How to Create a Schedule (That Actually Serves You)

How to Create a Schedule

 How do you create a good daily routine? Why do you need a daily routine? What are the things you should consider while creating a routine for yourself? This post will deal with all these questions.

You, my friend, need a schedule:

1. if you struggle with achieving your goals,
2. you procrastinate a lot,
3. you spend more time watching Netflix than working, i.e don't realize how much time your are spending on what,
4. you tend to forget things, or if
5. you overwork.

A schedule can turn your day around and make you super productive. It makes sure that you do everything that you're supposed to do.

A lot of people think that schedules put a lot of restriction on you. This, however, is not true. It, in fact, creates free time while making sure that you are not missing on the important things.

It simplifies your life a lot.

Now, some of you may already be a proper list-maker, while some of you may like the spontaneity every hour could hold. I personally like a little of planning with a little bit of spontaneity, and when I create my schedule I keep this in mind.

However, whether you like to plan things or not, it's always a good idea to give a rough structure to your day so that you know you are getting one step closer to your goals.

So, let's see how you can create a perfect routine for yourself.

HOW TO CREATE A PERFECT SCHEDULE

1. Take Out Some Time To Sit Down And Brainstorm Your Plans

Yes, this is the first and the most important step, because if you don't know what your goals are, how are you going to achieve them?

Setting aside a little bit of time is going to help you plan out things a little better. You don't have to spend an hour doing it; a few minutes are all you need. Literally.

Sit down and make a list of your long-term goals. From that, make a list of 3 major tasks for each week, and plan your weekdays accordingly.

You can also do it on a daily basis. I make a rough plan for each month. Then I take 10 minutes each night to decide what I'm going to do the next day. If I'm studying, I pre-decide what chapters I want to finish, and if I've scheduled, say, writing, I pre-decide what project I will be working on. This goes for all other important tasks as well.

My daily goals depend on my rough weekly goals-- for example, how many chapters do I need to finish each week to reach my monthly goal, and then I divide them equally for each day. You can do the same for your other long-term works and projects.

Prioritize each task based on their deadlines and complexity.

It never takes me more than 10 minutes to make a rough plan.


I do this every night before bed. So, besides helping me plan my days better, this also allows me to cut down the digital exposure before sleep.

2. Time-Boxing

Once you've decided what are your goals for the day, the next step is timeboxing.

What is Time Boxing?

No, you don't do boxing with time!

It's a productivity technique in which you block your time in your schedule for a particular task, and then try to finish that work within that timeframe. For example, if I want to work on a blog post for 2 hours, I will block my time at, say, 8 PM to 10 PM for writing.

An Example of Timeboxing

During this time you will only focus on the scheduled task, and other things will have to wait. You can further break down this time. Say, 15 minutes for the rough outline, 15 minutes for formatting, 15 minutes for graphics, etc.

It's an awesome technique, to be honest. Did you know Elon Musk uses this technique as well? No wonder most successful people use thing technique for time management.

It can, however, take a bit of time to adjust to working this way. But once you are well-adjusted, it simplifies every task.

It also helps me avoid multi-tasking, so that I am focused and dedicated on a single task completely.

While timeboxing, be mindful about the complexity of the work, and keep an extra 30 minutes for the important tasks than what you anticipate. If you think the work will take 3 and a half hours, block 4 hours for it. But not more than that because blocking way too much time will further promote procrastination. Similarly, smaller, unimportant tasks, should be assigned no more than 10-15 minutes.

I tend to avoid easy tasks for later on thinking that they will take less time to complete. But then I mostly end up not doing them at all until the deadline. This technique will help you balance out all these issues

3. Do Not Jam-Pack Your Day With Activities

One important thing to remember when time blocking: Always leave some time free.

Try to leave a little bit of free time-- an hour or two-- each day. You never know when something can pop up and disturb your scheduled routine. Some days you might want to go out, or want to do nothing. This free time will serve to these requirements.

The best thing you can do is not schedule anything important when you are most likely to get disturbed. For me it's mostly 5 PM to 7 PM when I mostly get distracted (some way or the other), so I tend leave this time for relaxation.

If nothing important pops up, you can use this time to do anything that you like. You can choose to get creative and involve in your hobbies. You can also use this time as your me-time, or to compensate for any pending work.

Having a little bit of free time to do anything that you want to do will remove the feeling of being controlled by your schedule. This free time will keep the spontaneity alive.

4. Schedule At Most 3 Major Tasks Per Day

Have you ever made an annoyingly long to-do list? And let me guess when you make a long to-do list you fail to complete most of the tasks.

Well, at least that's what happens with me. To-do lists never work for me.

A long to-do list will do nothing but overwhelm you. You will get unnecessarily nervous about the work you have to do.

It's great if you use a to-do list efficiently, but in any case, DO NOT abuse your to-do list.

Keep it minimalist. Never schedule more than 3 important tasks per day. Try to keep only 1 or 2 tasks, in fact. Only important minor tasks should be included in the list.

Irrelevant tasks--the ones that you "think" are important but actually don't contribute to your life personally and professionally-- should be dumped completely.

Remember, burnout is a thing, and if you want quality in your work, you have to keep your list as short as possible.

This will save you from anxiety and will make you way more productive.

5. Modify Your daily Schedule As Per Requirement

One of the reasons that I personally like daily planning, instead of a deep monthly or weekly planning, is that it gives me a better opportunity to modify my schedule depending on each day's performance, and any special need risen out of nowhere for the next day. Each day I take some time out to introspect about how my day was, what worked and what didn't, what could I have done better, etc.

