One of our most precious resources is time. We are all juggling work responsibilities, our families, friendships, and more. Not to mention, keeping ourselves fed, clothed, and on to the next task! The last thing we need to be doing is worrying, during one of our precious weekend days, about something we know needs to be done Monday. Let me tell you what lowered my stress level.
In comes block task scheduling. I live by my to-do list, but clearly I can’t do it all right now. To free up mental space and keep my check-check-check rolling, I started scheduling my tasks. Although many business leaders subscribe to this methodology, I personally learned this from Mr. Bobby Lind himself. Often times, I would ask him why he would take the time to schedule all of his tasks? And then, during an especially hectic weekend, where all I could do was worry about what I needed to get done on Monday, I did it. I scheduled all of my looming to-dos.
Finally some relief. The act of scheduling my tasks gave me perspective and allowed me to enjoy the moment.
The other fantastic benefit of scheduling your tasks is that it gives you a better idea of your bandwidth and protects your time. As an example, if Todd wants to meet for two hours on Tuesday afternoon to “brainstorm some new ideas”, it’s easy to see that you are already booked working on your presentation for the board Wednesday morning.
How to design your day
Pick a master calendar. For me, this means syncing my personal and work calendars to my main calendar. Everything gets scheduled here; from my morning walk to week-long work projects to a family birthday celebration.
Start scheduling. Many times, I’ll schedule an entire week for a project I’m working on. Each day will remind me of my priority for the week along with scheduled meetings with colleagues, lunches with customers, small tasks, etc. For instance: “Buy Lucy a birthday gift”, “Call 401k administrator”, “Research best law firm software”, etc.
Set up recurring tasks. This is any task you do weekly or at a regular cadence. For instance: “Review payroll”, “Plan quarterly marketing campaigns”, “Meet with IT service provider to assess staff equipment needs”, etc.
Be flexible. If you don’t get to a task, just move it to the next available time slot you have to work on that specific task. This can really help in lowering your stress levels.
Enjoy your new found focus! The saying really is true. “Either schedule your life or it will schedule you!” Who said that?
So tell me, do you time block and schedule your tasks?
