Self-Leadership Tip #1 – Schedule

In every leader’s life, there is always one area that is often referred to as a “black hole,” and that area is the leader’s schedule.  You can start your day with the best of intentions, and be wildly our of control by Noon.  And the simple solution to this is:

Discipline and Submission.

The Discipline to adhere to a set schedule of events that allow you to be the most productive and effective and the Submission to allow the schedule to dictate the minutes of your days.

It’s something that we all struggle with, but those leaders who succeed are those who adhere to a very strict schedule and let it dictate their next moves, and forces them to be ruthless in choosing priorities.

How do I make a schedule?

Simple.  First take a piece of paper and write out all the tasks that need to be done during the day.  Include work outs, email, lunch and dinner, drive time, basically everything you need to do during the day/week to do your job and live your life.

Second, take those tasks and write them out on on a grid.  Make sure to use a pencil, because there WILL be many corrections as you allow for changes and decisions that are better for your productivity.  And when you are done, you should have something that looks like the example on the left.

Next, you should transfer this to an electronic version.  For an Excel Template CLICK HERE.  It should look something like the example on the right.

And finally the hardest part: STICK TO THE SCHEDULE!!  You will notice that I have 3 times a day that I spend reading and responding to email, I also have built in times for social media, that is due to the fact that my business, Worship Media Solutions, needs to have a large online presence to succeed, so I need to invest time in expanding my social network, so I built it in to the schedule.

THINGS TO REMEMBER

1. This schedule may only work for a season. Don’t be afraid to alter it once you’ve given it a few weeks to see how well it works for you.
2. You HAVE to manage your schedule. You’ll be tempted to spend time elsewhere, with phone calls, emails, or bosses pulling you away from the schedule, they are inevitable, but they can be managed with a simple egg timer.  Phone calls should be short and succinct, be proactive and tell people you have a tight schedule, they’ll respect you more for it.
3. Safeguard yourself from yourself. If you have an assistant, co-worker, or friend or spouse that is willing, allow them to hold you accountable to the schedule.  If it’s important to you, they should be more than happy to help you be more productive and successful.
4. Build in personal/family/mental health time. If you have this schedule that runs your days, you SHOULD be able to have more down time with the family or friends.  Allow the schedule to work FOR you, if you know that you are going to be more focused on Monday, you can relax more on Sunday, and spend time doing what you love instead of stressing over your job.

Please let me know if this article was helpful.  Leave me a comment and tell me what ideas and thoughts you have concerning a schedule.