You can then modify your strategy for each day based on your requirement.

Also, if your schedule ends up getting disrupted, pick up where you left off. Don't think "my plan is ruined for today". Modify them based on urgency and get back to work.

6. Off Days Are a Must

Weekends are weekends. Doesn't matter you work at an office or from home, you NEED off days. Hustle hard during the week, but take-off during weekends. It's very important to give yourself a break, and take that time to relax and restore your focus.

You have to give your brain a break. Trust me, taking a break will increase your creativity, focus, and productivity. So, don't make this optional.

If you're working your ass off the entire week, you deserve a break.

7. Have Morning and Night Routines

It doesn't matter which task you schedule in what sequence for the middle part of your day, but you should have a set morning and night routine for every single day, including weekends.

What is the purpose of morning and night routines?

If you have a productive morning, you are going to have a better focus for the rest of the day.

Your morning routine should consist of simple tasks, like-- getting up, drinking a glass of water, exercise, meditation, making your bed, taking a bath, etc.

Think of them as the steps that will help you prepare your brain for the rest of your day.

These simple tasks also contribute to the sense of accomplishment right at the beginning of the day. So, they help you start your day with more confidence. When you feel confident, you can control your day even if it goes wrong at some point.

No matter how small the task it, it will make you feel happy once they are done.

P.S. Checking your emails should not be a part of your morning routine! (Or night routine!)

Your night-time routine should include activities that help you power down before bed. Activities that helps your brain relax and aid your sleep should be chosen.

Stop digital exposure 1 hour before your bedtime, and spend this last hour of your day with yourself.

I like to have a nice bath, I make my schedule for the next day, introspect how my day was, and then I read or listen to an audiobook. This makes me fall asleep real fast! You can choose any relaxing activity of your choice

8. Test! Test! Test!

You might have to experiment a lot before finally figuring out what works for you and what doesn't. Therefore, you need to test out various plans to find out the ones that actually work.

Don't hesitate to explore new techniques, apps, and formats.

THINGS TO CONSIDER WHEN CREATING A SCHEDULE

1. Are You a Morning Lark or a Night Owl?

I'm sure you must have seen most people suggest that you should get up early. If you can do that then great, keep doing that.

But if you are one of those people who find it difficult to sleep early, and therefore can't wake up early, AKA the night owls, don't blame yourself for not being able to get up early. Just create a schedule that works for you.

It's not that you are lazy, like what most people think. You are a night owl by genetics (Yep!). So don't beat yourself up. Create a schedule around your peak functional time-- that can be early morning, late afternoon, late evening or mid-night.

2. Do Not Follow Other's Routine

It's a good idea to look at other people's routine to get inspiration and find out some new, creative, healthy things to add to your routine, but you shouldn't follow other people's routine. Other people's routine might not work for you.

Every one design their routine based on their necessities. If you are someone with 3 kids, who works a 9 to 5 job, and a side-hustle, and you try to follow a routine of someone who is single and works from home, you are going to fail at it for sure.

They will have different work requirements, their personal life requirements and a totally different productivity peak time. So, it's not going to work for you.

Create a schedule around your work hours, your peak performance time, your family, and your "me" time. Everything should be customized to meet YOUR requirements to make YOUR life easy.

3. Have a Schedule Format That Works For You

There are many apps, productivity techniques and planners out there that you can try out. But remember, all of them are not going to serve you. Out of all those formats, only 1 or 2 things are actually going to work for you.

For some of you, a simple to-do list would be enough, while some might use bullet journals, Google calendar, a daily and weekly planner, and some would even prefer an hourly planner. You don't have to go for everything, just one thing that is simple and that works for you.

More apps and planners will confuse you. All you need is a piece of paper and a pen. That's it. It doesn't have to be fancy. The goal is productivity; it doesn't matter how you achieve it.

The only thing is, have your goals written down somewhere-- paper or digital-- and not just depend on your memory.

4. Don't Forget to Include Extra Activities

I personally value hobbies a lot. I love getting into my hobbies because for me they are a perfect way to relax.

Therefore I like to block my time for my hobbies as well.

In my opinion, the point of having a routine is not only to help you achieve your work goals but to make sure you don't do it at the expense of your peace. It makes sure that you have time for yourself.

If you have scheduled your hobbies a couple of days a week in your planner, you are going to follow it; and that would be a healthy lifestyle

5. Know That it Takes Time to Adjust

You are going to have a hard time following your schedule initially. That's just the reality, but that's okay, it happens with everyone. The key here is that you try your best to stay consistent. Consistency will follow regular practice.

Don't lose hope, just keep working at your pace, and one day your whole routine will be a part of your habit.


So, these are some of the things that I keep in mind while making my routine. Now, how about you? What tools do you use to stay productive? Do you have any questions? Leave your thoughts down below!

Bonus!

If you are really serious about your personal growth and want to take a step further to be more productive, check out this amazing bundle here (affiliate link): The Ultimate Productivity Bundle. This bundle has a bunch of different things that might interest you (with a special section dedicated only for busy women), including 14 eCourses, 5 eBooks, 26 printable packs & workbooks, and 1 summit-- all aiming at increasing your productivity. It's a good place to start if you are just starting your personal growth journey.

Further Readings:
5 Simple Ways To Save Time Everyday
5 Things I've Learned About Motivation
The Best Method to Tackle Procrastination: The POMODORO Technique

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 You'll never change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret of your success is found in your daily routine.

-Unknown

How to Create a Schedule That Actually Serves You

© Quirky Writes 2019