5 Steps to Creating a Productive Schedule
The last few weeks, we have been talking about the 5 keys to hustling sanely in detail. Today we are focusing on the fourth key which is: Create your routines + schedule. Y’all, this one is the bread and butter. Where we put together all the pieces of the work we’ve done in keys 1-3. Which, let’s recap those really quick:
First of all hustling sanely means you are working hard to make your dreams happen but you’re doing so in a way that is healthy for your mind, body, and soul. We are all about creating rhythms and routines that allow us to be peacefully productive instead of frantically busy.
We achieve the Hustle Sanely lifestyle by following the 5 keys to hustling sanely! The 5 Keys to Hustling Sanely are:
Get your mindset right.
Get clear on your vision.
Define your priorities.
Create your routines + schedule.
Implement Hustle Sanely 5 every day.
So let’s talk about key 4 and how you can create a schedule that allows you to be peacefully productive! I want to start off by talking about the difference between a routine and schedule real quick.
So when I refer to routine: A sequence of actions regularly followed. It’s MORE FLUID. Not every single part of it is time-bound. Example: Sunday meeting every week with your fam but maybe it’s not always at 7:30 PM EST or whatever.
Schedule: Events/tasks corresponding to certain times. It’s MORE RIGID and it is time-bound. Examples: appointments, practices, meetings, classes.
Okay so now that you know what I mean by routines and schedules, I am PUMPED AF to introduce you to something that I call The 5-Step Hustle Sanely Schedule Building Framework. It walks you through building a schedule that will equip you to be peacefully productive instead of frantically busy.
The 5-Step Hustle Sanely Schedule Building Framework goes like this:
Step 1: Track your time.
Step 2: Audit + declutter how you spent your time.
Step 3: Organize what is staying.
Step 4: Create a weekly outline.
Step 5: Create a daily outline.
Step 1: Track your time.
Now we talked about this last week, as an action step for defining your priorities so you should already have this step done! We need it to do the rest of the steps.
In case you missed last week’s post, step 1 is simple: track your time for 1 week. I totally get that this can be tedious AF – I really do. But the reason that I want you to do this before you do anything else is because it’s important for you to know where your time and energy are currently going. Think of this as your launch pad or starting point. You can’t fix something until you know what’s wrong with it. Plus, I promise that you will feel free + empowered once you’ve done this work that is building a new schedule. LIKE HELLO, YOU ARE RECLAIMING YOUR TIME! And how you spend your time is how you spend your life so you’re essentially reclaiming your life.
Step 2: Audit + declutter how you spent your time.
Go through each thing you spent time on and ask yourself if it aligns with the vision you got clear on in key 2 and the priorities you defined in key 3. Another way to handle each task is to ask: “Does this serve me, my loved ones, or my goals?”
To be blunt: anything that you cannot say YES to has got to go. We have 24 hours a day which is 168 hours a week. Girl, you probably spend around 50 of that sleeping which brings you down to 118 hours a week. We can’t create more time BUT we are in charge of how we spend our time. In the Hustle Sanely Intensive program, we go through an exercise in the workbook to declutter called the do it differently, ditch it, or delegate it method. It’s a way to help you decide what really needs to be on your schedule or part of your routines.
Auditing and decluttering your tracked time is..mmm...eye opening. It makes it very evident that a lot of us waste a whole lot more time than we realize! BUT it’s empowering because when you know that, like I said earlier, you’re able to reclaim that time and use it wisely on things that point back to your goals - whether those be business, family, or personal goals.
Step 3: Organize what’s staying.
You’ve decluttered how you spend your time. You know what’s staying so now it’s time to organize it so that it flows well and you’re not staring at a towering mound of daunting tasks.
Step 3 is actually broken up into 5 sub-steps so let’s talk about those briefly:
STEP 1: Write out your roles and responsibilities.
This is so you can see, from a bird’s eye view, what you are responsible for in your life. So some of my roles: wife, business owner, family member, friend. Each of those has responsibilities that go along with it. Maybe on your list you have things like teacher, girlfriend, Beachbody coach, church volunteer, etc. This is going to be specific to you.
STEP 2: Categorize what can be batched, grouped, and automated.
Batching: doing the same task over a period of time to refrain from doing it day- to-day or week-to-week. An example is meal prepping.
Grouping: putting tasks that are similar in nature close together when creating your routines + schedule An example is running errands - maybe you decide that Tuesday afternoons is when you are going to go to the post office, grocery store, and pet store. That way you only have to go out once instead of making 3 separate trips.
Automation: the technique of making a process or a system operate automatically aka requires hardly any energy from you. An example: having your bills automatically scheduled to be paid.
Looking at all the items on your time tracking sheet that survived the audit, use these strategies to help you find more efficient workflows. When you use tools like batching, grouping, and automation, you save time and energy because you are lessening the amount of time that you have to prep, transition, and get in the headspace to do certain tasks. I use these tools A TON in my business and it’s honestly how I get so much accomplished.
STEP 3: List your desired daily/weekly habits.
STEP 4: Create triggers for those habits.
Triggers are things that we use to help us remember to implement new habits. I like to create them using the format: when <insert routine/normal activity> then <insert new habit>.
So let’s say the habit you’re trying to start implementing is saying 3 things you’re grateful for every morning. Your trigger could be: When I make my coffee in the morning, then I say 3 things I’m grateful for. You train your brain to correlate making your coffee with saying what you’re grateful for.
STEP 5: Determine your non-negotiables.
Some examples might be: weekly date night, weekly girls’ night, work on your side hustle 3 nights a week...again, these will be specific to you.
All 5 of these sub-steps prepare you for step 4 of The Hustle Sanely Schedule Building Framework which is: Create a weekly outline.
There are 3 sub-steps for building your weekly outline:
STEP 1: Plug in the essential scheduled stuff first (classes, meetings, appointments).
STEP 2: Plug in your non-negotiables (weekly date night/girls’ night, 3x dream work) + desired habits.
STEP 3: Carve out space for margin + transitions (my workout = transition from work to night routine).
In the Hustle Sanely Intensive Program workbook, there is a template for this so it’s super easy to just plug and go!
And then the 5th and final step of The Hustle Sanely Schedule Building Framework is: Create a daily outline.
Daily plans are going to look different depending on your personality. There isn’t ONE right way to outline your day. I prefer a more structured outline whereas my husband prefers a broader plan – too much structure stresses him out. I like to use a combination of routines + scheduling to build out my days. This is what puts me in a good rhythm. Having a Focus 3 and using the time blocking method helps me achieve what I need to each day while not ending the day feeling overrun and burnt out. Having a Focus 3 each day keeps us from overextending ourselves and allows us to be peacefully productive instead of frantically busy.
Finding a daily outline that works for you will take some trial + error to find your rhythm and THAT IS OKAY! And guess what else? You might find that some days you crave more structure than others…also 100% okay! Hustling sanely is about managing your time AND honoring your energy.
This is the daily planning page that I use to structure my days:
Lean in and allow yourself to pivot when necessary. But: this is not permission to be lazy. You have to be disciplined to make your goals happen, of course, but not at the expense of your mental health or important relationships.No matter what kind of daily plan you decide works for you, don’t forget to include Hustle Sanely 5, which we will talk more about next week!
So to recap real quick, The 5-Step Hustle Sanely Schedule Building Framework is:
Step 1: Track your time.
Step 2: Audit + declutter.
Step 3: Organize what is staying.
Step 4: Create a weekly outline.
Step 5: Create a daily outline.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you tune into episode 033 of The Hustle Sanely Podcast!
