Plan Your Week

Some days can feel like they drag on forever. Other time, we get home and struggle to remember actually getting anything done that day. Making the most of our work hours frees us up (no matter what our job is) to do more outside of work as well. And to do something well, you have to plan well. 

Here's a method I've been using for about 7 months to help me plan out my weeks and accomplish more both inside and outside of the non-profit work that I do:

I plan out my whole week on Sundays.

Pretty simple right? Here's how it breaks down.

• Every Sunday afternoon, I take about 60 minutes to map out what the coming week will look like. I grab a pen and my notebook (yes, a physical notebook) and pull up my Google Calendar on my phone or laptop.
• I look on my Google Calendar for Monday and see what I have on my schedule. Then in my notebook, I write down any tasks that I need to accomplish on Monday in order to meet the expectations of the meetings and projects I have scheduled for Monday. This may be putting together a report, writing thank you notes, prepping for a meeting, or making some phone calls. Whatever needs to get done, I write it down under Monday. And then, I look at Tuesday and see if there is anything I need to get done on Monday in order to be prepared for Tuesday - and I write that under Monday as well. 
• I then move onto writing down tasks to do on Tuesday by looking at my schedule for Tuesday and Wednesday. (And the same thing for Wednesday-Friday.)
• After doing this, I end up with a list of tasks for each workday. 
• Then I go back to each day and identify my #1 Priority. The one thing that, if it is the only thing I get done that day, I can go home feeling like I accomplished something and made an impact. 
• After I've identified my #1 Priority for each day, I write down the top 3 items I need to accomplish for the week. There is usually more than 3 things that are important, but I focus on 3 items that absolutely must be done. 
• Every morning when I get to work, I check my to-do list on paper and my Google Calendar and focus on the most important tasks for the day!

This simple habit has aided me in setting my sights every morning on the work ahead of me and helps me accomplish the my goals. 

How do you map our your tasks and goals? Do you do it daily, weekly, or monthly? How do you ensure success in accomplishing those goals? Comment below and share with me and others how you reach your goals at work.