Time Management 101:Using Schedules To Get Productive

As a young entrepreneur, you probably haven’t figured out how to make every minute count in the time you have daily.

You have so much to do, and you try to do all of it, but you end up getting overwhelmed.

Well.. here, it’s time management to the rescue!

The key to making sure you tick off at least 75% of your to-do list each day is effectively managing your time.

This is the process of planning and organising how to divide your time between specific activities.

Related: How to create super-effective to-do lists

Negative Effects Of Improper Time Management

Not managing your time properly can cause you to:

• Procrastinate more often,
• get less sleep,
• have bad eating habits,
• Have little or no confidence,
• Be late to events, and
• Perform poorly in a lot of tasks.

Basically, improper time management is quite unhealthy.

So, how do you properly manage your time so you can avoid all of these?

How To Plan & Manage Your Time Effectively

There are a lot of basic tips that can help you manage your time for a start.

They’re really helpful, and you’d need to know most of them so I’m creating a separate blog post for it and it’ll be here once I’m done.

However, one of the best ways I’d recommend for you to plan and manage your time effectively is by creating schedules and routines.

A routine is the usual series of things you do at a particular time. It can also be the practice of doing things in a fixed order.

Examples of routines include morning routines, evening routines, skincare routine, workout routine, and many others

A schedule, on the other hand, is a plan that gives a list of events or tasks and the times at which each one should happen or be done.

In case you’re wondering, yeah –

Schedules and routines aren’t the same.

A routine is the foundational pillar of your schedule. A routine doesn’t change much but a schedule may vary daily.

Nonetheless, these two work hand in hand to make sure you spend your days well.

One good reason why you should have schedules and routines incorporated into your life is that it helps you filter the noise – it helps you know what’s relevant to achieving your goals and what isn’t so that you can focus on the important stuff only.

In a nutshell, routines and schedules help make sure you’re being productive, not just being busy.

What You Should Know Before Creating Schedules And Routines

When creating schedules, you have to prioritise consistency over intensity.

Your schedule has to be created in such a way that it’ll be sustainable over a long time, not just a few days.

Always ask yourself, “how can I make it easier for the future me to keep up with this schedule I’m creating?”

Your schedule should contain your routines, your daily tasks (a breakdown of your long term goals), stress-relieving activity, and something fun (optional but recommended)

Heads up;

Routines are really good for you but they can become the other way round and affect your productivity rates if they’re too consistent.

A too consistent routine may be bad for you in two ways:

1. Peradventure you have bad habits as a part of your routine eg. Eating junk while you work, taking drugs to keep your creative juices flowing, etc.

It might become difficult to change this when the negative effects start to kick in because it feels like a part of you already.

When creating routines, make sure they are as healthy as possible.

2. If your routine is strictly tied to certain locations or events, your productivity levels might drop when you find yourself in a situation where you can’t carry out these routines like usual

So, when you create routines, ensure that they are flexible enough to handle unfamiliar situations and environments.

When you create schedules, the best thing is to:

1. Make sure to fix the most important tasks for when you have the most energy (I recommend early hours of the morning or any other time with minimal distractions)
2. Then, fix the less important tasks for when your energy levels are reducing
3. Next, fix the stress-relieving tasks for when your energy feels drained
4. Fix the fun tasks for when you finish the important work
5. If possible, have a day where you do little to no work to avoid Burnout
6. Don’t fix too much work for one day; be realistic with your expectations

Having all this in mind, you can then go ahead to create a schedule/routine for yourself.

Your schedule can take the form of daily to-do lists, either handwritten or digital.

You can create and write down your ideal to-do lists, but with time, it’ll become a part of you.

After doing this, you can share it with a family member, accountability partner, or coach, or publicly share it on social media to keep you accountable for it.

However, if you’d like me to work together with you in creating the perfect schedule and keep you accountable for it, click HERE to reach out to me, and let’s get started.