Now that it’s December and we already covered task management, we need to decide how to manage our time. Because guess what? If you have the most organized digital storage system and the most awesome task management system and your calendar is a hot mess, well, then nothing else matters. Over the years, I’ve tried various approaches to calendar management. I’ve used theme days, time blocking, all kinds. Some of these worked, some of them didn’t. For this post, I hit the Internet to find the best tips and advice for calendar management. There’s no shortage of articles out there with suggestions on managing your calendar, but I wanted to know that my system was going to work for me. I’ve covered my digital filing system and task management system before; both draw from various methods and workflows, and both just work. Why? First, they’re easy and don’t require much thought. As such, neither system impacts my work or takes time to keep up with. Second, every item or task, regardless of what it is or what area of my life it falls under, goes through the same flowchart-of-sorts. So I decided to translate this over to how I manage my time. I needed easy, and I needed something that applies to all facets of my life. The thing with time, though, is that its abstract and limited. No matter where you live, what you do for a living, how many kids you have or don’t have, we all get the same amount of days, hours, minutes, and seconds in a week. Theoretically, there is no limit to the number of notebooks or projects you could create, but none of us can create time. All we CAN do is manage it. Candidly, I wrote this post expecting to start a time block system. I didn’t end up with one, not really. My reason for this is that my schedule changes. I like having a schedule, but I also like to allow my schedule to fluctuate. My day to day changes, by design, and having a set-in-stone schedule won’t work for me. I’ve come up with three steps to design your ideal schedule. Step #1 - Define Your TimeLater, we’re going to discuss filing our time. In order to do so, you’ll need to evaluate everything that goes, or should go, on your calendar. APPOINTMENT: I would have previously called this a meeting, but being in virtual operations requires a lot of Skype calls, etc. Now, I define any time frame that requires my presence as an “appointment.” This includes meetings, events, Skype calls, again, anything that needs my presence. MAINTENANCE: There are things that don’t go on our to do list but we do them everyday regardless. Showering, washing dishes, making the bed, etc. They have to be done. Otherwise, we descend into a hot mess and a nasty house. This expands into our work lives, too. We file things, check emails, tidy up our areas as we see fit, etc. We may not schedule these, but we need to be sure we allow time for them. TASKS: Remember all the to do lists we talked about? Tasks are what we refer to as all the things we have to do. Generally speaking, these are to do's, errands, and work-related things. And I know You may not schedule each task, but you DO have to take time to you know, do the things. Does everything we do fit into these categories? Nope! Watching TV, for instance, isn’t maintenance or an appointment or a task. Does that mean you don’t watch TV? Of course not. It means you have ACTUAL free time to do with as you please. Step #2 - Know Your LimitsOne of the main draws for me in starting my own business was setting my own schedule. I’m not a morning person, and I need a few minutes to get my head on straight. I’ve tried to combat this in various ways, but it’s not a new phenomenon. I’ve NEVER been a morning person, and I’ve ALWAYS needed a few minutes to clear the cobwebs. So, I give up. I don’t force myself to wake up at 6 AM with some grand illusion that I’ll be jumping out of bed and crunching numbers. I recognize that’s not an option for everyone, but I would say the biggest piece of advice is “to thine own self be true.” So, while you may have no control over when you have to be at work, look for areas where you do have control. Maybe it’s scheduling meetings later in the day, or working on projects earlier if you ARE a morning person. Don’t kid yourself, either - if you’ve never been able to be early for anything, stop trying, and adjust your schedule as possible. Don’t get me wrong; I’m not suggesting you become a jerk. Life is about compromise, and you shouldn’t be late for everything because “it’s who you are.” But having a general sense of how you operate is better than nothing, and if you do have to schedule outside your regular rules, it creates a sense of importance. STEP #3 - Create Some RulesSpeaking of rules, you need some. I like rules. I think they’re helpful. Most people don’t agree, and I can appreciate their mindset. Rules don’t sound fun. But they’re necessary. I have three rules with my regular schedule: I take Sundays off. I’m actually going to post on this later this month, because I think it’s that important. My day of rest is Sunday. I don’t do chores. I don’t work. I watch football, go to church, read, and rest. Everything has to get done Monday - Saturday, because Sundays aren’t an option. I’m available 9 AM - 5 PM. I aim to be available to my clients when they need me, but I have hours set just the same. My clients are able to reach me outside those hours, of course, but it’s removed some pressure. Usually, I plan to work inside these hours too, but that changes regularly; my focus remains on being available. When I’m scheduled to work, my work hours are untouchable. The problem with working from home or working for yourself is that things very easily encroach into your business hours. I had read about this before, but its one of those things that you don’t realize is OH SO TRUE until it happens to you. First, its running to the grocery store. Then its doing laundry during the week. This happens when you work for others too - you take the afternoon off to run errands and sooner or later, you have to work a couple hours late or on a Saturday morning to make up for it. My rules create some valuable constraints. Some rules are made to be broken, so if I find myself breaking a rule, that’s fine, but I know it's damn important. If I’m talking to a client after 5, or doing chores on a Sunday, I know its because it’s 100% necessary and can’t wait. Now that we have our time categorized, set by rules, and aware of the best time to use it, we can set up our schedules. Think of your calendar as a filing cabinet. Time blocking follows this mindset. For instance, if you schedule yourself to work on a project on a Friday at 10 AM, anything that comes up through the week related to that project get “filed” into Friday at 10 AM. Time blocking is a valuable approach to time management, but I’ve never been able to stick with it. If I blocked off 10:30 AM to 11 AM to check my email every day, and had something come up that prevented me from doing so, I would either not check my email, use another block for something else, or end up working 12 hour days. Looking at my calendar as a filing cabinet, however, helped. I file appointments first, leave some time for maintenance, and schedule blocks of time to complete tasks. Because I have rules and I know myself, this works well. I move through my task list based on priorities (priority 1 comes first, then priority 2, then priority 3), then cycle back through. Of course there are days this all goes to hell right quick, and that can’t always be avoided (I’m writing this on a Sunday, for instance, because illness and craziness wrecked havoc on my calendar last week). You do what you gotta do, but having a system helps you get back to doing needs done. I end up with a schedule that allows for flexibility, defines what’s important, and applies to every area of life. Mission accomplished. You can subscribe to my mailing list here. You can also follow me on Twitter or Pinterest. If you’re in need of a virtual operations manager, check out my FAQs or available services, then head over to my consultation page so we can connect.
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