Achievable Schedule Planning and Why It Matters
Going from "Feeling Behind" to "Feeling Accomplished"
For many years, I would start each week with a map of all the fixed busy times in my schedule (such as teaching classes and meetings) and decide when and what research, writing, and other goals would go where in the time I had allotted for working. During my general 9–5 schedule, I almost always added ambitious goals and packed my schedule to the brim, with a few breaks here and there for meals and dog walks.
But when I used this method, I often didn't finish all the tasks I set out to do because: a) life got in the way, b) time-sensitive work tasks came up out of the blue, and c) researching and writing sometimes took longer than I thought they would. This meant that most weeks I felt behind on the work I needed to do.
This past academic year, I began experimenting with a new strategy for planning my weekly schedule that I’m sharing with you today in the hopes that it will be effective for some of you.