280 lines
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280 lines
11 KiB
Plaintext
#[1]The Sweet Setup [2]alternate [3]alternate [4]alternate
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[tr?id=1547247442291447&ev=PageView &noscript=1]
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IFRAME: [5]https://www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-PS7L89F
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NEW! All the Things: Productivity Course → [6]Check it Out
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[7]The Sweet Setup The Sweet Setup
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[8]ABOUT [9]COURSES [10]BLOG
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[11]Sign In
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* [12]Categories
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+ [13]Mindfulness
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+ [14]Workflows
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+ [15]Setups
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+ [16]Quick Tips
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____________________ Go
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How to Create an Effective Weekly Schedule
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April 24, 2023
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by [17]Isaac Smith
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Hero Hero
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How to Create an Effective Weekly Schedule
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Have you ever finished a week feeling like your to-do list got longer
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with each passing day?
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Even though each day was a flurry of activity, it feels like no matter
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how hard you try and regardless of how much you do, it seems impossible
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to make progress. I can relate. And there were a lot of weeks this was
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my reality.
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But it’s been a while since I’ve had one of those weeks. And as a
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whole, they have become a lot less common. I would attribute much of
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this due to my weekly and daily planning process.
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Every Monday for the past 5 years, I’ve taken the first 15 minutes to
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plan the week ahead.
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For me, this has been my single greatest productivity routine. Before
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being sucked in to the myriad of inboxes and notifications, I take a
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brief moment to identify and plan what is truly important for the week
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ahead.
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Part of this planning process includes accounting for the unmovable
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rocks in my schedule. Meetings, errands, when the kids need picking up,
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the things I know are going to happen on a specific day and time. These
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events act as guardrails in my schedule. Hard stopping points in which
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I know I’ll have to transition out of “get things done” mode.
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With a framework of my week sketched out, I set myself to the task of
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painting what done or progress looks like. First, what two or three
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projects do I need to push forward? Second, what are the two to four
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tasks associated with each project? And what does “done” mean? The more
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specific the better.
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Targets
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In every sport, there is a clear objective — get the ball into the
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basket, hit the target, get to home base, etc. Strategy and tactics may
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differ, but ultimately there is clarity on what it means to win. That
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clarity allows for an endless number of ways to achieve success. The
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rules and boundaries actually cause creativity to thrive within their
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confines.
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When we give ourselves clear objectives (targets) to aim for through
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planning, we increase our ability to be creative. A lack of clarity
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leads to confusion, inefficiency, and ultimately, frustration.
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When there is a lack of clarity, people waste time and energy on the
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trivial many. When they have sufficient levels of clarity, they are
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capable of greater breakthroughs and innovations—greater than people
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even realize they ought to have—in those areas that are truly vital.
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—Greg McKeown
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For me, the planning process gives me time and space to identify what
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is truly important. This results in clarity of what needs to be done.
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That clarity moves me to precise action.
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Winning Each Day
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Once I’ve outlined my weekly plan, I turn my attention to the day
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ahead.
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Weekly plan Weekly plan
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The same principles that guide my weekly plan are also true for daily
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planning. Greater clarity on what I’m trying to accomplish leads to
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taking action.
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This does not mean my tasks do not involve any level of ambiguity.
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Often in the doing of something, greater clarity comes as a result. I
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try to remove any guesswork for myself in planning out my tasks.
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Instead of assigning myself the task, “write weekly newsletter” I may
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start with instead “outline weekly newsletter on restoring margin.” A
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smaller, bite-size, specific task.
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I’ve found my limit is typically three important tasks (MITs) for each
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day. And usually I only have enough brain power for two deep work
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tasks. Things that require a large chunk of un-interrupted focus and
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creativity. If I assign myself five deep work tasks in a single day,
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it’s unlikely I’ll get through three of them, and I’ll finish the day
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feeling behind.
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The real secret to winning each day has been planning my three MITs the
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day before.
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At the end of each day I review what I accomplished and compare that to
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my plan for the week. Then, I look at my schedule for the next day and
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plan the two to three tasks I will tackle.
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* * *
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All of this leads to a remarkable level of calm and responsiveness to
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my work, rather than feeling frantic and reactive.
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I’m able to be proactive in managing my workload rather than just
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surviving the dog-pile nature of incoming requests.
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The more I lean into the 4-Focus Method, the more I find it working for
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me.
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IDENTIFY → PLAN → ACT → CELEBRATE
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Studio spread Studio spread
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My 15-minute planning session on Monday mornings has changed the way I
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get work done. And thankfully, it’s rare to find myself absolutely
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buried on Friday as I wrap up my week.
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There will always be more work to do, but I know I’ll be able to plan
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for it when I’m back in the saddle on Monday.
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(P.S. We’re re-launching our task and time management course All the
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Things next month (May). 🙌 In which we cover weekly and daily planning
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extensively.)
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Follow us
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[18]Get App Picks, Guides, & More
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Get workflow tips, app recommendations, how-to guides, stories, and
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more delivered to your inbox. Plus we'll send you our productivity
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guide for free!
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____________________
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Sweet!
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[19]Best-Selling Courses
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[20]🎟 All Access Pass 🎟
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Join the Focus Accelerator to get instant access to the entire course
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library, resource vault, and more. [21]»
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[22]NEW: All the Things
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Best-selling productivity course. Stop being managed by your task list.
