Everyone is as different as their fingerprints with varying mindsets, personalities and working abilities. There are no hard and fast rules to follow for you to become productive. Though, there are basic ideas that you could lookout for before sticking to that perfect schedule you will come up with in the end. So let’s get to the task and see what working professional need to do and what you don’t.
Prioritize your tasks
They say eat the frog first (not actually, you’re not a snake, no.), meaning, first complete the more tedious, complex and important tasks so that at the end you are only left with simpler tasks. Also, because, if you avoid this frog once, you’re always going to be repulsed by it. Thus, prioritizing your tasks also helps you to refrain from putting off such tasks.
Irrespective of whether you’re an early riser or not, place such tasks in your schedule for when you are at your peak energy levels. And when it comes to tasks that require less energy, like managing your calls and group meeting, you can place them for later in the day or even in the afternoon. Thus your attention and energy is intelligently distributed.
Avoid break-free schedules
Break-free schedule work will give you nothing but stress, stress and some more stress. Even though, as much as you might think you are a robot, for better or worse, you’re not. You’re only a human and you need rest. If you believe in more productivity and better quality than just incessant longer hours, then you know that your schedule needs to have a few breaks for a stress free and compatible brain.
Apart from just one lunch break in your 9 to 5 routine let your self have multiple smaller breaks to assess and reflect your work or to even just hydrate and breathe a little. If you have the luxury to allow yourself for longer breaks to fit cardio or gym in your day then you must go ahead with it.
Save some blank spaces in your calendar
A working professional’s work day could be as unpredictable as any other day. For such circumstances, one shouldn’t plan their schedules to be tight and rigid. For then, it becomes difficult to adjust unexpected situations and tasks without disrupting other already planned work.
Apart from those days when you actually have to put down your nose to the grindstone, let yourselves have flexible schedules once in a while, maybe you can let your weekends be more dynamic than your weekdays.
Pre-plan your day
When you pre-plan your day you will know exactly what you need to do that day. Write down your goals on any post-it note you can find. Use various planners too if you need to. This will help you to mentally prepare yourself to face your day ahead. You might even feel a sense of control over your life. This will definitely make you feel confident to face your day ahead.
If you have anxiety, then the sense of control you get after planning your day will certainly help you to stay calmer throughout the day. You could even plan your perfect schedule according to your mood or mindset or circumstances around you on that particular day.
Try to have a pre-work routine
Irrespective of whether you are an employee or an employer, a pre-work routine helps you equally well. A pre-work routine is nothing but a set of things you do everyday before going for work. Try to exclude travelling from your routine, because more often than not, its a necessity and not a choice. If you wake up at dawn then you might include multiple things in your pre-work routine, but even if you’re not an early riser, you need to have a routine before work. This will only help working professionals to separate their personal life from their work life and maintain a certain balance.
It can include anything and everything from exercising, meditating, having a loaded breakfast, showering, taking your dog for a walk, running, cooking, taking your kids to schools, reading a book or a newspaper, writing a journal or doing a load of laundry.
Your everyday doesn’t need to begin with a head-start, a day begun with slower pace could also work wonders and reserve your energy for when its needed most.
A pre-work routine could give you a purpose to begin your day. You can even practise this routine when you are on your leave or holiday.
These are some ideas that can work like a charm when working professional get down to planning your perfect schedule work. Though, you don’t have to follow the same schedule everyday. You can change it after a period of time as per your needs.
