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Weekly planner

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  • 16-10-2020 9:10am
    #1
    paddylonglegs
    Registered Users Posts: 3,519 ✭✭✭


    Do you make a plan for your week and are you able to stick to it?

    As a one man band, I try and make plans for the week but it generally goes skew ways come Tuesday as something comes up, or a customer looks for something last minute.

    I'm really trying to get a hold on my time so if i have something booked in or time assigned to a task, it will help me to figure what i can and can't achieve during the week. I'm struggling to stick to a plan.

    Do you hand write tasks on a white board or diary? or do you use an app which you can keep referring to or move around? I'd like an app to work off as i'm out on the road half the time, but i also like write it on a board or diary as i can really look at everything going on.

    Any suggestions would be great


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    #2
    PhoenixParker
    Registered Users Posts: 2,671 ✭✭✭PhoenixParker


    Bullet journal.

    Its a whole system that you basically tailor to suit yourself. Go to the official website and start there. There's a lot of distracting arty stuff that can be added on but it's unnecessary. The core system is simple and easy.


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    #3
    Smiles35
    Registered Users Posts: 1,749 ✭✭✭Smiles35


    I'm a one man band myself. I have a pc hooked into a big screen tv. That's were I work from. I do it all with to-do lists as post-it notes on the desktop. However, I only compile the to-do list on the day.

    The Sticky Notes application comes as part of Windows 10 and it can sync across devices.


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    #4
    legin500
    Registered Users Posts: 56 ✭✭legin500


    one very useful tool I picked up on a project management course years ago was to do a simple priority matrix. So basically every morning I list out all the tasks I need to get done, then I place them into the matrix which categorises in terms of urgency and importance. new tasks get added in as they arise. The real key to this is to stick to the tasks that are urgent and important , it can be easy to get caught up with tasks that are either not important or not urgent just to get them off "the list".


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    #5
    paddylonglegs
    Registered Users Posts: 3,519 ✭✭✭paddylonglegs


    Some good suggestions there, I think online is the way to be for sure


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    #6
    vescka
    Registered Users Posts: 1 ✭vescka


    The planning process is more important than which tool(s) you use. I got a lot of useful insights from the book "Do It Tomorrow" by Mark Forster. Some highlights:
    - Even if you just keep a daily list in Excel or OneNote, be sure it's a 'will-do' rather than 'to-do' list, where you allow enough time for each of the tasks and then you get them all done.
    - Practice thought-decision-action rather than stimulus-response. I.e. Decide what you are going to do rather than be driven by reacting to incoming emails etc.
    There are several other great ideas in the book. The main thing I got from it though was that I needed to maintain discipline around planning my time in order to have control over my daily and hence weekly / monthly outcomes. Hope this helps.


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    #7
    Tippex
    Registered Users Posts: 2,910 ✭✭✭Tippex


    I have found that there is no one size fits all solution tbh.
    What works for one person may not necessarily work for another.
    If you do not plan your day/week it will take some work from you.
    I use trello myself and it has taken a lot of iterating on what works for me and ultimately the way I do things suits me and works for me but I doubt it would work for a lot of people.
    I even have a personal trello for non-business / work related things.

    Over the last few years dealing with numerous customers and travel I had to do it so that I could track and prioritise my work life.


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    #8
    paddylonglegs
    Registered Users Posts: 3,519 ✭✭✭paddylonglegs


    vescka wrote: »
    The planning process is more important than which tool(s) you use. I got a lot of useful insights from the book "Do It Tomorrow" by Mark Forster. Some highlights:
    - Even if you just keep a daily list in Excel or OneNote, be sure it's a 'will-do' rather than 'to-do' list, where you allow enough time for each of the tasks and then you get them all done.
    - Practice thought-decision-action rather than stimulus-response. I.e. Decide what you are going to do rather than be driven by reacting to incoming emails etc.
    There are several other great ideas in the book. The main thing I got from it though was that I needed to maintain discipline around planning my time in order to have control over my daily and hence weekly / monthly outcomes. Hope this helps.

    I think this could be the first step actually. Learning how to plan and be strict on myself. The shiny new thing is always a distraction along with incoming emails. Thanks for the advice


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    #9
    dubstepper
    Registered Users Posts: 592 ✭✭✭dubstepper


    I have used to list apps, paper lists, excel, and I found none of them stick. What does work for me is to use a trello board.

    I set up the following lists (obviously you can do what suits you):

    Priority
    Waiting on response
    Short term
    Mid term
    Done

    For any task, personal or business, I put a card into one of these lists. I move the card around to the appropriate place and then eventually to done. I found it is important to mix both personal and business as that is the complete list I need to remember.

    The above works great for me.


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