How To Make A Schedule That Works Even When Life Is Crazy

One of the most important things that every high-achiever has in common is they are incredibly intentional with how they spend their time. The world is busier, crazier, and more unpredictable than ever - demanding more of you as you try to do it all. Those who can overcome distraction and stay hyper-focused on what matters most to them are the ones who get what they want.

And do you know how they manage to do that? They make a high-quality schedule for the day.

In “The One Thing”, author Gary Keller calls a daily schedule “productivity’s power tool”. There is nothing that will keep you on track more than knowing what ‘on track’ is. Another renowned author, Nir Eyal, calls this ‘traction’. He says that “in order to know what distraction is we need to know what we’re being distracted from.” Your schedule tells you exactly that.

Yet most people don’t know how to create a schedule, or their life is so chaotic that they can never get a schedule to work for them. To that, let me share two perspectives:

1)Your day isn’t supposed to go perfectly according to schedule. It’s your intention for the day that represents what you hope to do given the information you have. As the day unfolds and new priorities, urgencies, and information becomes available, you may choose to go off schedule. And that’s perfectly acceptable because your schedule is simply meant to be a reference point to remind you of what you think ‘on track’ looks like

2) Your schedule doesn’t need to be entirely full. For those who have more unpredictable days, you can accommodate that uncertainty in your plan. Leaving “unplanned” times for the things that you know will pop up helps you quantify what you can practically get done. So instead of always having a schedule that is impossible to fulfill, you can create one that’s designed to be flexible and therefore, more doable in actuality. 

Ultimately, considering both of these helps you to accomplish a few things. You strike a better balance because you can clearly differentiate between personal responsibilities, work commitments, and 'me' time. You eliminate stress because you don’t add too much to your own plate. And you get more done in less time because you have a clear plan of attack for the day.

If your life is too unpredictable to make a schedule for the day, that’s exactly why you need the structure of a schedule. And if you need any help knowing where to start in creating a schedule, check out this scheduling micro-training where I walk you through it!