Get Your To-Do List Done Without Burning Out Using The Hustle Sanely Planning System
Keep reading this post to learn:
⋒ How our culture is shifting from the 24/7 grind to craving peaceful productivity
⋒ What the Hustle Sanely Planning System is and how you can apply it to your life
⋒ The daily habits that support peaceful productivity and how to make them a priority
I feel like right now, a lot of people are recovering from the girl boss and hustle culture eras. You know the whole grind 24/7, put your goals above your well-being, work over everything mentality.
But for a while there, we were swinging too far the other way and people were basically shirking their responsibilities because they didn’t feel like doing them and coining it as like “gentle productivity” or something.
Let’s be real – we all have things we need to get done in life. There’s really no way around that. And we all have goals that we want to achieve and we can’t just sit back and hope our dreams into existence. We have to take action.
This is where Hustle Sanely comes in – what makes Hustle Sanely so special is we are disciplined and we get stuff done but the stuff we’re getting done aligns with our vision and priorities and we get stuff done in a way that honors our well-being. We weave regular rest and self-care into our lives so that we don’t crash and burn.
All that being said, I’m so confident in the Hustle Sanely Planning System because it’s exactly what I use to get my to-do list done every day without feeling burned out.
Let’s back up a minute and talk a little bit about burnout. I was reading an article that was published this year that stated that 89% of Americans have suffered from burnout within the past year. This burnout can be characterized by many symptoms, including:
Physical fatigue (44% of people)
Cognitive weariness (36%)
Emotional exhaustion (32%)
Lack of interest, motivation, or energy (26%)
Lack of effort at work (19%)
Burnout is at an all-time high it seems like and I want to help you get your to-do list done without falling prey to it.
Since starting Hustle Sanely almost 5 years ago and working with over 1,000 students in my courses I’ve found 2 main things to be true when it comes to not burning out:
~ You’ve got to weave regular rest and self-care into your life
As in, you can’t have the mentality that you earn these things. They cannot wait until everything is done. They are just part of your normal day and week like showering or brushing your teeth.
~ You’ve got to be clear on what tasks you need to get done every day
Half the time, people are burned out because they spend so much energy every day trying to figure out what needs to be done and so when it comes time to actually do the tasks, they’ve already used up so much of their brain power.
As I mentioned at the beginning of this blog post, I use what I call The Hustle Sanely Planning System to help me get my to-do list done every day without burning out. This system helps me know what needs to be done and when it needs to be done in order to make real, sustainable progress on my goals.
And you know what? I’m feeling chatty today so I’m going to share part of the Hustle Sanely Planning System with you in today!
So the system is made up of 2 parts: the 5-step Hustle Sanely Schedule Building Framework and what I call the 7 Hustle Sanely Habits. We’re going to talk about the 7 habits part today.
The 7 Hustle Sanely Habits are:
01. Yearly Vision Meeting
02. Quarterly Check-In Meetings
03. Monthly Check-In Meetings
04. Weekly Prep Meetings
And then the last 3 are daily habits:
05. Morning Routine
06. Evening Routine
07. Hustle Sanely 5
A lot of these sound probably sound familiar to you because I talk about them all the time and they’re woven throughout our planning tools!
I’m going to give you a brief rundown of what each habit is and how they all work together to help you live a peacefully productive life.
These 7 habits that make up part of The Hustle Sanely Planning System help you weave regular self-care and rest into your life and they help you get clear on what needs to be done every quarter, month, week, and day so that you’re living in alignment with your vision and priorities.
None of these are groundbreaking but they create intentional space in your life to reflect and plan which is essential for preventing burnout.
We’ll start with the Yearly Vision Meeting and work our way down.
I want you to imagine an upside-down triangle with the Yearly Vision Meeting at the top and HS5 down at the point on the bottom. The Yearly Vision Meeting captures your broad vision and HS5 is a narrow view of your daily to-dos to make that vision happen.
Let’s talk about the first habit that makes up the Hustle Sanely Planning System:
01: Yearly Vision Meeting
When: Before the start of a new year (I usually do it in November)
Purpose: ESTABLISH GOALS & VISION – to reflect on the past year and intentionally cast vision and establish your goals for the coming year. Before the start of a new year, take some time to get clear on your vision and establish goals that align with that vision so you can spend your best time and energy living the life you desire.
Tools I use to do it:
I use my Peacefully Productive Planner to do my Yearly Vision Meeting. There is a Yearly Reflection exercise in the planner as well as exercises that go along with each of The 5 Keys to Hustling Sanely that help you create and schedule goals.
I love using the planner because I don’t have to think about what to-do during my Yearly Vision Meeting – I just do the exercises that are right in front of me. The exercises in the planner that I do for my Yearly Vision Meeting are:
~ The Yearly Reflection
~ Replacing Limiting Beliefs with Affirming Truths
~ Vision Reflection
~ Vision Planning: Life Vision Map + Ideal Day
~ Yearly Goal Setting + Scheduling using the Hustle Sanely SWITCH Goal Mapping Method
02: Quarterly Check-In Meeting
When: The end of March, June, September, & December (I combine my Q4 Check-In Meeting with my Yearly Vision Meeting)
Purpose: ASSESS GOALS – to reflect on and assess your goals/the methods you’re using to approach them and to intentionally prep for the next quarter. At the start of each quarter, check-in and make sure your goals and the methods you’re using to work toward them still align with your vision. As our seasons change (expectedly and unexpectedly) sometimes we have to shift our goals, too.
Tools I use to do it: I use my Peacefully Productive Planner and my Peacefully Productive Journal to do these meetings each quarter.
