Creating Schedules That Make Time for Fun
Creating schedules that really work helps you achieve more without burning out. Schedules ensure that you have enough time and the right tools to do any task or experience anything that you want to without completely losing it when the unexpected happens. To create a schedule that makes time for fun, you’ll need to follow these steps.• Know Your Priorities – Before you can create any type of schedule for your life, you really need to know what your priorities are in terms of the impact you want to make. Try writing a mission statement for your life and your business. This can inform your choices going forward.
• Learn to Say No – When you know your priorities, it’s easier to know what to say no to and what to say yes to. Saying no, or at least “let me check my schedule,” is an important way to gain some control over your schedule so that you know that when you do take actions, it impacts the results.
• Focus on Impact – When you look at the impact your choices make, from your child’s life to your business, to your work life, or your marriage and relationships, it becomes easier to know what to say yes to and no to.
• Understand What the Task Really Takes – When you make your schedule, don’t lie to yourself about how long something takes or avoid figuring out where bottlenecks can happen. Run through the most efficient process and give yourself enough time to do it.
• Group Tasks Together – When you can group tasks together, you can save time. This works at home and at work. If you know you must go to the doctor, it makes sense to run by the store on your way home. If you need to get on social media to post updates, it makes sense to use some of the time for engagement.
• Use the Right Tools – Don’t try to do anything without the right tools. It’s okay to cobble together things sometimes, but the best way to succeed is to use the right tools for each task that you need to do. By doing this, each action you take really makes a difference.
• Establish Systems and A Routine – Just like the right tools will help you get things done right and more efficiently, so will creating a routine and systemizing everything you can. When you do things in a specific order every time, you reduce mistakes too.
• Schedule Everything Including Downtime – Don’t forget to schedule your sleeping, eating, movie time, and really everything you do. When you want to do something, make it appear in the schedule so that you know you really have time for it.
Finally, you must create flexible schedules that consider reality. For example, if you have kids, you need to be able to determine if a situation is an emergency or not before scheduling things. Have criteria in place that help you make good choices so that you put your priorities and the impact you create first while avoiding neglecting yourself or your loved ones.
