During my career, I have noticed that people of all ages face a common barrier to becoming more productive, more successful, and generally, calmer and more measured about the work/life they lead. This barrier is time. There is never enough to get it all done. Unlike the current Prime Minister, I’m willing to acknowledge that I place myself firmly within this group of people. Most weeks and most days, I simply do not have enough time to finish all of the things that I am responsible for. This includes in my personal and professional life. As a result, during the days and weeks that I face this barrier, I become less resilient in both spheres. As many of you can attest to, it seems that when we are our ‘busiest’, this seems to be the times when the proverbial shit hits the fan….all at once, leaving us with little room to adapt. This leaves us and those around us grumpy, disorganized, and presenting as if we are chickens with no heads.

The most annoying thing about all of this is that we end up in this state for one reason….we didn’t plan ahead properly. I know many of you are thinking ‘but, how can you plan for things that you don’t know are going to happen?’. My answer is this, don’t plan for the things that you can’t plan for, plan better for the things you know are coming.

I have found that the earlier I make decisions about things that are in my control, the more adaptable I can be during my week. The routine that I have adopted in recent times (having failed miserably with others….) is outlined below. This is the plan I start implementing during the final week of a month. So, this week in January, I am planning for the upcoming month of February.

Final week of January:

1. Populate the diary with events that I know are taking place. This happens in two stages. The first is reflecting on the events that are already in the diary for the month and making sure that I have planned enough time to complete various aspects of prep work for those events. Then, add in any new dates and start communicating with people that have asked for more of my time ensuring I leave enough gaps to finish off the admin associated with events.

2. Identify a day each week dedicated to preparation work, administration, or strategy review. Ideally, this day would be at the end of a week, but this can flex depending on how the diary is shaping up for the month.

3. Identify empty days for each week and build in time for any unexpected tasks as well as exercise and personal learning time. (This part is the most difficult).

Sunday each week:

1. Review progress of the previous week against the ‘to do list’. Add new items to the ‘to do’ list as well as re-write any tasks that need to carry over.

2. Identify the likely pinch points for the week in terms of overlapping meetings, child care issues, or dog care issues and address them before Monday starts.

3. Do the shopping and plan out the meals for the week…sometimes, cook more than one meal on Sunday to save time later in the week.

4. Ensure clothes for the week are ready to go in order to save time during the week.

Many of you reading this will rightly wonder if I actually have any time to enjoy myself at the weekend. The answer to this question is yes. It is because of the time I take on a Sunday to thing through and plan my week that I am able to easily find spare moments to indulge in life’s pleasantries.

Ultimately, when I’m not able to execute the above plan are the times that my life seems most out of control. There is a saying that I reflect on regularly which goes ‘We all suffer two types of pain; the pain of discipline, or the pain of regret’. Reflecting on this on a regular basis helps me to remind myself of how much I hate being chaotic at the wrong times. It helps keep me centred on the importance of these routines however annoying they can become when I’m tired.

I recognise that this approach may not be a perfect solution for others, but it works for me. If you do something similar, it would be good for you to share it with others via a post on my Facebook post for this blog, or my LinkedIn page.

#priorities #structurecreatesfreedom