How do you create a weekly schedule planner that simply works? Our guide outlines 3 simple steps and how to approach this smart organization tool.
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Everyday stress does not have to be mandatory. A weekly schedule helps you structure your days calmly and become even more productive.
In the current era, most have as much time as they have had in a long time. The corona crisis has forced many companies into the home office, eliminating commuting times. The order situation in other companies is weak. Social obligations are also eliminated.
But now it turns out that time alone is not enough. You also have to know how to use them productively. Staying productive in the home office when no colleagues or the boss can see what you are doing can be difficult, so it helps if you create a weekly schedule planner.
But even if you manage to be super productive while staying more relaxed than ever, there is another problem: what about the post-Corona crisis? How do we manage to maintain our newly acquired serenity and not to fall back into everyday stress?
After the crisis, nobody wants to rush from appointment to appointment like a headless chicken. This is where a weekly schedule comes into play. This little miracle cure makes us work more relaxed and productive – in every area of our life.
What is a schedule planner?
For a long time, many people viewed stress as an order on their chests. The more you had to do, the better. Because whoever was stressed was important. This thinking is slowly changing and the weekly schedule is there to help.
A weekly schedule is a tool from time management. This can either be a digital calendar or an entirely analog paper planner. Sometimes even a single sheet of paper that looks like a timetable. So it is a weekly overview in which appointments, tasks and deadlines are entered. The cost of a weekly schedule is almost zero, but the benefits are immense, whether you are working, in a business, or looking at studying strategies:
- Less stress because your head is clear.
- Defermentitis is on the collar.
- Nothing is forgotten because you have an overview of all commitments.
- You learn to prioritize.
- You learn to say no because you can see immediately whether you really have time or not.
- More personal time because it is also planned and taken seriously.
- More successfully completed projects because you have an overview of the progress at all times.
- Less work because duplicate, repetitive or unnecessary tasks immediately catch the eye.
- Time savings because planning decisions are no longer necessary and you concentrate on just one thing before starting the next.
If you don’t feel like planning your whole life, you can also manage super thematic sub-areas with a weekly plan. For example, many people only use a weekly schedule to organize children’s plans.
Others, on the other hand, create a weekly schedule planner only to use at work; private matters remain unplanned. The weekly schedule is also particularly popular with ‘meal prep’ lovers. Only the meals of the week including shopping lists are entered here. It is best to try it out a little yourself until you have found the system that meets your own needs.
Tip: Sometimes pre-made calendars, whether digital or analog, are simply not flexible enough. If you are looking for a planner that really meets 100% of your own needs, it is best to try a bullet journal.
3 steps to create a weekly schedule planner
1. Get an overview
If you want to create a weekly schedule, the first step is to get an overview. What’s up every week, and do I actually need more structure?
Just because I go to sports several times a week, I don’t necessarily need a weekly schedule to keep track of it and track my progress. When it comes to leisure, many people don’t need a planning tool at all. They can also remember it that way and in reality do not want to measure their hobby and look at it like another work project.
Don’t think you have to put everything in the weekly schedule just because you have it. Then planning becomes just another to-do on the list. So think better about what you really need help with. Just because I go to sports several times a week, I don’t necessarily need a weekly schedule to keep track of it and track my progress.
When it comes to leisure, many people do not need a planning tool at all. They can also remember it that way and in reality do not want to measure their hobby and look at it like another work project.
List all the tasks and responsibitilities that occur during the week. Then take a look at what you often forget, postpone in front of you, what you never find time for, although you want it, or what you simply don’t enjoy. These are the things you should be planning. It can be cooking or the household, it can be work, it can be the children’s sport and leisure activities that you have to organise for them, etc.
Once you have decided what you want to use your weekly schedule for, you usually do not have to repeat this step in the future. When you use a weekly schedule, you can determine what works and what doesn’t.
Of course, it is not bad at all if you enter professional and private life in the weekly schedule. Some people like to plan their entire lives and that’s a good thing. Love yourself for being organized like this and go to step # 2.
2. A designated planning session
Once a week you should keep a time slot free to plan the next week. Popular dates are Friday or Sunday evenings. On Fridays you can check off the planning for the next week as the last to-do of the current week and then start the weekend carefree.
The disadvantage, however, is that you are often tired of the week on Friday evening and don’t want to concentrate anymore. In such a case, Sunday is better. You have already recovered from the week, but you still have everything fresh in mind and can concentrate fully on the planning of the next week. If you have the time, you can also use Monday morning for planning.
The important thing is that you take this planning session seriously. Take at least 15 minutes for this. If you don’t plan, you won’t benefit from a weekly schedule.
The whole point is that you plan your week when you are not under pressure and can make sensible decisions. It’s much harder to plan dinner when you’re hungry. It is also much more difficult to plan work to dos while rushing from meeting to meeting. And how should you know if you can do your colleague a favor if you don’t have an overview of your commitments this week?
So sit down and plan your week in a quiet session. Then decide which tasks should fall on which day of the week and be sure to plan time for idling. You don’t have to plan every minute of the day, you also need time to do nothing.
Tip: Think about how long you will need for a task and then multiply the value by 1.5. This time is then the time that you enter in your planner. So you counteract the initial over-motivation and plan realistically.
3. Revise the schedule as needed
Of course, if you only use the weekly schedule to plan children’s activities or meals, there is no need to revise the plan. Then the plan consists of a piece of paper that is posted somewhere clearly visible. You may still notice that something is not working here and there, but then you just do it better with the next weekly schedule.
If you use your weekly schedule as a supplementary element in a paper appointment calendar, it must be constantly updated.
The weekly schedule then usually consists of a weekly overview, with a column for each day and a list for notes. Then check off completed tasks, transfer unfinished tasks to the next day, and note down the things that will occur in the next week.This is the only way the plan can help you keep your head clear. He will bring you nothing if you forget to fill in half of your obligations.
Incidentally, the rule of thumb is that no more than 50 points are entered in a weekly schedule. This applies to appointments, to-dos and notes. If you have significantly more and are still trying to fill the last white spot on the paper, you have decided too much and should switch down a gear again. Give up tasks and consider whether everything is really important on your plan. In the end, the most important thing is your wellbeing and your health.
