Sundays are for planning. First, every month I create a monthly plan that includes my areas of growth. Having this blueprint REALLY helps speed up and dictate what I plan each week, which is why it only takes me ~5 minutes to decide what 1-3 results I'm going to produce each day.
Before I decide what those results are, I determine my daily capacity. That looks like taking the time to consider what I already have going on that week. If it's a heavy client day (right now, that's Mondays and Fridays for me) I typically don't plan anything else to do on those days. If I do, I limit it to 1 result that I'll create.
* I dive deeper into specifically what I do include as a part of these 1-3 results, but here's what I don't include: admin, client communication, tweaking my website, etc. Basically, no busy work. Nothing quick and easy.
Monday-Friday, my job is to enjoy my life, be calm and present, and follow my plan. & my plan is essentially kept in three places: my head, my paper calendar, and my digital calendar.
Here's what I mean by that. My habits are kept in my head, right now, this includes walking 1 mile & my simple marketing plan that I've been following for 6 months. My simple marketing plan is 3 posts/week & stories M-F on IG. These happen pretty much automatically at this point. I don't schedule any of these things in, I just do them when I feel like it. Other habits that I don't plan for are: client admin like checking Slack or scheduling new appointments, leaving comments or sending DM's on IG, and checking email, to name a few.
Then, I have my plan that I write down in my paper calendar, which includes 1-2 simple, easy, new habits I'm creating (right now, eating a breakfast with protein and working out) AND my 1-3 results produced. I do not include these habits as a part of my 1-3 results produced. So, no more than 5 things planned/day. Next to each thing I've planned, I have a little circle for me to color in when I complete it.
Here's how I write the workout habit out:
Legs, (3x10) x3
I know this means 3 different leg exercises, 3 sets of 10 reps. You could get more detailed if you want but this works for me. For breakfast I just write "breakfast" in my planner. The guidelines that I've set for myself are really clear and I don't need any additional planning around it. It has to have a decent-ish amount of protein, like eggs, or Greek yogurt and not just carbs.
In addition to these habits, I also write out 1-3 results produced. I'll write those results out as what I will have created by the end of the day. These 1-3 results require the most mental effort in my week, which is why I plan it out really clearly and specifically and it's why I only plan on creating 1-3 new results/day. Things take as long as we allow them to. If something is taking longer than I anticipated, it's just not a big deal. I'll get down what I know, add time to complete it another day in the week, and then I'll move on to the next thing. This is why I don't recommend maxing out your schedule. The goal isn't more; it's doing things well, from a calm place.
The results I create are things like live trainings, creating concepts for my coaching program and then turning those concepts into batched IG posts/blogs/emails, and client delivery (how to get clients results more quickly and easily).
Finally, there's the direct time I spend with my clients either through 1:1 sessions or consults, and I keep those times in a digital calendar so I can be reminded of those times + for ease of scheduling for everyone. Like my habits, these things don't require a ton of mental energy for me.
Throughout the week I also take really casual notes of what I'm enjoying, what doesn't go that well, and what I want to change/add next week.
I use Fridays to briefly reflect back on my week. I spend 10 minutes to be really honest with myself and answer these questions:
1. What lessons or takeaways or problems did I solve for that moved me closer to my goal this week?
2. Where am I still getting stuck/repeating the same mistakes?
3. What ONE thing do I want to focus on/shift/change next week that will get me closer to my goal?
4. How will I know if I've shifted that one thing/made progress on it when I ask myself these same questions next Friday?
I use these answers to help guide my planning on Sunday.
Saturdays (and evenings) are my time to clean, get re-organized, take mental time off of work, do laundry, grocery shop, make dinner, etc. Basically just take care of my environment and myself. I create LOTS of time to rest and recharge. My rest to work ratio is close to 2:1. I work about 25-30 hours/week, and that includes 12 hours of direct client time. The rest is downtime.
Evenings and Saturdays are when I spend tidying up and taking care of my environment. Having time for this is made so much easier when I'm not on my phone. I've recently implemented a 30 minute phone screen time limit for myself as apart of my next 30 day goal for December. Those 30 minutes get used up quick by work-related stuff so this basically leaves me no time to scroll, which is such a great thing.
To sum it up, it's not about doing everything perfectly on time or following rigid rules. Successfully managing your time means enjoying your life & getting the things done that you want to get done, creating serious forward momentum, and not staying stuck in the same place. That's it! Exactly how you do that matters soo much less.
That's my week. Below you'll find some extra tips for how I stay on top of things! Let me know in the comments which part you found most helpful. I can't wait to hear what's shifted for you when you try some of this on for yourself.
Talk to you next week,
Gretta
Note 1 : I don't put set times on anything (outside of client appointments, obviously). I generally jump into action whenever my puppies calm down, which is typically around 9am or so and I'm typically done no later than 3-4pm but I don't have set work hours. I've tried them out and don't really find them necessary at this point. For me, time blocking and set work hours created a lot of unnecessary time drama and I find I actually get way more done when I have more space in my calendar.
Note 2: I find 30 day daily habits to be THE most effective way to create a new habit. You can re-decide at the end of those 30 days if you want to continue. This is how I created my simple marketing plan and my 1 mile/day walk habit. The key is to keep it to 1 habit at a time (to start, once this process becomes a habit maybe 2 a time if they're really easy), make it very clear and specific, and manageable. It's better to start with a habit that's too easy rather than too hard. You'll know if it's too hard if you're not doing it or you really have to work yourself up to getting it done.
Note 3: You know when you sign up for a free subscription and then you get charged a month later because you totally forgot to cancel? Anytime I sign up for something like that (or truthfully with any subscription service), I add a reminder in my Google Calendar to cancel. I usually schedule this a few days before the day I actually need to cancel.
If you loved this and want to get an outside perspective on why your planning process isn't working well for you and what you can do to tweak it, we can do that on a consult. If we decide to work together, we can create your own weekly game plan if that would be helpful for you.