Preface: The article is written for individuals with long schedules both at work or as a student
Be it in college or after we start working, a 12-14 hour workday isn’t uncommon in today’s world. Many of us are trying to stay ahead in the status quo of cut-throat competition and extensive workloads. It becomes very easy to get lost in our workload and responsibilities that we often lose touch with our social lives and ourselves.
I too have faced these difficulties, trying to stay ahead of my batch in one of the most competitive colleges. It ended up being a 13 hour workday for me on average, 7 days a week at college. To give you a brief idea, I was in the organizing committee of 4 active student bodies and was running my own start-up initiative simultaneously. At the same time I maintained 90% + attendance and a 9+ CGPA. However I ensured that I never missed a birthday party, or an outing with my friends and stayed in touch with my family, my network, and myself.
So here are a few techniques that I’ve used.
You must have heard/ used some of them, however just try to see how all these techniques fit in together to help you.
How to set up your work schedule:
Step 1 - Create a task list. Everything that needs to be done
Step 2- Assign a deadline to everything on that list
Step 3- Assign an expected time required to complete each task on the list
Only after steps 1-3 can you prioritize items from your task list, otherwise it will not be effective
Step 4 - Created a priority orderer of items on your task list
Step 5 - Now plan your day and your week with this prioritized task list
Maintaining your work schedule and your personal life:
Step 6 - Now add in your elements from your personal life into your schedule (daily/weekly), be it a social gathering, or a phone call, or a party you need to attend. Anything, account for it in your schedule.
Maintaining your network/ social relations:
Step 7 - Identify relations and groups that are important to you. Mark out time for them on a regular basis, in a cyclic manner. It could be once a day, once a month, or even just once a year. But take these activities also on priority.
What else to do:
Step 8 - Use a calendar/reminder application to ensure that you don’t miss out on important things and deadlines
Step 9 - Inculcate a practice of being in the present moment! So when you work, don’t think about play and when you play don’t think about work. Be where you are. Do what you’re doing. It comes with practice.
Step 10 - Every morning preview your day and get your self mentally prepared for whatever you need to do. At night, review your day and see how it went.
Step 11 - If possible, inculcate a practice of meditation. It helps reduce stress, boost productivity, and increase your awareness. Sign up for a free session here.
The core idea:
Essentially everything becomes structured and organized in your life. You do not engage in unplanned activities. In other words, everything is a part of your task list.
If you are someone who likes to have unplanned activities in life as well. Simple, include that into your plan. What I mean is that you create a pocket of time be it an hour, a day, or an entire weekend, where you have complete freedom, and nothing is planned within that pocket of time. However, this pocket of time is still marked on your overall plan/schedule.
This way you don’t end up ever wasting time. Just minimize/eliminate whiling away time, where-in you do nothing unless it is a part of your schedule/plan.
Keep in mind, your plan or schedule is not fixed in stone. The key is to have a dynamic and flexible plan so that you can incorporate new elements/ activities on the fly.
Do give this a try and see if this approach to life works out for you. Feel free to get in touch with me to discuss more on the same or sign up for a session to get specific assistance. Let me know if it works/doesn’t work for you.
Cheers!
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