Thinking About a More Ideal Schedule?

Does summer weather with sunshine and blue sky make you dream about getting more time out of the office, away from your computer and out doing something fun? Here’s an important work assignment that you can do at your desk or just as easily beside the pool, at the beach or in a park.

I want you to take a weekly plan sheet (print 2 copies from your day planner or from Outlook.) and colored markers. Go somewhere where you can soak up some of this great summer weather and take a few uninterrupted minutes to consider what an ideal day or ideal workweek would look like for you.

We all have the same 24 hours/day and 168 hours/week.
How do you really want to spend that time?

There are only 168 hours in a week. They aren’t making more time. If you had total control and could structure your time, how would you block out your week? Would you work 40 hours/week? Would you work 4 hours/day, 8 hours/day, 14 hours/day?

Besides work, what else do you want to fit into your 168 hours/week: Sleep? Meals? Exercise? Family time? Personal time? Home maintenance? Shopping? Hobbies? Sports? Etc.

Once you block that out, color code it. It’s easier to see if indeed this is an ideal schedule for you with the visual effect of color blocking. The hard question is to ask yourself, Why would that be your ideal work schedule?

Unfortunately, most people will sigh and never do this simple exercise because they assume they don’t have control of their time.

That’s the reason for the second weekly plan sheet. Whereas your ideal schedule may not be doable in its entirety – you can gain control of some areas of your schedule immediately to take a first step towards that ideal schedule. Lay out your current schedule with just a few changes you know you can make, such as:

• getting out of bed as soon as the alarm goes off so you have time for breakfast,
• controlling the length of time of meetings not to exceed the time allocated,
• booking time with yourself for your hobby this week,
• setting more realistic goals for project completion so you can end your workday by 5 or 6pm.

Boundaries
Some people can only work at their business/craft for a few hours a day – like authors and jewelry makers. Some people have businesses that are open 24/7 – like hotels, websites and even spas. In every type of business you need to establish boundaries.

Boundaries allow you to live your life. Boundaries let you decide how much you want the business to run you and how much you run the business. Here are some examples.

You’ve heard of the book The 4-hour Work Week: Escape the 9-5, Live Anywhere and Join the New Rich by Tim Ferris.  He built an online sales business specifically to serve his ideal workweek.

There’s another young 30 –something entrepreneur in the States who created the largest website for singles, Plenty Of Fish. He loves to work and has built a $10M business. He works one hour a day. He has plenty of time to take lots of vacations and he does just that.

When Jacque and Jackie Lafaurie opened Long Bay Hotel on Antigua, they set standards and a schedule to balance their young family with multiple careers: artist, chef, hotel owners. Jacque ran errands in the morning, was your host and front office person from noon until midnight with a detour to prepare a unique elegant menu each evening. Jackie ran the back office in the morning, painted each afternoon and was a charming hostess each evening. But, Long Bay Hotel is only open seven months of the year. They are closed for improvements and vacation for five months each year.

Revisit everything you do in and for your business. Pace your business. Set hours of operation you can commit to consistently that give you the life/work balance that you thrive on. That’s how you get to an ideal schedule.