the Nighttime Blueprint) only takes a few minutes; 10 minutes, if that. The “Nighttime Blueprint” and other Time Management concepts are fully explained in Module 3 of my Complete Organizing Program.

Anyway, that’s what happened on Wednesday.