Stop Worrying, Start Scheduling!
I think when you work from home, or are working to build a business, focusing on what needs to be done can be difficult.
We live in a world of distraction and it's easily to get side-tracked, start doing something else, realise you haven't finished the first thing you were doing, leave the second thing to go back to the first, and then get distracted again!
Multi-tasking is one of the quickest and easiest ways to make sure you don't have a productive day, and don't achieve much!
Scheduling your time and your activities frees up your brain to concentrate on what's actually important to you.
For example, if you need to call someone to make an appointment until you've actually made the call you're constantly worrying about making the call when you next get a free moment, until you've made the call.
All that time and brain activity spent worrying about making a call could be much better spent being creative or thinking about more important things.
So, what are the benefits of scheduling?
Scheduling is planning your time so that you can complete all the activities you need to complete in order to achieve your goals. Make sure you use a planner that's easy to access and easy to use; I use my Google calendar.
When you schedule well it helps you:
Be realistic about the time you have available.
Be realistic about what you can achieve in the time you have available.
Take ownership and responsibility for completing your tasks.
Say no and avoid taking on too much.
Build in contingency time for when things don't go to plan.
Stay focused on, and work towards your goals.
Have a good work-life balance.
Spend time with family and friends, and time doing recreational activities.
This is all very well and good, but how do you actually schedule?
The very first thing to do is schedule time for when you are going to schedule your time! This could be once a week, once a month, or some other time frame that you choose.
Next you must decide how much time you have available. This is easy if you work a 9-5 job, but not so easy if you have a job, are building a business, running a home, looking after the children, the list goes on. But decide you must!
Review your to-do-this and schedule your urgent, high priority and essential tasks first, then work your way through the list until everything is scheduled. Don't forget to build in some contingency time for unexpected and emergency situations. If you don't need this time you can carry on working through your list.
The time you have left can be used to complete additional tasks required for achieving your goals. If you have no spare time you need to re-review your to-do list to see if anything can be delegated, delayed, or done in a more time-efficient way.
Make sure you schedule downtime; time to spend with family and friends, recreational activities, and just time to be. It's SUPER important that you have some time out from work, work, work.
Finally, good scheduling is another of those things that requires practice, practice, practice; you're bound to make some whopping mistakes with your time, so cut yourself some slack, mop up the mess, don't beat yourself up about, put it behind you, and move on to the next task!
Happy scheduling,
and happy creating!