Planning for a productive week ahead normally starts on a Sunday afternoon or evening for a lot of businesses. It is a great feeling to be in control of your tasks, meetings, projects and deadlines for the week. It also means you are able to deal with anything unexpected.
Here are some steps you can take to plan for the week:
Review your previous week
Did the previous week go to plan? Were all the tasks and deadlines set for the week completed? Add any outstanding tasks to the top of your to-do list for the week ahead.
Know what each day looks like
Look at your diary or calendar and make sure that all meetings, calls and events are recorded with reminders set. Have you put in a buffer between appointments for travel or preparing notes? Colour code items on your calendar, so it is easy to see what you have coming up.
Be clear on deadlines
Set deadlines for all tasks and record in your calendar or project management system. You can set reminders and keep your clients up to date with progress.
Keep your to-do list in check
It can be overwhelming to have a long list of tasks that need to be completed and procrastination can kick in. Instead, you could create a list of tasks that you need to complete for each day. This will be a much smaller list and it is more motivating to see all the items ticked off.
Have routines
It may be there are certain tasks that are completed regularly on the same day/time each week or month. After a while, these tasks will become routine and feel less like a chore
Work-life balance
It is very easy to feel overworked, overwhelmed and tired when running your own business especially when you are dealing with everything on your own. Schedule some time each week for you, whether it’s going to the gym, learning a new skill, taking on a new hobby or reading a book. Take some time to switch off to help recharge your batteries.
What tips do you have to help you plan for a productive week?