Scheduling Your Days and Weeks
If you're finding that your day is continuously getting away on you and your to-do list keeps getting longer, it's time to consider daily and weekly scheduling.
The problem with to-do lists is that they're arbitrary – you decide what needs to get done when, and how long it will take. Unfortunately, most of us focus on urgent or easy tasks rather than the important ones. Less than 17% of the population are any good at estimating how long something will actually take. Plus, we've also got a tendency to waste our downtime and put others' priorities ahead of our own.
Scheduling takes all that guesswork out of the equation. You know what task exactly you'll be working on next, and it's much easier to give something 100% of your attention when you know that you've only got a limited amount of time available for the task.
Ironically, you need to schedule a time to schedule your time. It doesn't take a lot, though – around 10 minutes every night. You still need a to-do list, but you only look at it while creating your schedule and then not again during the day – unless it's to add a new task to consider for the following day.
It's best to schedule everything you need to do, including breaks, meals, exercise and downtime. In terms of work, include tasks like checking your e-mail, making calls, reviewing a presentation, doing expenses, etc. Basically, you need to schedule a time for everything. Here's what you'll start to notice pretty quickly:
Increased productivity
Almost immediately, you'll notice an increase in productivity because you're clear on what needs to be done and there's no wasted energy on pondering your next steps. You just get into it and get it sorted.
Increased control of your days
Implementing a schedule means you take back control of how you spend your time. You're more proactive about your tasks as you're no longer chasing dopamine hits by crossing low-level items off your list, and instead, you work towards an outcome that really matters.
Increased focus
With only a limited amount of time per task, you're able to be wholly committed and focused on that one thing you're doing. This is particularly handy for those items that languish on your to-do lists for months on end; if it's scheduled in, it needs to get done. It's the same for the things you'd usually feel guilty about – if it's on the schedule, you can simply enjoy your time while completing your task.
Increased flexibility and freedom
Seems weird that you have more flexibility with a schedule, but it's true. As you've got clarity on what needs to get done at any given time in your day, you can easily move tasks around. The key is to remember that urgent isn't the same as important. If something unexpectedly crops up, you need to ask yourself whether it needs to be done right then and there, or whether you can move it to later in the day.
Better established routine
Scheduling will often help to establish a routine, meaning you'll start to do things automatically. And that's a big help for some of us around things like exercise, meditation or leisure time.
Be consistent with your scheduling, and you'll soon start to notice that you're not only more productive and less stressed but also clear on how you're spending your time. This is hugely beneficial as you'll no longer feel like you're treading water with a to-do list that never seems to end. That's why scheduling is your secret weapon to getting things done and ultimately achieving your goals and objectives.