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How to Create an Effective Weekly Schedule

   April 24, 2023
   by [17]Isaac Smith

   Hero Hero

How to Create an Effective Weekly Schedule

   Have you ever finished a week feeling like your to-do list got longer
   with each passing day?

   Even though each day was a flurry of activity, it feels like no matter
   how hard you try and regardless of how much you do, it seems impossible
   to make progress. I can relate. And there were a lot of weeks this was
   my reality.

   But it’s been a while since I’ve had one of those weeks. And as a
   whole, they have become a lot less common. I would attribute much of
   this due to my weekly and daily planning process.

   Every Monday for the past 5 years, I’ve taken the first 15 minutes to
   plan the week ahead.

   For me, this has been my single greatest productivity routine. Before
   being sucked in to the myriad of inboxes and notifications, I take a
   brief moment to identify and plan what is truly important for the week
   ahead.

   Part of this planning process includes accounting for the unmovable
   rocks in my schedule. Meetings, errands, when the kids need picking up,
   the things I know are going to happen on a specific day and time. These
   events act as guardrails in my schedule. Hard stopping points in which
   I know I’ll have to transition out of “get things done” mode.

   With a framework of my week sketched out, I set myself to the task of
   painting what done or progress looks like. First, what two or three
   projects do I need to push forward? Second, what are the two to four
   tasks associated with each project? And what does “done” mean? The more
   specific the better.

Targets

   In every sport, there is a clear objective — get the ball into the
   basket, hit the target, get to home base, etc. Strategy and tactics may
   differ, but ultimately there is clarity on what it means to win. That
   clarity allows for an endless number of ways to achieve success. The
   rules and boundaries actually cause creativity to thrive within their
   confines.

   When we give ourselves clear objectives (targets) to aim for through
   planning, we increase our ability to be creative. A lack of clarity
   leads to confusion, inefficiency, and ultimately, frustration.

     When there is a lack of clarity, people waste time and energy on the
     trivial many. When they have sufficient levels of clarity, they are
     capable of greater breakthroughs and innovations—greater than people
     even realize they ought to have—in those areas that are truly vital.
     —Greg McKeown

   For me, the planning process gives me time and space to identify what
   is truly important. This results in clarity of what needs to be done.
   That clarity moves me to precise action.

Winning Each Day

   Once I’ve outlined my weekly plan, I turn my attention to the day
   ahead.

   Weekly plan Weekly plan

   The same principles that guide my weekly plan are also true for daily
   planning. Greater clarity on what I’m trying to accomplish leads to
   taking action.

   This does not mean my tasks do not involve any level of ambiguity.
   Often in the doing of something, greater clarity comes as a result. I
   try to remove any guesswork for myself in planning out my tasks.

   Instead of assigning myself the task, “write weekly newsletter” I may
   start with instead “outline weekly newsletter on restoring margin.” A
   smaller, bite-size, specific task.

   I’ve found my limit is typically three important tasks (MITs) for each
   day. And usually I only have enough brain power for two deep work
   tasks. Things that require a large chunk of un-interrupted focus and
   creativity. If I assign myself five deep work tasks in a single day,
   it’s unlikely I’ll get through three of them, and I’ll finish the day
   feeling behind.

   The real secret to winning each day has been planning my three MITs the
   day before.

   At the end of each day I review what I accomplished and compare that to
   my plan for the week. Then, I look at my schedule for the next day and
   plan the two to three tasks I will tackle.

   * * *

   All of this leads to a remarkable level of calm and responsiveness to
   my work, rather than feeling frantic and reactive.

   I’m able to be proactive in managing my workload rather than just
   surviving the dog-pile nature of incoming requests.

   The more I lean into the 4-Focus Method, the more I find it working for
   me.

   IDENTIFY → PLAN → ACT → CELEBRATE

   Studio spread Studio spread

   My 15-minute planning session on Monday mornings has changed the way I
   get work done. And thankfully, it’s rare to find myself absolutely
   buried on Friday as I wrap up my week.

   There will always be more work to do, but I know I’ll be able to plan
   for it when I’m back in the saddle on Monday.

   (P.S. We’re re-launching our task and time management course All the
   Things next month (May). 🙌 In which we cover weekly and daily planning
   extensively.)

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[26]The Latest Posts

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[29]Great Lock Screen Widgets for the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max

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[31]Using ChatGPT for Productivity, Josh’s Must-Have Apps, and More

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[33]Your opinion: Notion

   Do you have thoughts about Notion? Good! We need your feedback. We’re
   working on some new trainings, resources, and templates for Notion
   users — specifically to help with prioritizing ideas and managing
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[35]Josh’s Must-Have Productivity Apps

   As Matt so wisely put last week, we’ll quickly run the risk here of
   replicating each The Sweet Setup contributor’s must-have productivity
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   commonalities, such as Notion, Fantastical, Ulysses, 1Password and
   perhaps Things. Each of these apps rock in their own right. And we as a
   group have a great taste in productivity apps. [36]»

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