Do You Need A Weekly Schedule?

Lately I feel like so many of my clients are coming to me with the desire for a “weekly schedule.” The common hope is that a weekly schedule will simultaneously keep them from the pitfalls of too much social media and email time while making sure they are getting done what they REALLY need to do.

I’ve noticed the desire for a weekly schedule comes from two different places:

1) I have more to do than a human being can possibly do but I believe if I put it into a schedule then I will actually be able to get it all done

2) I have tasks that I have to do repeatedly but each time it’s at the last minute (or worse – late). It feels like it always seems to come out of the blue at me. (These tasks often take the form of newsletter creations, accountability/billing, employee reviews and communications, etc)

My deep belief is that weekly schedules don’t help you if you are looking to fix #1. The reason is that if really have TOO much to do, your schedule eventually falls apart because you can’t keep up the unrealistic pace demanded by your week schedule to get all your to-dos done.

However, if you are looking to automatically schedule some repetitive tasks in your business and your life, ala #2, I think that a weekly or monthly schedule can be the perfect solution. My recommendation is to try pick 2-3 things you want to schedule (to start) and put them on your monthly calendar and then whether you are a paper or electronic scheduler – make sure you move these calendar items into repeating slots in your calendar.

At the end of 3 months – it’s time to have your reality check.

Did the schedule help?
Did you follow it?
How repetitive are these tasks really? Is there anyone you can delegate them to in order to free up more time in your business?

If you’d like to hear a longer more in-depth discussion about weekly scheduling tips and traps, check out my interview two weeks ago with my friend Natasha Vorompiova.