Actually Scheduling out Habits for Better Time Management
It sounds so simple, but hear me out. When's the last time you actually scheduled time for one of the new habits you want to create?
Hi! Caitlin Faas, psychology professor and coach, here back to talk to you about the power of scheduling today. So, last week, we were talking about the idea that tracking our time can be really powerful, but what do you do after you've been tracking your time and you realize there are habits or behaviors you want to change?
Schedule new habits into your day
Well, now it's time to think about, how can I add this to my schedule? You may say, “But wait, I have a schedule. I follow a schedule. I go to work at this time and I do this at that time.” And yes, that schedule is also important. But, what about scheduling the new things you want to add into your day?
For example, think about last evening. What did you think you were going to get done in that evening compared to what you actually got done? I know I'll do this, sometimes I'll say, “Oh, things I want to do tonight include: Dinner, spending time with my husband. I'm also going to make sure I practice my guitar, maybe I can fit a yoga class in there, and I got to make sure I'm in bed before 10 o'clock.” Right? And then, I stop and think, “Wait, all of those things added up together. If I actually map it out, all of those things add up to more time than I possibly have in the evening.”
I need to make decisions moving forward about, “Okay, maybe yoga can happen here and here on this day, but I'm also going to fit in practicing guitar. If I do that for 30 minutes every night at this time, it's on my schedule and I know that it exists.”
Be realistic about how long activities take you
When we go to schedule, knowing how much time something actually takes to do is also part of that strategy. I’ll ask you today, what can you work on scheduling in your day and what's working? What's not working? What's taking more time than you thought it actually took or something that may take less time?
Sometimes we think an activity will take us longer. We say we have something to do on our list and it seems so dreadful. “It's going to take me three hours to be able to sort through all the mail that's been piling up.” But then, when we actually sit down to do it, “Ah! This only took an hour. I don't know why I was building it up so much in my head.”
