Scheduling and Planning Hacks

Did you know that there are two ways to spend your life?

Yes, you have two available options: Wake up each morning and flow with whatever pulls your attention-strings the hardest or create a healthy structure and discipline yourself to follow it.

It’s always easier to go with the flow.

But I have come to learn that life was designed to be lived intentionally. Man was created with intellect because he wasn’t made to be a casual observer in life.

So from the moment you gain awareness of your purpose, your biggest task becomes how to optimise the available resources for growth.

You cannot live a purpose-driven life by being a casual observer and poor manger of your life. You will weary yourself out with endless frustrations. Because that’s the thing with awareness… the more you know, the more you have to do. Fail on that, and your life will be full of regrets.

The disciplined path can be difficult but it’s not too narrow to walk.

Here are four sustainable hacks you can use to regain control of your life.

1. Schedule Your Day. I shared extensively on this in The Home Office. Are your hours accounted for? If no, why not? Build a daily routine. This helps you know what to focus on every hour.
2. Use Your Mind More. A senior friend once shared with me that if she has a busy day ahead, she spends a few minutes the night before, imagining and role-playing how her day will go. This helps her act with more clarity and speed the next day. I intentionally gave this a try and it was such good feeling. Before you sleep, spend some time visualizing how tomorrow will go.
3. Evaluate Commitments. What are the time-drainers in your life? This might be as basic as WhatsApp groups that don’t add anything to you but due to FOMO, you spend hours scrolling through the messages. Life is in seasons; know when to move on from commitments that are no longer serving. If they don’t add to you and you don’t add to them, what’s the use?
4. Plan Tomorrow. Do long-term planning and let your daily goals be in line with that vision. Start with six months if one year scares you. What are the major achievements you want to see in your life? Outline them and then work backwards. This helps you appreciate the law of compound effect.

In Eat That Frog, Brian Tracy shares these thoughts: “One of the most important rules of personal productivity is the 90/10 Rule. This rule says that the first 10 percent of time that you spend planning and organizing your work before you begin will save you as much as 90 percent of the time in getting the job done once you get started.”

To the uninitiated, this might come off as a bold claim but I assure you it works. Give planning a try and tell me how it goes.

Warning: You are not omniscient, so there are some things that you will not be able to account for. Don’t worry so much about these when they pop up. Focus on the things within your control and aim to do better.

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We’re on a journey to uncover strategies that will help you execute ideas better.

If you missed the first post, catch up here.