Time Management Made Easy
/How to ditch the to-do list and start Action Planning
Life is hectic. There are many demands and we all wear different hats. I work with many clients who describe the mental overwhelm they feel trying to juggle everything.
I designed the Action Planning system to solve the most common pitfalls I see:
Never-ending to-do lists with no prioritisation or time allocation
Different systems being used for home/family/work tasks
Overestimating what can be done in a day and underestimating what can be done in a week
Not chunking things down into achievable tasks
A reliance on digital scheduling/reminders
No real sense of how much or little time is actually being used
Why Action Planning works:
It creates a realistic plan for the week that takes into account all of your ‘hats’ and commitments
It is a firm plan of action that flexes with (real!) life
It is super simple and you only need a pen and paper (or the action planning pad which you’ll find on the shop page)
We all have a list. Whether mental or written down there will be a myriad of tasks that span home life, family, business and self. They will range from the every day little things like posting birthday cards, invoicing, remembering PE kit and booking dentist to the bigger plans like building a website, decorating the house or writing a book. And most of us find ourselves getting on with all the small stuff and continuously adding to the big stuff. We often compartmentalise our lives too and so might have different calendars or systems for the different parts of our life and yet our time is common to all these areas and so it is helpful to view it more holistically.
Create a master list
Ultimately I want you to ditch the to-do list and embrace the action plan but a master list is still important.
Keep a record of all the stuff you want to get done in whatever form is helpful to you - on your phone, in a notebook, or my favourite, using post its on a wall.
Ideally write things down under the month you would like to start or accomplish them - have headers for the next 3 months and then a future header for stuff further out than this. Capture everything as it pops into your head so that you know you have acknowledged that it needs to happen but that you’re not carrying it around in your mental to do list. This is a HUGE contribution to overwhelm. It’s safely logged now, you won’t forget it and you don’t have to lug it around with you.
Action Planning starts on a Friday
Now we can focus on action. On what we are going to DO this coming week. A combination of what we have to do and what we want to do.
So I do this on a Friday.
For two reasons really:
1) It gets everything out of my head and planned before the weekend starts is I can then enjoy the weekend with a clear head, even if there are work bits planned in it
2) I can start the week knowing exactly where I am and what is coming at me. No Sunday night dread and I’m straight out of the blocks with a coffee on Monday
Action Planning in easy steps
Look at what you have on next week commitment wise. Everything. Clients, meetings, health appointments, after school clubs, exercise classes. Anything that requires you to be somewhere/do something on a named day and time. Draw a line out from the day this is happening on and write the activity down. Do any of these commitments need any prep on an earlier day or a follow up afterwards? If so, write that action down on the relevant day too.
Now look ahead to the following week. What’s coming up? Anything next week that needs some thought or action to happen this week? Choose which day this week makes sense to do that on and pop it down.
Now think about all the other things that you want or need to do this week. Use your master list as a prompt too. What did you want to stop thinking about and start actioning? What are the specific actions you could bring into this week? Find a space for them. Which days have time and space left for a chunkier action. Which days could you fit a couple of quick actions on to?
Take a look at your week now. You’ve got all the must do’s on it. And you’ve added the stuff you ‘d like to do. Is the balance right? Have you remembered the non-urgent but important stuff on there too? Like exercise or meeting a friend or planning an early night?
At the side of your planner there is also space to note anything that springs to mind for next week so that it doesn’t get in the way of your action plan but is close to hand and can be used on Friday when you plan next week
Once you’ve got it all down (and it should feel great that there is an intentional time and a place for all the actions you want to achieve next week) you will be able to see your week at a glance.
Some guiding principles
Each day you can now get on with what needs to happen BUT with the following principles to guide you:
If you don’t get everything done on the day you said you wanted to don’t panic. Life happens. This is a flexible plan. Leave the action there - you still have all the other days left, you will find time for it.
If you finish everything you had planned for the day and have some time and energy left then this is an awesome time to get ahead of yourself - have a look over the upcoming days - what takes your fancy to do right now? Instant smug club when you’ve crossed off a Friday action on a Monday!
Tune in to yourself. You are in charge here. If you had scheduled tax return for Weds and have a headache and tired after a bad night with the kids then what can you swap it for? What could you face today? This is about the whole week and flexing with circumstances and ourselves.
If new demands on your time come in look at the week and what is there already. Can you accommodate it? Will it impact anything else? Or is this a time when you need to confidently say no (power of no). Remember that saying yes to other people is saying no to yourself.
Nothing should be carried over to next week if this system is used well (unforeseen circumstances aside) - if is is then perhaps being too ambitious with what you can achieve or not chunking down enough
Be realistic about the time you have - if you have half a day at sports day then don’t try to cram a full days worth of work into this. On the flip side if you have a meeting in London and 2 hours travel time don’t write off half a day as you can use the travel time to get stuff done too if you need it.
Enjoy the sense of control and calm action planning can bring to your life. I hope you enjoy it and I’d love to hear how you get on so don’t be a stranger ;-)
PS You may be interested in listening to this podcast on Action Planning too http://prosperitykitchenpodcast.libsyn.com/202_pk_202___-to-do-list-mini-series-method-2-emma-jefferys
