Scheduling - How to schedule effectively for Career and Business Success - Part 3

This blog is a continuation of our scheduling series. In part 1 we discussed what are the pitfalls of not scheduling and in Part 2 we talked about what are the benefits of scheduling. In Part 3 we will be discussing how to schedule so that you are successful in your business and career.

As discussed in our previous blogs, scheduling is important and necessary. If you are wanting to live a life of success and expand your capacity to do more, then, a schedule is required. Everyone should schedule - the customizations happen in HOW you do it.

Here are some of the customization options I have encountered with the clients I work with:

Paper vs. Electronic Calendar:

Even though it may seem like much of the world uses electronic calendars, such as iCal, Outlook and Google Calendar, there are still people out there using paper based calendars and agendas to schedule their appointments and activities. It’s a matter of personal preference and comfort. I personally prefer using an electronic calendar to schedule events, it’s portable i.e. with smartphones your calendar is with you at all times, it syncs well with your other devices, you can effortlessly move things around in your calendar and schedule from anywhere in the world.

Time Blocking vs. Pomodoro Technique:

Some people prefer to work in large chunks of time and some in shorter spurts. Your style of task management and scheduling is a matter of how  you work and how your brain operates.

The people who work in larger chunks of time sometimes require a bit of a runway to get things going and therefore need extra time on their calendar to start and finish a task. Time blocking is a great way of organizing your schedule if you are one of these individuals, where you assign larger chunks of time (say 2-3 hours to specific tasks or groups of tasks).

On the other hand other, some people thrive on doing tasks for shorter periods of time. They are able to switch effortlessly between various tasks and subjects without missing a beat. They get more done that way and don’t get bored or distracted by using this method. A great example of this methodology is the Pomodoro Technique which breaks tasks down into 25 minute chunks. You can find out more about that at https://www.pomodorotechnique.com/.

You control your schedule vs. Someone else does

Some people (like myself) prefer to have full control over their schedule but others prefer someone else to be managing their time. Again this choice comes down to personal preference. The ease of managing your own schedule is having full control, however, for most busy and successful entrepreneurs and professionals having an assistant to do this makes their work life easier knowing that there is one less thing they need to handle.

Task List vs. Direct Scheduling vs. Project Management Tools

How does your task get into your calendar?

You could use a task list, which could be as simple as a pad of paper next to your desk (or a really small pad in your pocket) and every time a task comes up you capture it on paper. This does take dealing with scheduling the tasks at the end of the day or the beginning of the next day. If the paper task list is not done effectively, you can end up with pages and pages of lists and things not getting done within the timeline you may have wanted. You can also use electronic task lists such as Todoist or Google Keep, these are more effective since you can sync up your schedule or schedule directly from them.

Direct scheduling is easiest (for me anyways, for some others it is a hassle!) because as something comes up you just put it in your calendar right away and then it exists somewhere outside of your head and even if you are unable to perform the task at the prescribed time you have the ability to move it around and adjust your schedule.

Project management tools like Asana, Clickup, Monday.com, and Trello are effective tools to schedule tasks since they sync up with your calendar. They are more effective as tools if you have a team of people working with you where multiple tasks in one project may need to be assigned to multiple people.

Concluding Thoughts:

Scheduling is a vast subject and if you Google it, you will find so many different methodologies and variations in scheduling styles.

Before we sign off, I would like to give some tips on how to create effective schedules. Oftentimes people approximate tasks to take less time than they scheduled. So each day, give yourself space as “make up time” where you can schedule anything that took longer than you thought it would. Colour coding your schedule helps you to see what area of business or project you are working at and also for weekly analysis of how much time was spent where it gives a clearer picture as well. And finally BALANCE is critical! Make sure you are taking a lunch break (schedule it in!), and plenty of breaks in between and honouring your schedule by finishing on time and giving yourself time to play and to rest.