I think I was a personal assistant in another life, or maybe I was just born with an innate ability and love for staying organized. Cleaning my room is my favorite Saturday morning activity, I keep a color coded closet, and I always arrange my toiletries in size order. But my organizational skills go far beyond neatly lining up shampoos. I organize my life with a system I call "scheduling in a line." In order for me to be my most productive self, I try to avoid commuting whenever possible. So much time is lost sitting on the train with no phone service that I learned to literally organize my day in a line. I start my day uptown and then make sure every following meeting or errand location is max a 15-20 minute walk away from the one before it, always going downtown. That means in any given day, I can walk from the Upper West Side to Midtown to Chelsea to Soho and not even break a sweat because of all the stops along the way.

My system saves me a lot on transportation costs since I generally only take one train to my first location and then one train home later that night. It also guarantees me plenty of exercise, and eliminates unnecessary trips all over the city. It also means I have to be very picky which meetings I take and sometimes I will wait to schedule anything until I have at least 3 or 4 appointments that I can line up. A 15 minute press preview will never get me out of the house, unless it falls in my already mapped out line. I used to try to make it to everything. Building relationships is the most important business tactic after all, but time is also very valuable. Every time that I would get up, get dressed, do my makeup, and take the train to a press preview, I lost almost an entire day of work for one 15 minute look at a brand's newest collection. Sometimes it's still worth going, but if I can mix in other blog and personal errands around the preview's location as well, now that's being productive.

Once I'm out of the house, I'm gone for the day, so Starbucks has become my home away from home. Depending on how long of a break I have between certain appointments and events, I set up shop at the Starbucks closest to the location I have to be at next. That way I can work up until the last second before I have to leave.

My system isn't for everyone, especially since it means prioritizing meetings to the point of skipping some would-be fun ones, but this is how I stay organized and sane. How do you stay productive and schedule your time?

OUTFIT BREAKDOWN:
Long Floral Bomber Jacket: West Kei (c/o)
Black Slip Dress: The Fashion Foundation (c/o)
Black Open Toe Booties: Banana Republic (c/o)

Photography: Natalie of Her Personatalie

xx Esther