News

not only scheduling meetings or arrangements but also allocating certain work and certain projects to different days of the week or hours in the day. I add my exercise and training goals into the mix and then I move things around. This is all very lovely and wonderful in my head but then something comes up that needs to be done and I have to move everything around! This takes patience (which I don’t have) and practice (which I am investing time in :))

I am a big advocate for planning and I think that people don’t do it well enough and don’t think hard enough about what they can fit into their day and when to do what. This makes you late, means you are often behind on things and also results in spending more time on things than are necessary because you were not prepared. It also means that people miss deadlines and forget arrangements which is not ideal.

However… you do need to have some flexibility built into your life, otherwise you will miss out on opportunities and also make mistakes when you are prioritising due to things not ‘fitting in with your plan!’

Try something new for yourself – download a new to-do-list template or a new app or something online. Perhaps try out my technique of plotting tasks into a google calendar? Here is how I do it…

1. I use a simple planner as a weekly planner for my life (let me know if you want a copy and I will send it)
2. I use google calendar to plot my days, I have meetings on there, exercise sessions, blocked out time for certain projects, social arrangements for dinners, I include my shopping list on the calendar in the time when I can go to the shop so that I don’t lose the piece of paper or forget anything. This is on my computer and my phone.
3. The reminders pop up on my phone and send me an email. I do not delete the email until I have finished the task. I like having a clean in-box so this motivates me to get it done and then be able to delete. (I can’t wait to go and delete the email that says blog post! I have scheduled the calendar event for every Monday in an attempt to get me to write each week. Can’t delete until I have hit ‘Publish’)
4. I make lists all the time and then I add them to my master to-do list. During meetings, on the bus, while watching TV. I jot things down as I remember them and then consolidate on the master.
5. I spend time on a Sunday evening or early on a Monday morning planning my week ahead.
6. I also have a longer term project plan in a spreadsheet where I try to keep track of the overall progress on my projects as I am often working on more than 4 things at any one time.

This is what works for me. Find something that suits you and get planning!

by Michelle Adler