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[23]»
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[24]Full Course List
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Serving 15,000 customers since 2013, we have a library full of in-depth
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courses to help you be more productive, creative, and focused. [25]View
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all courses »
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[26]The Latest Posts
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[27]Lock Screen Widgets, Productivity Must-Haves, and More
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Catch up on what we published this week, including a look at some great
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lock screen widgets for iPhone 14 Pro (Max), must-have productivity
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apps from our team, and more. [28]»
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[29]Great Lock Screen Widgets for the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max
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Here are some of our favorite Lock Screen widgets thus far. [30]»
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[31]Using ChatGPT for Productivity, Josh’s Must-Have Apps, and More
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Catch up on what we published this week, including a look at Josh's
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must-have apps for productivity, some apps for using ChatGPT on macOS
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and iOS, and more. [32]»
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[33]Your opinion: Notion
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Do you have thoughts about Notion? Good! We need your feedback. We’re
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working on some new trainings, resources, and templates for Notion
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users — specifically to help with prioritizing ideas and managing
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tasks. We’re excited about it, but before we get too far we have a
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quick favor to ask you: Would you mind taking […] [34]»
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[35]Josh’s Must-Have Productivity Apps
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As Matt so wisely put last week, we’ll quickly run the risk here of
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replicating each The Sweet Setup contributor’s must-have productivity
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apps. By the end of this little series, you’re likely to see a few
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commonalities, such as Notion, Fantastical, Ulysses, 1Password and
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perhaps Things. Each of these apps rock in their own right. And we as a
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group have a great taste in productivity apps. [36]»
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* [37]Home
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* [38]About
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* [39]Products
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* [40]Contact
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* [41]Blog
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* [42]Newsletter
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* [43]Sign In
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A website by [44]Shawn Blanc and friends. See also: [45]The Focus
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Course | [46]Tools & Toys
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© 2023 Blanc Media, LLC
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[47]Design by Ink Blot Media Group • [48]Dev by Jonathan Christopher
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fbpx
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References
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Visible links:
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1. https://thesweetsetup.com/feed/
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2. https://thesweetsetup.com/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/160038
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3. https://thesweetsetup.com/wp-json/oembed/1.0/embed?url=https://thesweetsetup.com/how-to-create-an-effective-weekly-schedule/
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4. https://thesweetsetup.com/wp-json/oembed/1.0/embed?url=https://thesweetsetup.com/how-to-create-an-effective-weekly-schedule/&format=xml
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5. https://www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-PS7L89F
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6. https://thesweetsetup.com/things/?ref=46
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7. https://thesweetsetup.com/
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8. file:///colophon/
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9. file:///training/
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10. file:///blog/
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11. https://thesweetsetup.com/my-account
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12. file:///var/folders/q9/qlz2w5251kzdfgn0np7z2s4c0000gn/T/L24351-9467TMP.html
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13. https://thesweetsetup.com/category/mindfulness/
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14. https://thesweetsetup.com/category/workflows/
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15. https://thesweetsetup.com/category/sweet-setup-interview/
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16. https://thesweetsetup.com/category/quick-tip/
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17. https://thesweetsetup.com/author/imsmith/
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18. https://thesweetsetup.com/newsletter/
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19. https://thesweetsetup.com/training/
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20. https://thesweetsetup.com/accelerator/
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21. https://thesweetsetup.com/accelerator/
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22. https://thesweetsetup.com/things/
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23. https://thesweetsetup.com/things/
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24. https://thesweetsetup.com/training/?utm_source=training_sidebar_link&utm_medium=sidebar&utm_campaign=sidebar_att
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25. https://thesweetsetup.com/training/
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26. https://thesweetsetup.com/blog/
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27. https://thesweetsetup.com/lock-screen-widgets-productivity-must-haves-and-more/
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28. https://thesweetsetup.com/lock-screen-widgets-productivity-must-haves-and-more/
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29. https://thesweetsetup.com/great-lock-screen-widgets-for-the-iphone-14-pro-and-pro-max/
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30. https://thesweetsetup.com/great-lock-screen-widgets-for-the-iphone-14-pro-and-pro-max/
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31. https://thesweetsetup.com/using-chatgpt-for-productivity-joshs-must-have-apps-and-more/
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32. https://thesweetsetup.com/using-chatgpt-for-productivity-joshs-must-have-apps-and-more/
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33. https://thesweetsetup.com/notion-survey/
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34. https://thesweetsetup.com/notion-survey/
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35. https://thesweetsetup.com/joshs-must-have-productivity-apps/
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36. https://thesweetsetup.com/joshs-must-have-productivity-apps/
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37. file:///
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38. https://thesweetsetup.com/colophon/
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39. https://thesweetsetup.com/training/
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40. https://thesweetsetup.com/contact/
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41. https://thesweetsetup.com/blog/
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42. https://thesweetsetup.com/newsletter/
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43. https://thesweetsetup.com/my-account
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44. https://shawnblanc.net/
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45. https://thefocuscourse.com/
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46. http://toolsandtoys.net/
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47. http://inkblotmediagroup.com/
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48. http://mondaybynoon.com/
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Hidden links:
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50. file://localhost/var/folders/q9/qlz2w5251kzdfgn0np7z2s4c0000gn/T/L24351-9467TMP.html
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51. https://twitter.com/thesweetsetup
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52. https://thesweetsetup.com/feed
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