Five Common Scheduling Mistakes
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Working on urgent things, instead of important tasks each day.
This one is a difficult one to stop, but if it continues over time, the frustration of not being able to progress on your goals because you’re usually spending your time responding to urgent issues, can really hold you and/or business back, OR you end up rushing the important things, and not doing great work.
A Solution:
Give yourself a weekly routine – even if you’re starting out and not that busy, but especially if you are busy. You need structure, so that you can have freedom.
If you know that you write a blog draft on a Monday morning after your planning session – like me! – then you don’t have to keep it on your to do list all week until it finally get’s done – or doesn’t even get done, because you’re still replying to an email you received this morning.That way you can schedule time for the urgent tasks, as well as time for the important tasks. Prioritise the things that are important to you, so that they get done first, and work through the other things once your priorities are done.
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Underestimating how long tasks will take, such as getting out the door, writing and posting a blog post
This one ultimately puts the rest of the day into overdrive, because there’s less time to get everything done, and your perfectly timed schedule is out the window!
A Solution: If you find that somethings take longer than you thought, then write it down, so that next time you have to do it, you don’t have to be under pressure.
Another solution: give yourself a time line and stick to it. It doesn’t have to be perfect before you finish it.
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Cramming too much into your day, and being overwhelmed, rushed, or frustrated that you didn’t achieve half of your To Do List
This is a really common mistake, because your To Do List has everything that’s in your head that needs to get done. The reality is that you can only do what you can do in the time that you have.
A Solution: Estimate how much time you want to spend on each aspect of your To do list, and slot those times into your schedule – you’ll soon work out that it won’t all fit in.
You can also check out my 5 Steps to Nail your To Do List, for a step by step process of working this out and improving your daily productivity. -
Working in an adhoc/ unstructured way
I know that many people like the freedom to be able to choose what they can work on and when, but I can guarantee you that those entrepreneurs who have consistent systems and structure for getting things done work more effectively, and efficiently, and have more freedom.
I used to be guilty of this, and would think that I could post to my FB page every day, and write my blog when I had a great idea, and felt like sitting down to write.A Solution: I quickly learnt that the pressure of having to post every day, and the constant uphill downhill cycle of waiting for inspiration to hit for my blog, and then getting it out was not providing a consistent message for my tribe, plus it had the added impact of always staying with me on my subconscious list of things to do.
The beauty of creating a weekly structure is that I write on a Monday morning, and then I can forget about it for the rest of the week. I schedule my posts once a month, so I get more structure and more flow in that one off block of work, than having to create content daily. The freedom is there!
Another Solution: Batch similar tasks – sometimes I used to make a week’s worth of vegemite sandwiches on a Monday morning and freeze them. You can also schedule a chunk of time to plan your social media once a week or once a month – 2+hours, and get it done – or you could try and fit it in every day or to, come up with something creative on the spot, and have to add it to your to do list every day. Which one leads to burnout quicker?
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Sitting between a paper calendar and an online one
I never used to have an online calendar, because I thought I could remember everything. After my second child, this was harder to achieve, but because I wasn’t flat out in my business I didn’t really bother too much.
However, once I started to book people in, even just one or two, I found that there would be clashes, because I hadn’t blocked out time in the online calendar, and I was mixing the two – unsuccessfully, and at a cost to me and my family.
If you are a service based business, then I think it is essential.
Are you exhausted because your weekly schedule is crammed full, but there’s still not enough time to get everything done?
Do you get to Friday afternoon and wonder where the time went – despite your massive to do list, and the fact that you just didn’t stop?
Perhaps you can’t decide whether to switch from a paper calendar to online – let alone have the time to work out which one to use?
Is your ‘go with the flow’ strategy not quite cutting it now that you’re business is busier, and could do with some structure?
By the end of this webinar you will:
1. Know whether to stick to a paper calendar, or to upgrade
– I’m going through the pros and cons of both
2. Know which online calendar would be best for you
– I’ll be reviewing my top 3, including features and benefits
3. Understand why you’re feeling burnout by Friday afternoon, despite working like crazy all week
– I’ll explain why a weekly schedule is important and some common mistakes that we often make
4. Know how to create a sustainable calendar that works for you.
and yes – I’ll be recording it xx
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