Hello friends!
On today's video I will be sharing how I plan my days, weeks and months with the analog
part of my planning system.
We will have a look at the ¨Flexible Time Blocking System¨, how I use the ¨Pomodoro
Technique¨ and the ¨20-20-20 rule¨, my positive feedback system and also some final
notes on planning.
It seems like a lot, but we will tackle it all.
I have already shared part one and part two of this video series, where I showed you the
other 50% of how I plan and schedule my day.
So, without a further ado, let's get started with the last and final part.
To make a bit of a recap of a quick my digital planning system, I have a table in ¨Notion¨
with different columns, where I have my tasks ranked in importance.
I have one main task of the day, which I give priority to, two goals and a column for other
tasks.
Lastly, I have a column for ¨completed tasks¨ where I migrate the tasks that I have already
completed.
But my planning does not end there.
I complement this table with something that allows me to be realistic and not over optimistic
when planning.
The reason for this is that, when planning, I tend to overpack my days with a big list,
only to feel extremely disappointed once the day ends.
How many times have you felt frustrated because it seems that you haven't done much in your
day?
Well, this can become a probable scenario for me if I do not use something to keep me
down to Earth.
And that is why the analog part of my planning system is useful for me.
I call this part of the system ¨flexible time blocking¨, but I know that it is also
known as ¨window blocking¨.
Scheduling every single minute of my day does not work for me at all.
It stresses me out and makes me inflexible towards unexpected things that might happen.
But at the same time, only having a to-do list makes me extremely optimistic, and I
end up believing that I can accomplish more than I actually can in a given day.
So by having a bit of a reference of the actual hours that I can use in a day, I am able to
plan a bit more realistically.
For this, I use blocks of time where I focus on specific tasks.
I combine this with the ¨Pomodoro technique¨: 25 minutes of work, 5 minutes of rest time.
Once I complete one ¨Pomodoro¨ I make a little asterisk in my page.
I try to complete as many ¨Pomodoros¨ as possible within that window of time.
I do not always completely finish the task, but I make sure to make progress in it.
For instance, on this particular day I wanted to read and summarize 3 chapters.
They were long and full of information, so I could only manage to finish two of them.
If I hadn´t marked the little asterisk that shows me how much I have worked on the task,
I would have probably felt disappointed, because I could not cross out the task entirely, since
it is not fully finished.
Instead, I feel great, because I know that I have focused for many ¨Pomodoros¨ and
have done my best.
I feel that time blocking allows me to be more conscious about the time that I actually
do have.
FLEXIBLE TIME BLOCKING Bear in mind that you must adjust this to
your personal circumstance.
If you work, let's say a 9-5 or 9-6 job, or you have online classes or courses that are
at specific times during your week, just mark that time out of your planner.
In this way, you can be a lot more realistic about the time that you have in a day and
what you can accomplish in it.
For instance, I might be starting a remote full time job in a company, and when If do
so, I will mark all the working hours so as to have a realistic look at what my week looks
like.
The system will be pretty much the same, but I will have a lot less time .
Being overoptimistic when planning, and being unrealistic about the actual time that it
takes to complete things has been one of the most disappointing things for me.
At the end of the day, if I overpack my to-do list, and see a lot of incomplete things,
I feel like a big failure.
Instead, I count the little asterisks that equal 25 minutes and I can write down how
much time I have worked for and I really like the feeling of reward that I get by doing
this.
In opinion, it is good to have a daily, a weekly and a monthly planning scheme.
For daily things I use both notion and my paper space.
For weekly goals and chores I have a separate column in notion.
And for monthly things I have my agenda or this simple paper calendar which allows me
to have a glance at the hole month.
This really helps me t have a better idea of how many days I have left until certain
important dates.
For instance, I have marked the days in which I have to give in the assignments for my course,
so that I am aware of them and can calmly work on them before they become ¨Urgent and
important tasks¨ For this, you could also use something digital such as Google Calendar.
I use the agenda because I happen to have it, but I would probably use google calendars
or a monthly calendar in a page instead.
It is important to have in mind when you have important things coming up, to prepare in
advance and reduce stress.
You can draw a super simple calendar and have it within hands reach.
You can also cross each day to have an accurate idea of the days left until your next assignment,
test or important work related things that you have.
POMODORO TECHNIQUE For the convenience I use the 25 minute, 5
minute rest ¨Pomodoro¨ with the online timer called ¨Tomato timer¨.
I have been quite concerned about the health of my eyes.
I heard a specialist recommend the 20-20-20 rule.
Basically, every 20 minutes, you should stare at something that is 20 meters away from you
for 20 seconds.
