We wake up in the morning, go to work, come home and sleep. These are the basic routines for many people in our society. If you have poor habits during this cycle, it can be hazardous to your productivity and mental health. Weekly planning ensures you have a fulfilling and productive life. Weekly Planning gives you an overview of how to plan your time and see from a top-down view of what needs to be adjusted.
1) Pick a day
I prefer Fridays, some do it on Sundays, pick an hour and go someplace quiet and reflect on your past week. Choose a method to organize your week, whether it’s online or on paper, create a weekly schedule for the upcoming tasks and scribble them all down. Once you have completed this, look at your weekly calendar and insert them into your week. Be sensible about what you can achieve within the week.
2) Schedule routines into your week.
These are the things that need doing daily or weekly such as going to the gym, groceries, walking the dog, or saying “I love you” to your spouse. These recurring routines set a foundation for success. It allows a mental break and sets a benchmark for achieving your goals.
3) Plan to do your most important and challenging task first at the beginning of the week.
The little tasks can get done between the “gaps” of your big task. Most people fill their week with many small tasks and feel busy, but this avoids the core of being productive. The big tasks are important and need completion. Stephen Covey’s book “First Things First” had a great analogy based on this idea with a jar (representing your week) and rocks (representing your tasks). If you start with your big rock in a jar, you will always be able to fill the gaps with smaller pebbles, gravel, fine sand and then water. However, if you start with the water, fine sand, gravel, and pebbles you can easily fill the jar, leaving out the big rock – the big task.
4) Do frequent reviews of your weekly plan.
Sit down at the end of each day and review your tasks. Keep it short and straightforward, to ensure you are still on schedule. Adjust them if necessary, but I usually leave the big tasks, and scheduled routines where they are, and adjust the little tasks around it. Keeping the big and routine tasks where they are is essential, this creates a structured week for you to ground yourself.
5) The key to success here is consistency.
I admit this is harder than it sounds. Do a weekly plan; I promise it will give you motivation and peace to your days.
“My first template used in Microsoft Word! Super simple, and easy to print at home. I can also use the trim marks to create other cards too!” – Robyn L