I woke up this morning and made a simple to-do list. This is how most mornings begin. Whether sleepy-eyed and waiting for my coffee to finish brewing or with a spare minute in the afternoon, I come up with a list of things I “could” or “should” get completed for the day. News flash – I hardly ever complete the lists that I make. In fact, I’m lucky if I even re-read the list. My personal favorite is to look at the list, ignore the tasks on it, do something else and then write that task down just to cross it off a second later. Now that is how to feel productive.
As you can guess, this morning was like most other mornings. I made my list and have looked over it twice (it is now 5:00pm). Throughout the day, I had been thinking to myself, “I need a better system.” I don’t know what your belief systems are, but something or, in this case, someone gave me the answer right when I was looking for it.
During my typical afternoon teaching, I met a student from Brazil. He’s 40 and has his own business. Something that my student is passionate about is his self-created “work-life balance.” We got to talking right away about some ways that he creates this much sought after balance in his life. He has developed his own belief system incorporating apps, Google calendar appointments and fusing his work and personal lives together. Doesn’t that sound like the opposite of work-life balance? While we chatted for about 45 minutes, I’ll cover the highlights and simplify his methods. Here is my take on what my student had to say about being your own boss and managing your time accordingly.
- Make goals on a weekly basis. For my student, this looks like creating a list of a few personal and work-related goals on Sunday evenings before bed.
- Set a timeframe for those goals. When would you like to have this project or task completed? Remember, your deadline is the end of the week. If it is a longer-term project that involves research, this would look like meeting a milestone. Here I am talking about the date in which you will finish said task.
- Make calendar appointments for everything. Yep, that includes taking a shower, getting ready to leave the house, responding to your inundated and neglected inbox, etc. And yes, this is the so often feared combining of your personal and professional schedules.
- By doing the above step, allocate a certain amount of time for each personal and professional task. For example, give yourself 30 minutes to take a shower and 1 hour to respond to yesterday’s e-mails.
- Stick to your schedule. The whole point of making the schedule is to be held accountable. If you aren’t going to follow it, then why make it? Basically, if you are going to go for a walk at 6pm, go for the walk; no excuses.
- Let go of perfection. Every day is a new day. You might skip an appointment from time to time. Forgive yourself, move the appointment to another time and move on.
- Track your progress. How long did it actually take you to complete your task? This “data” will help you create a better system for your next week.
- Reflect at the end of the week. How could you have been more efficient? How often did you catch yourself on the Internet between tasks?
- Use your free time wisely for self-care. Given that you have made your week productive and efficient by remaining disciplined and loyal to your schedule, you now have time to disengage from your “work life.”
- Repeat.
As a hard Type-B personality, I think that I might struggle with this strict of an agenda. I can just picture myself defying my own daily tasks out of pure defiance or boredom with routine. That said, I’m still thinking about what my student taught me a few hours ago. What he had to say must have been important. I also had to meet this student today, when I was already questioning my own time-management. The timing seems eerie, coincidental or however you want to look at it.
Take or leave the above notes from a stranger on the Southern Hemisphere. As a noteworthy procrastinator and “let the tasks come to me” kind of person, I hope to use some of these skills to become more efficient. In a broader sense, I hope to become more organized so that I can have more time and freedom to enjoy life and less time to stress about it.
Happy working and living!