I had a question the other day in a Productivity program I was running. Someone asked me…
“Hey Colin, how do you divide your week up effectively?”
I’ve seen weekly planners with really detailed plans and it almost gets overwhelming. And then I’ve seen general ones where it’s just one goal for the week and it kinda wasn’t enough.
So what I want to share with you right now is how you can divide your week up effectively so that you can create the biggest impact in your week to come.
Let’s talk about how you divide your week up effectively. This strategy for me has made such a difference in terms of my personal effectiveness and effectiveness of my clients.
Just the other day, I was sharing this strategy with someone — he’s an operation manager for a really large coffee company in Australia. He said,
“Colin, I really struggle getting out in the field. I struggle seeing my team. I know it’s really important for me but I just can’t seem to find the time. I get cluttered up with all different types of meetings throughout the week and it stops me getting out in the field.
So I shared with him this strategy and I asked him, “Hey what day in a week could you set as a Team Day?”
He said, “Well, Thursday.”
And I said, “Cool. Let’s make Thursday your Team Day.”
So in his head, he decided that Thursday is Team Day. In other words, it’s a context, it’s a label.
Imagine you’ve got a Brother P-touch label and you could actually put label over each day of the week.
I wonder what label would be over each day of your week?
So we take a week — Monday through to Friday (you can include Saturday and Sunday, if you want; I usually do just Monday to Friday) — what label would fit best over the day in that week? What would be the a useful focus for that particular day?
What this does is create a really nice framework that is loose but not too loose for you to be able to manage your week.
I’ll share with you mine.
Monday is my Thinking Day. That’s where I come up with content, where I come up with my programs that I’m designing, and where I come up with new strategies.
I’m thinking, planning, and designing on Monday.
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday are my Delivery Days. So I’ll be running workshops, speaking at conferences, and doing coaching with people over the Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
For example, someone rings up and say,
“Hey Colin. Can we book in a workshop?”
I’ll say,
“Yeah. How does Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday work?”
Now what they don’t know (I’m letting you in on a secret) is that they’re fitting in to my week. I don’t do it in a controlling way. It’s more just, those are the days which work best for me.
If you don’t have an idea how your week will flow, then you’re just going to fit in into everyone else’s week.
Now my Friday is my Sales Day/Marketing Day. So I’m thinking, “How do I market myself?” “How do I sell what I do?” “How do I communicate what I do more effectively and more clearly?”
That’s my week.
With my other client, he was thinking, “Monday is my Strategy Day, so I’m going to think and I have a strategy meeting with my team.”
And then the Tuesday and Wednesday were the Project Days, so he had key projects that he’s delivering on.
Thursday was his Team Day.
And Friday was his Cleanup Day, so he did administration.
I’m wondering, what would your week look like?
How would you label your week in terms of the days so that it can functionally work for you?
I know every week is not going to be the same. People won’t know how your week flows, but that’s part of your challenges. You’ve got to communicate that in an elegant and respectful manner so that they can actually understand what your week looks like or how it works for you.
Today’s question:
What would you label your Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday?
Please comment below and I’ll interact with you.
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- How to create a Super Productive Mindset (the exact thinking you must have to produce incredible results)
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