If your life is anything like mine, you have a lot going on. Every week is full of work assignments, family commitments, goals, and dreams. I remember ending some weeks on top of the world, and other weeks, I felt like I didn’t accomplish much.
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And sometimes, I ended my week feeling overwhelmed. Does any of this sound familiar to you?
Planning your week is a great way to stay on top of everything and avoid last-minute disasters. This post outlines what works for me in five easy steps to prepare for the week ahead. As you read through, I encourage you to apply the steps that work for you and eliminate anything that doesn’t.
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Step #1 — List
One of the best ways to prepare for a busy week is by setting aside time on the weekend — either Saturday or Sunday — to list all of your meetings, appointments, tasks, and commitments for the upcoming week. Also, include any goals or projects that need your attention. Don’t worry about how many items you list, as some of the things you want to work on may flow into the following week. By getting everything out of your head, you can see what’s ahead of you. With a plan in place for the whole week, I wake up on Monday feeling more organized and ready to take on the week.
Click here to read the blog post on how to add calm and focus to your life.
Step #2 — Categorize
Once I list all my thoughts and tasks, I group everything into different categories. I encourage you to create categories that work for you. The categories I use for my system are:
Business, faith, medical, self-care, home-life, connections, and fun.
As you categorize your tasks, you can use one or more of the following tools:
A whiteboard or flip-chart paper posted on a wall
A journal or PowerSheets planner
An electronic document
Use the display that works best for you and keep it where you can see it every day. Then, as you go through your week, mark off everything you complete. If you cannot complete a task, move it to the next day or the following week.
Step #3 — Organize
To help organize your tasks, you can use lots of systems. I like the Eisenhower Matrix, which allows you to decide which tasks are most important by categorizing them into four boxes. It’s a simple decision-making tool that can help clear up your schedule so it will be more organized and efficient.
Stephen Covey popularized the Urgent-Important Matrix in his best-selling book The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People. This habit is named after Dwight D Eisenhower, who organized his obligations so that only matters of importance and urgency came across his desk.
But there is a clear distinction between important and urgent tasks.
Urgent tasks are the ones that demand your attention. A good example is an email from someone who needs a report by the end of the day.
Important tasks are the backbone of all other work. With important tasks, you have more time than you do with urgent tasks. For important tasks, apply a deadline and work on them until they are complete. Then, monitor your progress to ensure that the tasks don’t become urgent due to procrastination or missed deadlines.
Step #4 — Schedule
When planning your schedule, make sure to balance your week by choosing the important and urgent tasks from each category. If some tasks seem more pressing than others, use those as priorities for planning out what needs to be done first so they don’t fall through the cracks.
Step #5 — Reflect
Well done! You’ve made it to the end of another week. Take some time for yourself and do a weekly reflection. What are your thoughts on how things went this time around? Do any tasks need moving to next week? Make a note of anything that didn’t go well to make changes.
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