Look at your calendar. Do it. Obviously, this week is slammed, how bout next? And the next? So when does the faucet cut off so that you actually have some time back on your hands and things slow down? Well, let’s talk about that today. Good morning Thomas Joyner with Business on Purpose here.
I saw a meme the other day and I just laughed. Because it represents the way pretty much all of us live our lives week after week after week!
Here it is:
Adulthood is saying, “But after this week things will slow down a bit,” Over and over until you die!!!
I was dying laughing. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve said the same thing. Next week is a slower week, let’s connect then. And if I’m not careful, I look up and it’s Thursday afternoon and I’m wondering where that slower week I told everyone about actually was!
So, is that you? Are you the person who, at church or your weekly golf match, when asked how you’re doing…always tends to answer, busy man how are you? You deserve a busy badge!
But seriously, who isn’t busy! We fill our weeks with a lot of things that matter and a lot of things that truly don’t! So how do we take our weeks back? How do we begin to own our time and get above the chaos of pretending like life is going to magically slow down in the near future?
I’ve got a secret for you..it’s not going to unless you force it to! Or unless you organize that business and chaos into something that makes a lot more sense.
Here’s another secret for you. It starts with a weekly schedule. Now… I’m not talking about a calendar that tells you what to do. I’m guessing all of you have that.
What I’m talking about is a schedule… intentionally built out in advance of your week that tells it what it will look like. A plan. Same thing with any event. You build out a schedule of everything that needs to happen to make sure that you have enough time for it all.
Your week should be no different. It should be a dictated, time-blocked event that takes place with margin for surprises.
We always say around here, “Chaos is not optional, submitting to chaos is!”
What that means is that chaos inevitably happens. Something takes longer than it should have. There’s a mistake on the job site. Supply chain gets wonky and takes longer to get to you than it should have. However, having a plan in place helps you be able to respond to that chaos so you don’t collapse underneath it.
So let’s take your week and build out your weekly schedule. Take 10 min and write down the big blocks of things you do every week. Or if it’s easier for you to look at the next 2 weeks to get an idea, that’s great too.
Do you need multiple blocks for job site visits? Or team training? Estimating, invoicing, bookkeeping, email…you name it. And write down how much time you think you will need to accomplish that task this week. If it’s 2 hours, twice a week, write it down. Is it an hour in the morning and an hour in the afternoon every day? Great! What time best fits in your schedule and when works best for you to be most alert for those tasks?
Now go down your list and begin adding to your weekly schedule. The reason we do this is so that you can be fully engaged in your task at hand. How many times have you been answering an email that took some thought? The phone rings, Oh I’ll just pick it up and answer this one quick question. While you’re on the phone, your admin walks in and needs you to sign a few things and look over the schedule for next week.
Ok, I’ll just do this for her real quick. By the time you get back to the email, you have no idea where you were, so it takes you an extra 5 min to finish the email as you lost your entire train of thought!
It happens all day every day right?!?!
But a weekly schedule is different. It’s sitting down to answer email and setting a timer if that helps, saying I have an hour to do a deep dive, and everything else can wait. There’s very few emergencies that can’t wait an hour. It’s walking onto a job site and telling the crew, hey guys I’m leaving at 11, so think through what you need from me today and get all your questions out! It’s amazing how efficient your team can be when they are forced to operate on your schedule.
I think you’ll be shocked at how quickly you get tasks finished when you’re not trying to multi-task on 4-5 different things! Things get done more efficiently and you have blocks with margin in between to put out those fires that may pop up.
Lastly, if you’re anything like my client, you will get really good at accomplishing this schedule so that you have more time throughout the week.
And here’s the last thing I get asked all the time. Thomas, what if I fail at keeping this thing. And here’s how I always respond. The purpose of this is to make a plan. A plan that is tweaked is still a plan. Let the weekly schedule serve you, don’t serve your weekly schedule. Let it illuminate the areas that you need more training or the areas that may need a bit more or less time each week. Review it every Friday for the next week, so that you’re ready to roll on Monday.
It’s powerful and freeing so that you never have to say that quote I started today with. Hopefully, you begin to lean into rhythms where weeks are manageable and there is a slower week from time to time. Because you’ve planned and bought that time for yourself.
It’s a big deal y’all and it’s doable!
I hope you enjoyed thanks for listening…
