How to Plan Your Week

Creating a Planning Ritual

Set aside 30 minutes each week to create a plan. Pick a day and time of the week that you will use as your planning time. Sunday evening is a good time of the week, because you can look back at what you accomplished in the last week and look forward at the upcoming work week. Choose a day and time that works well for your schedule. For example, if you don't work Monday-Friday, take some time on a day you have off to plan your week. Use a physical planner if you prefer to write things down. Physically writing things down could help you remember better. Try a monthly setup for long-term scheduling and goal setting, a weekly setup to be able to see an entire week at a glance, or a daily setup to keep more detailed day-to-day task lists. Use a digital calendar to integrate your email and share with other people. Choose one platform and stick with it. Some popular choices include Google Calendar, iCal, and Outlook.

Note any appointments or fixed obligations that you have. Before you start planning your personal goals for the week, make note of any appointments or commitments you have scheduled. These can include school and classes, work commitments, and meetings. This will give you a good idea of how much time you realistically have for your other goals and tasks for the week. For example, you may have a weekly doctor's appointment as well as a dinner with a friend. This already takes away 2 evenings, so you will have more limited time to do things at night than you normally would.

Schedule any other responsibilities that you need to take care of. This can include things like going to the grocery store, doing chores, and assignments with deadlines. Block off time during the week that you can set aside to doing what needs to get done. Schedule your most important tasks first. Once you have a list of everything you need to get done, pick out the most important items. Find a place for them in your schedule.

Create weekly goals to work toward your long-term plans. A weekly planning session is a good time to check in with yourself on long-term goals. Ask yourself what you can do in the upcoming week to work towards your long-term goals. For example, if you made a goal to apply to grad school this year, take some time to reflect on what you've done to work towards that goal and what you still need to do. You may decide to outline your admissions essay this week and start drafting it the next week.

Build in time for breaks and leisure. To avoid burnout, make sure you schedule some downtime for yourself. If you have trouble finding time to take breaks, schedule some when you are making your weekly plan. For example, if you have a hobby or leisure activity you enjoy, try to make time for it once a week. Make time for activities you find personally fulfilling.

Sticking to Your Schedule

Check in on your weekly plan every morning. Set aside 5-10 minutes to look ahead at any appointments you have and pressing tasks you need to get done. This will help you plan out your day and prioritize tasks. Setting aside a few minutes to plan in the morning will help you stay on task rather than getting bogged down with small tasks and distractions right away.

Create a manageable checklist every day. Be reasonable about what you can accomplish in one day. If you set too many goals and don't accomplish them all, you will get discouraged. Try to stick with one major task each day and several smaller tasks. For example, if you have to write a report, you might want to make it a goal to spend 2 hours researching and outlining. Smaller tasks can include things like responding to emails and returning phone calls.

Rank your checklist by priority. Aim to get the highest priority tasks out of the way first. Work through your to-do list in order of priority. For example, if you urgently need to schedule a doctor's appointment, make it a goal to call first thing on Monday morning.

Give yourself actionable tasks to complete. Rather than writing down general tasks like "clean the kitchen," write down specific actions you can take like "do the dishes," "clean out the fridge," and "take out the trash." The more specific you can get with your tasks, the better you will be able to estimate how much time they will take and when you can get them done.

Avoid overscheduling to prevent stress. When you pack your calendar with too many tasks, you will start to stress if you fall behind. Give yourself time to get to and from appointments, transition between tasks, and take breaks. Also take into account that there will be unexpected tasks and events that come up and give yourself some wiggle room.

Reflect on your plan at the end of the week. During your weekly planning session, look back at what you accomplished and what didn't get done. Add anything that you still need to do to the next week's to-do list before adding new tasks. Make sure to give yourself credit for what you did get done. Celebrate your accomplishments!