As the end of May approaches, I feel obliged to note that this is Revise Your Work Schedule Month. I’ve known about it all month, but have carefully avoided mentioning it, knowing that it’s an area I need to address in my own business, but not being quite ready to do anything about it.
When your business is called Organized Assistant, it’s a bit embarrassing to admit that you’re not 100% organized, 100% of the time. I already came clean about being an infomaniac with a tendency to hoard information that might be valuable someday, and I’ve taken several steps to curtail that. Nowadays I subscribe to very few newsletters or blogs, since the sheer accumulation of material to be read was so overwhelming that I really wasn’t reading much of it anyway. And for the most part, I’ve stopped downloading free audio files, as I’m not an auditory learner, and I only download free reports and e-books when the information relates to one of my current objectives.
Now that I’ve got a pretty good handle on that part of my life, it’s time to take a really good look at my work schedule. It’s not that I don’t get my work done on time; it’s just that I need to feel more in control of things on a day-to-day basis. I used to have a great time management system, but as I always taught my organizing clients, when your system stops working for you, you need to step back, assess your situation, and adapt it to changes in your job or your lifestyle.
My business and I have gone through many changes since it became my full-time career just a few years ago. I have more clients, both regular and occasional, with a wider range of requirements. I have Scott working with me on a full-time basis. We’ve dropped some services and offer new ones all the time, as technology evolves. Blogging and social networking are now a major part of my marketing strategy.
One of the things I love about being self-employed and working virtually is the flexibility to create my own schedule, but I do tend to work best within a structured framework. (I guess you could say that I like structure, but it has to be a structure that I’ve created, and not one that has been imposed upon me.) I love experiencing variety from day to day, but I like to know ahead of time what that variety will consist of. I’m pretty sure that’s typical for those of us with the ISTJ personality type. Although we are more organized than a lot of other people, but because our need for order is so high, we often don’t feel organized enough.
I read about John Jantsch’s Social Media System and although it sounds a bit overwhelming, I would like to implement a similar routine. Rather than fitting in social networking activities here and there when I can, I’d like them to be a consistent part of my schedule. Alex Fayle recently shared his time management routine, and I’m sure I can borrow some of his ideas as well.
I haven’t yet figured out what my new work schedule will look like, but I know from experience that telling others I’m going to make a change automatically makes me accountable and more likely to follow through. Please follow along with me as I figure out what will work best for me at this time in my life.
How about you? Is it Time to Revise YOUR Work Schedule?
I have a new client that uses David Allen’s “Getting Things Done” method and software. I did a quick study of the method and discovered that I was already doing most of his suggestions, but I definitely got some tips for tweaking my system. I have a “hybrid” system – I use both online (Outlook) and offline (binders and paper) to keep track of my To-Do lists. I think it’s fun to take ideas from different people, and then create something that works for YOU.
Very good post! Because my kids are still at home, I use August as my “revise work schedule” month as the kids start school at the end of the month. Also, we’re moving this year so both kids will be in new schools, neither coming home for lunch. That will be a new treat for me with the opportunity to get more done and better.
HOWEVER, I’m going to take (a bit of) your advice Janet and revise my goals and objectives NOW so that when I’m ready to revise my work schedule in August, everything will fall into place!
(and I can delete all those free downloads that don’t serve my G&O – I’m an infomaniac too
Melodee, I actually used to coach people on time management! I think it’s time for me to pull out some of the exercises I gave my clients and do work on them myself!
Jacki, that’s a great idea. When don’t work on something until we actually need to, we don’t have as much time to plan and have to make do instead of having things just the way we’d like!
Hi Janet!
As someone who is also self-employed and works virtually, I also found out how the “luxury” of a flexible schedule and doing what you love can so easily lead to overwhelm. Over the past couple of years, I transformed my lifestyle and now I help others to achieve work/life brilliance ™!
You’re absolutely on the right track with setting your hours and then starting to fill in your schedule from there. (I have a blog post on RealLifeE.com about just that subject ;o) And if you need to have some outside perspective on time blocking/setting priorities, I’m here to help http://www.ScheduleMakeover.com (There’s no shame in coaches having coaches! I have two coaches and a mentor for support and accountability!)
Have a brilliant day!
I revised my work schedule earlier this year – primarily to create a block of uninterrupted time for the creative part of the work I do. For the most part I’ve been successful at sticking to it, too.
I check my email once when I first get to my desk, write for a couple of hours, check once again before stopping for breakfast. At that point I allow myself to respond to one message, if something is pressing or if I feel so inclined. After breakfast I get right back to my writing with no email checking till lunch time. It has been great to see that I CAN work through some of the creative challenges that I would have avoided by checking email, before I began my new routine.
Social networking and blogging related emails get left till the evening – usually. Depending on the demands of the afternoon or plans for the evening, I do occasionally indulge myself there at some point in the afternoon.
I know that this kind of compartmentalizing of tasks wouldn’t work for many business people, but I’ve been really pleased with how much more productive my mornings have been. No more looking at the clock, seeing it’s 11 o’clock already, wondering where the time went, and facing the fact I’d frittered it away on email. And then trying to work on into the afternoon, which isn’t as good a time for me to be tackling creative challenges. By making good use of my mornings, I have lots of guilt-free afternoon time available – after taking care of other business-related matters – to enjoy other activities, like painting or gardening or going for long walks.
Of course sometimes leaving blog-related emails till evening does mean a little later bedtime! Good night!
PS I see my posting says I was heading off to bed at 10:04. For the record, that’s 11:04 on my clock.
Kathy, you have done very well with your new schedule, especially considering you’ve been away a few times. It’s often difficult to get back on track after a vacation or business trip, but you’ve proven it can be done!
Many time management experts say we shouldn’t even check email first thing in the morning, and I understand the logic behind that (because it can consume so much time if we’re not careful) but on the other hand, what if instead of checking email, you jump right into a particular project and spend several hours on it, then you check your email and find some new information that you should have had first? It’s drawing that line between “checking” and “dealing with” that makes all the difference. (For example, is responding to blog comments really my first priority this morning?)
Elizabeth, thank you! I will check out your blog and am sure I’ll find some great time management tips there.