Our eyes get irritated when we look at things too close to us, and they rest when staring
at things far away.
Moreover, when staring at screens we diminish the amount of times that we blink per minute,
so our eyes get dry.
On every pause, I try to follow the 20-20-20 rule.
If possible I also try to stand up for some movement and stretch a bit.
In the pause I might fetch a cup of tea, go to the toilet, walk a bit, play with my dog
or do absolutely nothing.
And then the ¨Pomodoro¨ starts again, and it is time to get back to work.
Another thing that I use in my planning system is positive feedback and reward.
In my digital planning table there is a column for completed tasks, where I migrate all of
the tasks that I have completed.
At the end of the day it is extremely rewarding to see what I have managed to accomplish.
If I have tasks that I haven't completed and are still relevant, I just put the back in
the weekly goals list I like this because if I don't see what I
have accomplished, my perfectionist mind tends to think that I am one irresponsible person
that is not able to accomplish or do anything.
Another thing that really motivates me to write down the little asterisks when I complete
a 25 minute ¨pomodoro¨.
I love to go back to my agenda and see how much I have been able to study or work for.
It is helping me to change my mentality around my own productivity, and to see that I do
put a lot of work into things.
Sometimes, I cannot cross out a list, because I still need to work on it the next day, but
I know that I did my best in that day, and it is enough for me.
This is a time for me to make a small reflection of the day, have a look at what worked, the
progress I did, If I got distracted, if I can change anything or improve it and so on.
Also, I generally plan things in the night so that I don't waste any time the next morning.
And once I wake up, I can start working right away.
FINAL NOTES Remember the most important thing: you can
have the absolute best, most efficient time planning method and still not accomplish much.
The planning system is important, but it is more important to get into action.
Don't spend all your time trying to maximize efficiency instead of actually doing the things
you have to do.
In my experience, I have lost countless hours designing perfect time scheduling plans, which
was a way for me to procrastinate.
Instead, I am trying to focus less on the system, and focus more on the doing.
Sounds simple, but it is easier said than done (specially if you are like me and you
like to imagine scenarios, and plans, and efficient systems, and stuff like that.).
If you work a bit everyday on the things that matter to you, they will add up as compound
interest.
Even if it doesn seem that you are doing much on a particular day, the sum of the efforts
of the week will make you accomplish things.
This is one of the best lessons I learned with the book Atomic Habits by James Clear,
which I must always recommend.
Many of you think that this system takes a long time to use on a daily basis.
There were many comments about this.
I really doesn't take me much to do it.
I would say, 10 minutes on Monday or Sunday (to plan the skeleton of the week in the agenda,
and the "weekly goals" in Notion).
5 minutes every night + random minutes in the day whenever I need to list a new task.
(the calendar is done once a month, so I do not really count it, but it takes me around
10 min to make it)
Another note: Can you have the complete planning
system in the digital format, or vice versa, everything in paper?
Of course you can.
But I prefer the flexibility of the digital part, and the accessibility of the paper part.
I like the combination, and feel that works well for me.
Also, you can write things down in pencil, for maximum tidiness and flexibility in case
you need to change things in your weekly plan.
Because if you remember video number one of this planning system, things will happen,
unexpected things will pop-up and you will have to be flexible and adjust your plans
as you go.
I also feel that there are several ways in which you can make your time blocking schedule.
There is no need for you to get any fancy agenda or anything.
I have this one, with the timed columns, because it was given to my mum as advertising.
(I will be painting the covers soon haha).
But you can use any paper sheet and put the hours of the day.
Another way that I like to use this is by just writing down the periods of time in which
you want to do something, and putting the asterisks next to that.
the idea is not to have a rigid plan of the day, or to plan ever single second of it.
This is to be more realistic and not to over-schedule, because we take into account the actual hours that we have available in a day.
It helps me not to be stressing out and not to end the day in disappointment :)
There are some days in which I like to plan in the agenda with every single hour of the
day, while others I grab a simple notebook and make a list.
It just depends on my mood.
Hope you liked this video.
I feel I might have made the system look complicated, but actually it is so simple!
Please tell me if you do anything similar or if you think you could try out any of this.
I love to read you in the comment section and it alyas makes me happy to read how you
are doing and to read all the lovely comments that your leave.
Also, there is a part one to this planning series, where I have shared the three main
principles that help me to plan my day and part two where I have dived deep in the digital
part of my planning systems.
Those videos really complement this one, so make sure to watch them.
I will have the link down below for them, or you can just click in the card in the right
top corner.
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Until next time, and please “stay simple”!