Do you have a planner broken up in 15-minute increments?
How about a color-coding system and a set of 35 Sharpies to keep it all colored correctly?
Do you spend more than 30 minutes per week planning your schedule and getting it in your planner?
Did you spend more than $20 on your planning system?
Do you agonize over little time management decisions, like whether to have lunch before or after your meeting?
Do you find yourself having to make the same decisions every week about tasks you repeat?
If you answered Yes to 2 or more of those questions… Or, Really, to any one of those questions…
You might have a problem.
A scheduling problem.
The problem is that you invest so much, either in time, money, energy, or some combination thereof, that you can’t let go of the schedule when it’s not working. It’s too precious. It scares you to veer from something you’ve put so much money or effort into creating. You’re probably a little emotional about it, even if you won’t admit that to yourself.
And you’re probably overplanning, overthinking, overanalyzing, and overscheduling yourself to the point that keeping up with your “ideal day” is physically/mentally impossible. But to admit that means that you need to admit you’ve wasted a lot of time and energy.
Take Ten
Take ten minutes to figure out how invested you are in your planning methodology. It’s common to use planning and scheduling as a way to procrastinate. It feels like you’re doing something, being productive, working hard, but you’re really just avoiding the task you need to do. Do you have a big project or some other task that you’re dreading or avoiding? What if you knew that a simpler, less-involved schedule would work best for you? Would you be willing to let go of your investment and do what actually works?
Ha, no choking on the coffee! But yes – simple is best. I love getting all detailed with the 15-minute increments and color-coding tasks, but my real life doesn’t work that way. Simple works.
I about choked on my coffee when I read your title this morning! LOVE IT!!! You are soooo on the money here. It is easy to let scheduling become just another thing to schedule – just another way to be busy. Simple is best!