How Do You Schedule Your Work Week?

Have you ever feel at the end of a busy working day, and even though you came into the office early and left late, you don’t feel as if you have accomplished anything significant at all? It’s all too easy for this to happen. Faced with endless meetings, frequent interruptions, and urgent last-minute tasks, we can easily be busy all day without making any progress on high-priority projects and goals.

There’s always this sense of guilt when I’m less occupied at work. The worst part is when the workload kicks in, that is exactly when I do not feel productive even if I’m occupied for the entire day. It was until my colleague sat me down and spoke to me about my hectic work-style. I was told that I’m too ‘busy being busy’ and perhaps only scratching surfaces, hence my work did not create any impact.

Criticism is hard to take in at times, but it is also one of those things that is necessary for growth. To be brutally honest with myself, I have always had the problem of planning my schedule. I did not see the point of making it as my plan changes all the time until I came across a quote from the book ‘7 habits of highly effective people’.

The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.

It really did spoke to my heart and I was all but ready to make a change since then. The whole point of a schedule is not about filling your timetable with tasks, it is about putting in your important task so that you are reminded to prioritize them!

You may be questioning ‘What about those urgent tasks that come in between?’ It is hard to avoid them altogether, but remember, it is possible to block or delay most of them! If you have done what’s on your priority, then the rest of the time can be used to complete the other minor tasks such as compiling data, helping that colleague that have trouble using excel sheets, or simply, taking a break to reward yourself! 

So, how did I do it? At the start of every week, I’d set my goals and plan my daily 3 most important tasks and review them to schedule in high-priority and urgent activities, as well as essential maintenance tasks that cannot be delegated or avoided. It’s still working perfectly for me now, but everyone works in a different way so, your daily planning will be as unique as yourself! 

Thank you for tuning in and I hope you’ll find the best way to plan your work schedule soon!