You Know What You Have to Do - Now Put It on Your Calendar

It’s Tuesday morning after a 3 day weekend.  There’s an anxious knot in the pit of my stomach for the short week ahead.

Part of life balance is taking the time to soak in those LOONG 3 day weekends but fit my work into a shortened week.  Time to lean heavy on my calendar.

“What gets scheduled gets done” Michael Hyatt

This is important during any week but even more important today.  

Here’s a breakdown of my calendar process.

1. For me it starts with my personal yearly review.  I spend time reconnecting with my life plan.  
2. Next I set goals for the year that connect to the plan and commit those goals to a quarter during my year. There are times when goals have to roll from one quarter to the next but that’s a post for another day.
3. Finally I take those quarterly goals and break them into weekly tasks that are put into my calendar.  
4. I review my calendar each day to make sure there’s time set aside for the most important tasks.

That’s a very 1000 foot view of the process.  If you want to see it in action, join me LIVE on Instagram next Friday.  

Electronic Vs. Old School

We all are carrying our calendars around in our pockets with the attack of the smartphones.  This is a convenience but I want to take a minute to advocate for the old school pencil and paper.

I begin each week with the act of writing the appointments I have scheduled into my calendar.  Science has shown that the activity of writing increases neural activity in certain parts of the brain.

Plus, I can see the whitespace in my days.  The parts where I can fit in time to work on my top priorities.  

I can visualize how I want my day to flow and what I can do if things go sideways.

Put Down the Right Things

If you’ve been hanging out with me for a while you’ve heard me say this before...it’s not enough to schedule your time.  You have to schedule the right things.

Remember a goal is ultimately the outcome you want to achieve. A task is a specific set of steps taken to achieve your goals.

Tasks are the things you put into your calendar.  And in those short weeks only chose the tasks that are most important.