How I’m Rethinking My “Ideal Week”
Several years ago I wrote a post called “Mapping Your Ideal Week,” the main idea being that a few minutes of weekly pre-planning can make sure you get all of the important stuff accomplished.
I’ve taught the content from that post a number of times, and still stand by it for the super-nerds among us. (Seriously, if you like salivating over color-coded calendared events, click above and get ready to drool.)
But several months ago I realized that two things were happening simultaneously:
- I was losing control of my calendar to an over-abundance of meeting requests, assigned tasks, and “urgent / important” projects, and…
- I realized that I was overthinking my “ideal week.” (“You being an over-thinker surprises me,” said no one.)
So I started looking into how the “losing control” evolution had taken place. In doing so, I recognized that I could have a manageable work week if I followed two guidelines:
- A typical day should have – at most – 2/3 of the time allocated to others, holding 1/3 of the time allocated for “heads down” tasks.
- A typical week should be 50/50 to 60/40: half to others / half to me, or 60% to others / 40% to me.
- (The disparity between points one and two comes by the fact that most of my Thursdays are strict “no meetings and catch up” days.)
At that point, gone were the endless color-coding systems. For the last few months, I’ve followed three principles:
- One hour per day dedicated to administrative tasks like emptying my inbox. Usually that’s 30 minutes in the morning and 30 in the late afternoon.
- Two hours per day dedicated to “heads down” tasks, projects, deep thinking, etc. Ideally, those happen in one block, but if I need to break ’em up, there’s no issue.
- …and unlike the previous calendaring system of allotting 15 minutes here to one project, 45 minutes there to another, those two hours are largely driven by my Asana list. Everything I need to do gets dumped there, and that’s my guide for the two hours of each day.
So how do I plan for this, practically? It’s easy. Or at least easier than my previous plan:
- Those time slots are in repeat mode on my calendar, every week from now until Jesus comes back. (Or at least until I decide I’m overthinking this one, too.)
- Any time a new meeting gets added to my calendar, I jump over to that day and make sure it doesn’t conflict with one of the 1/3 time slots. If it does, I simply move the slot to an empty space on the calendar.
- Once my 1/3 and others’ 2/3 are filled, that’s it. No more meetings that day. Nothing gets to override the 1/3 except in extreme emergencies.
Now certainly, there are weeks when others’ 2/3 slots don’t get filled. No problem. I just work ahead of the game on Asana.
I’ve found that this new procedure is simpler, more streamlined, and allows me to stay on top of each week’s “must-do” items. If you’re a calendar junkie like me, this little pro tip might help you get on top of your must-dos, as well.
