Assess Your Schedule
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Every Thursday, I share one action, habit, or project you may want to undertake in order to improve your health, happiness, and sense of well-being.
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PROJECT OF THE WEEK
Assess Your Schedule
If you know roughly what you are supposed to be doing at all times throughout the day, this is for you.
If you have no idea what you are supposed to be doing at specific times throughout the day, this is also for you.
You may be asking, how is that possible?
Understanding your schedule and being able to clearly see your time is the Key to Time Management.
Perhaps it is most important to recognize that our schedules, our priorities, and our time are always shifting. That’s just life. That means that our schedules will have to shift too. For example, I used to have a standing weekly meeting on Monday mornings at 8 AM. When my foster-daughter came to live with me, it became clear quickly that the meeting would need to move to accommodate a new morning routine that includes the school drop off line.
Getting Started
How can I understand my schedule, set my priorities, and see what time I have available?
The best method is to take the time to fill in a Time Map for the week.
When filling in the Time Map, do your best to include everything. This includes packing the kids lunches, checking email, and watching TV in the evening.
Why should I include all the little things?
Two reasons:
The little things add up. You may think to yourself that it only takes you 10 minutes to prepare breakfast in the morning, While that may be technically true, if you also take that time to wash and refill water bottles, pack the kids lunches and make yourself coffee, you may find that you are actually spending 30 minutes "making breakfast" in the morning.
The other reason to include all the little things is that this will help you see where you are being efficient and where you could save yourself time. For example, if you are grocery shopping on Saturday morning and picking up the dry cleaning on Monday after work and they are both located in the same shopping plaza, what do you think you should shift?
You may also be asking why to include activities such as watching TV?
One, it's important to know where your time is going. More importantly, most of us have activities that we do regardless of how much time we have. If TV is how you unwind at night, it's likely you will just stay up later watching TV, versus skipping it, when your day's responsibilities go long. Or, you’ll find that you’re “losing” time to TV on the days you lack motivation because you aren’t taking the time to take care of yourself first.
Once your Time Map is filled in, schedule some time to review it. Make sure to sit down and really think about what is working and what is not working or could work better.
I have found it helpful to fill in a "Sample Time Map" of how your ideal week would look.
It's important not to make too many changes at once. While there may be many tasks that you want to shift, pick one to implement first. Set an alarm on your phone and label it, so that you remember. Keep the alarm until you are regularly doing the task without the reminder.
If you live by your electronic calendar, you may find it beneficial to add some of the activities and events to your calendar and have them repeat.
I keep my gym appointment with myself on my calendar. I also have laundry as an all-day appointment every week on Mondays, so that I don't forget. Additional tasks you may want to schedule are reviewing your finances, weekly family meetings, grocery shopping, checking email, and writing your next blog entry.
How often should I assess my schedule?
On a small scale, I review my calendar each week as part of my Weekly Review.
If you are just getting started, I would recommend doing a deep dive Quarterly.
After the first year, when you have a strong sense of your schedule, your priorities, and your open time, you can likely do this exercise once a year.
When everyone else is doing New Year's Resolutions, instead take the time to Assess your Schedule! Don't be surprised when that "resolution" magically happens, because it was on your calendar.
I would also recommend repeating this exercise every time you have a major life event, such as a new job, a new move, or a new kid.
Here's a Time Map to get you started.
Happy Planning!
Ready to Get Started?
If you feel excited about implementing this strategy and want some additional accountability and support to get started, the It’s All in the Planning Starter Pak was designed for you!
A Note from Happy Spaces
The goal is to add value to your life. If you think this project will add value:
Estimate how long you think it will take. I would recommend doubling the time you estimate.
Look at your calendar over the next week and pick a date and time to get started.
Make an appointment on your calendar for the estimated time.
If you estimate that completing this project will take longer than one hour, I recommend doing it over multiple days. This will support you in getting started!
Prior to starting this project, take a few minutes to make a step-by-step list of EVERY action you need to take to complete this project.
It's not all or nothing. You can choose to implement only the parts of this project that add value to your life.
An Accountability Partner can be a great support in following through on your goals and commitments.
We understand how challenging it can be to implement new habits and systems. For additional support please go to HappySpacesBySarah.com.
Creating a life you don't need a vacation from! ®
Sincerely,
Sarah Weingarten
Meet Sarah
Growing up as the oldest of nine siblings in Upstate New York, I learned to use organization to create sanity among the chaos. Today, I work together with individuals, families, and small businesses to create habits, systems, and spaces that support their needs, goals, and dreams. Clients often refer to our work together as "life-changing" and "better than decades of therapy". What I love most about my work is the lasting impact it has on real people's lives. Nothing makes me happier than hearing the many success stories of clients I have worked with.