It is crucially important for a man or a woman to continuously plan his or her schedule on a weekly basis. I’m sure you heard the saying, “What gets planned, gets done.” This saying is right on target when you are seeking to accomplish a certain task or complete a project. Before getting into the details, I’d like to remind you that I am certainly no expert when it comes to planners or on methods on being productive. This blog posts is simply about how I plan my schedule and how I try to be productive as best as possible.

Select a day during the week to plan
I usually like to plan either Sunday afternoon or evening. The beginning of the week is much better than planning towards the end of the week. It takes about 30-45 minutes to plan my week, put items on the calendar, organize my to-do list, prepare my journal, etc.

Prioritize what is necessary, cut out what is absolutely unnecessary
If I do not do this on a weekly basis, I am in danger of two things: (1) burning out that week. (2) offending someone for lack of focus, being late, or even “flaking” on an event. Prioritizing what is necessary not only minimizes your stress level, it also reduces the chance of others being frustrated at you.

What is absolutely necessary in your life for a regular week? For me, I need my time of prayer and devotion. I divide this time up in the morning and evening. This is necessary for my spiritual growth and relationship with God. I need my time of exercise, at least 5 times a week, so that I can remain healthy and physically fit.

I’m not good at this yet but I’m working on it… but I am trying to sleep at least 7-8 hours per day. Sleep is incredibly important for your well-being not only physically but also mentally. The other necessary events are your obligations such as work, church, etc. Obviously you can’t miss those as well.

Then cut out what is unnecessary. Think about your previous week and consider what you did that took up most of your time when it shouldn’t have. See how you can minimize it or see if it is possible to cut it out.

Find the best method for planning your week
Okay so this is where it gets really important. You need to figure out what works best for you. For me I use one specific app which is the iOS Calendar app on my iPhone. For you it might be a physical planner where you plan your entire week on paper. I like an electronic calendar because I can take it anywhere I go.

The items I place on my calendar are appointments or events which require me to be stationary at one location. For example: church and work, this requires me to be at a specific location for a longer period of time. It takes a while to get to church or my work so I include my commute time as well. Here is an example of my calendar this week:

If you work a 9-5 job and you put that on your calendar, it does two things: (1) Reminds you to remain focus on your work during that time and not to put anything else on your schedule within those hours. (2) Shows you how limited your free time is, which is important considering the previous point.

Have some form of a to-do list
The app I like to use is called Things. While pricey, it is very helpful for what I’d like to do. Take a look at a sample of my to-do list (some had to be omitted). The category “someday” is used to list out your projects that you’d like to accomplish but does not have a due date. You can create your own categories and input projects then task under each categories.

For me; I have various different categories such as grad school classes, ministry related duties, reading list, etc. I have an event coming up called Thanksgiving Sunday/Anniversary. That would go under the category: Ministry-Related as a project. Within that project, there will be several tasks that I need to complete to get ready for this event. Examples of some tasks for this event would include: create video, create slides, prepare flyers, etc. When I complete each task under a project, there is a pie looking icon next to the project title showing how close I am in completing the project.

Things also has an “inbox” feature which allows me to input tasks that I need to take care of right away. This is extremely helpful for me to type in whatever I need to get done… in that moment.

Some of you might prefer a notepad or index cards, etc. I like to use Things because I can take it anywhere, just like the iOS Calendar app. If Things is too pricey, you can download free versions of to-do lists such as Wunderlist or even use the Reminders app on your iPhone.

Side note: If you plan on using a calendar or a to-do list app electronically, get one that can sync to all your devices. I have an iPhone, iPad, and a Macbook and all of these apps sync to all those devices.

Be consistent
None of this will work for me if I am not consistent. Sometimes this will get difficult, especially if you are busier than usual that particular week. If I miss my time of planning, I will do my best to make it up the next available time I have. Be consistent in following up with your planned events during the week as well, unless they have changed. Be consistent in constantly updating your to-do list and pressing the check mark when you have completed the task or postponing one if you missed the deadline.

Sidebar: Have flexibility and free time
Just a quick note: my calendar has many blank spaces between events. I am perfectly content with this. It is okay to have “free time”. Someone once taught me that it was actually a discipline to simply stay still and do absolutely nothing. I didn’t realize how thankful I was for that word of advice until I actually tried it. It really is satisfying to simply be alone and do nothing! 

Select a day during the week to review
After the week is over, usually on Saturday evening after the gym, I’ll take about 5-10 minutes in my car and review my week. This is simply to see how consistent I was with my task and keeping up with my calendar. It is also an opportunity for me to see where I need to improve and fix my schedule a bit for the following week.

Conclusion
So this is what I do on a weekly basis. Let me surprise you by saying that this is actually a new method that I’ve been using for only a couple of months after reading a few books, listening to some podcasts, and spending time with some of my mentors.

Do you have any tips or advice that I can consider using? Share it with me, I’m open to hear some new methods or what you do to plan your week.