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Controlling Your Schedule

Guest post by: Philip A. Foster

Article Overview: Are you stuck in the "TO-DO-LIST" trap?

Controlling Your Schedule

I work with businesses and leaders all over the country. At first I was amazed at how many individuals fly by the seat of their pants every day. I found that many individuals have fallen into what I call the "TO-DO-LIST" trap. They allow their "TO-DO-LIST" to dictate their schedule rather than scheduling things on their "TO-DO-LIST" to complete. The one thing I tell all my clients is this... your calendar is NOT your To-Do-List and your To-Do-List is not your calendar. You must schedule time to get things done but that does not mean that everything on your To-Do-List must be scheduled to be done in one day... It might be impossible!
I believe that you need to plan your week ahead of time. You only need about 30 minutes to plan out your entire week. I've come across an acronym that has been helpful. It is called the O.A.T.S. Formula. (Adapted from the Manager's intelligence report)
O: Objectives. What results do you want to see by the end of the week? Write them down and rank them. (This is a form of TO-DO-LIST ranks by importance).
A: Activities. What do you have to do to achieve your goals (objectives)? List the necessary activities, and put them in sequence underneath each Objective.
T: Time. How much time will each activity require? To plan realistically, allow yourself more time than you think you might actually need. This gives you flexibility if unexpected problems arise.
S: Schedule. Look at your calendar and decide when you can do each activity. Many I've worked with will underestimate the power of a schedule, but the reality is that you won’t get a think done if you don’t schedule appropriate time to do it.
Your Schedule should be broken into three parts: Personal, Have-To-Do, and Want-to-do.
Personal is everything you accomplish for you and your family. It is your own personal time that you must take. It can include getting the oil changed in your car, having lunch with your kids at school, taking your kids to sports practice, getting your hair cut, vacation, etc.
Have-to-do are all the things you must accomplish in the week (See OATS) above.

The want-to-do might be read a book, call a friend on the phone, etc...
The goal is to get your schedule under control... rather than your schedule controlling you.

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Article Tags: Goal Setting, Goals, ToDo List



Related Forum Posts
Re: How to Stay Motivated - Staying motivated is definitely hard. Especially when things get overwhelming and there are no immediate results. This is my personal approach. 1) Use a big white dry-erase board / piece of paper. 2) Pen down everything you need to do or in the process of doing. Point forms with dates. No need for excessive details. 3) Schedule a definitive period of time to relax (i.e. for the next hour and a half) 4) Jump back to working starting with number 1 on the white board! The best way is stay motivated to be organized, re-group then jump back in!


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