Are you making a major scheduling mistake by filling up your calendar with other people’s agendas for you–and then running out of time for yourself?
This is a common mistake and often a key to higher anxiety and lower productivity. Other people will not assure your week has time for mental health, creativity, exercise and education–that’s for you to schedule first before everyone else gets a piece of your day.
Remember, if you’re not taking care of your own mental and physical health first, you can’t really be your best for your family, coworkers and clients.
Here are the FIRST items to put on your weekly schedule and then book other people’s agendas around it.
Me Time
Book 30-60 minutes daily for yourself to do anything you want. If you don’t have that much time to spare, even 10 minutes of peaceful alone time works wonders for your mood. Putting a block of “me time” on the calendar assures you won’t book anything in its place. You can always use it for mental health, reading, organizing or anything you need, but make it your own first.
Your Best Time
You can get more done in one uninterrupted hour per day than 10 hours with interruptions. Book 60 minutes daily for high value tasks that you need your best most productive time slot for. Are you best in the morning or evening? Pick your best time and use it for the highest value tasks you can think of. Don’t let anyone else’s needs interrupt this key hour. For a designer, it’s creative time. For a businessman, it is often planning or selling. For a project manager it could be organization. Book it.
Exercise Time
Book 30-60 minutes daily for exercise. You need it for your body and mind. You won’t have time for it until it hits your calendar and becomes a fixed recurring event. Schedule it–even if you just take a walk and catch up on calls at the same time. Book it now–you can do it.
Education Time
The world is changing and so must you advance your skills and value to the marketplace–just to keep up. Schedule in your time to read, learn or practice something that makes you more valuable.
Now when someone asks for time on your calendar, you can confidently tell them what you have time for and when–not to conflict with your 4 sacred time slots. Try this tomorrow and see if you can keep it up for a while. You will feel more relaxed and productive than ever.
That’s it. Easy to do—easy not to do. Take a moment and put these four items on your calendar as recurring events.
