Last week’s lesson was planing, this week taught me about planning sustainably.

Because there’s a difference between getting things done efficiently and getting them done in a rush.

You know the feeling, the times where 5 tasks feel like 20 and the ones where 20 feel like 5.

I think the difference is in sustainable systems.

As I picked up a new Project, this became pretty clear. I was running into problems caused by not planning accordingly like I would with other things.

The consequences lead into:

• Tasks take Longer
• Tasks get forgotten
• Lack of organization
• Feeling rushed

These eventually lead into missing deadlines and contribute to no progress.

In the worse case scenario it can make you quit before you start. Which will rob you of any positive outcome that you can earn from trying.

Here are the tools that have been working for me this week:

Tools:

Calendar:

You need to use a calendar. Personally I use Google Calendar.

I know it sounds like such a basic concept, but this alone will show you where your time is going. It will give you more control over your day.

As my buddy Red Wallace told me, “If you don’t budget your time, you’ll spend it on stupid things”.

So this one is a must, it also sets up the rest of the tools.

Time block:

Schedule blocks of time where you know you’ll work on certain tasks.

This has helped me be flexible with what I need to accomplish.

For example, I schedule a 2 hour block for “Creative work”, then I check my To-do list to see what fits into that category.

When you set up a time block without set tasks you have the flexibility to work on the most pressing item at the time in case priorities changed.

I also categorize certain time blocks like this:

• Deep work
  • One task that will need my full attention.
• Fractured work
  • This includes research, ideation, etc. (More creative time windows where flexibility is needed)
• Batching
  • This just means I will do all the “types” of work at once.
    • Writing, filming, etc.

To-do list/Task tracker:

When you set up your time block you need to know what you’re doing. Which is why having a tool to keep your tasks stored is important.

As my overall Task tracker I use Apple Reminders.

First I identify life “Buckets”.

Here are mine

The buckets serve as a Task bank for me to store tasks.

So for example the Projects folder (bucket) has individual projects in there with their respective tasks.

Here’s my work Folder (Bucket) with its individual Sublists.

Then once I have a time block allotted for a project I go into my buckets, find a task/s that I can accomplish and move the tasks into the red “To-Do” list.

The To-Do list only has things that I am doing TODAY. That keeps the list clean and easy to reference.

Systems:

Once you identify the tasks you have to do, the next step I suggest is to set up repeatable systems for them.

If you have a workflow that can be solved with a checklist, make one.

That way you're not missing steps and eventually you can outsource the tasks/work to someone else.

The important thing is to start thinking ahead when it comes to building systems. You need to make it so easy that anyone can do the same thing as you by just following your instructions.

This does a few things:

• Makes your processes easy to track
• Enables you to identify when a step hasn't been accomplished
• Keeps your quality level consistent
• Saves you time

Systems make everything run smoother, start implementing them where you can.

And finally.

You need to incorporate all these steps into your routine. Or else none of this works.

This only works as hard as you do.

It will take time and effort to set them up in the beginning, but the payout is worth it.

Just remember these tips:

• Do not make your schedule tough to follow.
• Start with a normal/conservative workload
  • Adjust as needed.
• Start with easy to use tools.
• Take the time to identify the flaws in your system.
• Continuous improvement.
• Keep expectations realistic

If you follow these like I have, I think you will be able to maximize everything on this list.

Now for the week 3 stats.

This was with no short form videos, and all text based posts and replies.

Here's the breakdown.

As I stated before, I underestimated the amount of work it would require to record 1 short video a day, 3 written posts a day, the weekly long form video, plus the newsletter.

That's the ideal output goal but right now I need to get quicker at just hitting the written post goals along with a weekly video/newsletter combo.

Once I get that down I can increase the video content.

However here's the longform video for this week.

This felt like a long one but I hope it helped.

As usual, Thanks for reading

-OG