I use the journal first to help me reflect on the previous quarter. The journal has a built-in quarterly check-in spread that helps me see what worked well last quarter and what needs to change for the coming quarter.
Then I grab my planner. There is a built-in quarterly planning spread for each quarter that has you revisit and reflect on/audit the goals you’re focusing on that quarter, keep track of personal and professional open loops, and create a weekly routine that aligns with my season’s goals and priorities.
03: Monthly Check-In Meeting
When: Before the start of a new month
Purpose: CREATE BROAD ACTION PLAN – to reflect on your goal progress, mental health, and relationships and to create a plan for your monthly Focus Goal. At the start of each month, set aside some time for your monthly check-in meeting so you can go into the month knowing where to spend your time and energy to make progress on your goals while protecting your mental health and relationships.
⋒ Focus Goal: The goal that you want to focus on making substantial progress on for the month. While we are often working toward different goals simultaneously, having a goal that you are giving your best time and energy to each month will increase the likelihood of you making actual progress on your goals.
Tools I use to do it: I also use my Peacefully Productive Planner and my Peacefully Productive Journal to do these meetings each month.
I use the journal first to help me reflect on the previous month’s habits and to choose habits and intentions for the coming month. The journal has built-in monthly reflection and monthly prep spreads that create intentional space for a pause in my life so I can see what is working and what isn’t. I use my journal to come up with my monthly affirmation and monthly intentions.
Then I grab my planner. There are monthly prep pages in the planner to outline your monthly focus goals and create action plans for them.
04: Weekly Prep Meeting
When: Once a week on the day that works best for you (I like Thursdays but Sundays are common)
Purpose: CREATE SPECIFIC ACTION PLAN – to intentionally prep for the coming week so you know where to spend your time and energy and what your Top 3 tasks are for the week.
Each week, set aside some time for your weekly prep meeting so you can go into the next week knowing what your top priorities are to keep you on track for your goals.
⋒ Top 3 Tasks: The 3 most important tasks to get done for the week. Use your monthly Focus Goal to help you prioritize your Top 3 Tasks each week.
Tools I use to do it: I use my weekly Peacefully Productive Planner for this! There is a spot on the weekly spread to write out your Top 3 tasks for the week so that they are separate from other tasks.
I don’t know what it is, but having my Top 3 tasks for the week in their own area helps me to stay more accountable to doing them.
And that brings us to our 3 daily habits that make up the Hustle Sanely Planning System:
05: Morning Routine
Having a mindful morning routine is important because it sets the tone for your day and helps you position yourself to take ownership of your headspace, time, and energy. Having some sort of gratitude practice in your morning routine is a Hustle Sanely non-negotiable.
Now for me, having a mindful morning routine is crucial to the “without burning out” piece of this blog post… I view my morning routine as stopping by the gas station to fill up my tank every day so that I have the gas or energy to go, you feel me?
Tools I use to do it: Journaling is my personal favorite tool to help me get my mind right for the day. I use our Peacefully Productive Journal because I can do my morning MAPPING practice easily since the guided prompts are built right in. And in case you’re new, MAPPING is an acronym that stands for:
Meditate
Affirm
Pray/Position
Picture your day
Intentions
Needs check-in
Gratitude
I have a whole podcast episode on how I do this MAPPING practice so if you are interested in learning more about that, you can tune in!
06: Evening Routine
Having a wind-down evening routine is important because it prepares you for a peaceful night of sleep. Restful sleep is fuel to our bodies. It’s what allows us to show up with clear, focused minds each day so we can show up well for our lives.
This one is also part of the not burning out part – I like to bookend my days with intentional practices that help me ease into the day and then wind down for the day.
Tools I use to do it: I use the Peacefully Productive Journal in my evening routine because it has these prompts:
~ What energized me today?
~ What drained me today?
~ My favorite part about today was?
These prompts help me reflect and actually think about the day so I don’t get stuck just going through the motions or repeating cycles that aren’t supporting me.
07: Hustle Sanely 5
Hustle Sanely 5 is a list of 5 intentional things that the Hustle Sanely community does every day to help us work toward our goals without sacrificing our mental health and relationships.
Think of HS5 as your daily action steps to help you Hustle Sanely:
Complete your Focus 3.
Move your body for 30 minutes.
Tidy for 15 minutes.
Say or do one kind thing for yourself.
Say or do one kind thing for someone else.
⋒ Focus 3: Your Focus 3 are the 3 tasks on your to-do list that are non-negotiable for that day. The 3 things that you deem “most important” to get done.
HS5 as a whole is another habit that helps with not burning out but getting stuff done because it helps you create a prioritized task list, nurture your body and your living space, weave self-care into each day, and show up intentionally for your loved ones.
Tools I use to do it: I use my weekly Peacefully Productive Planner to help me plan my daily HS5 habits.
There is a spot each day in the planner to outline your Focus 3 tasks for each day, how you want to move your body, how you’re going to tidy your space, and what kind thing you want to do for yourself and someone else.
At the start of each week, I fill in any of my HS5 habits that I already know in advance. So like if something needs to be done on a certain day, I’ll pop it on that day’s Focus 3 section. And I usually fill in all my “move for 30” and “tidy for 15” ahead of time because I have routines in place for my workouts and cleaning. If I have a dinner or coffee date planned with a friend, I’ll put that under my “kind thing for someone else” on the appropriate day.
Then as I plan for each day the afternoon before, I revisit my HS5 box and fill out my Focus 3 completely for the following day if it isn’t already planned.
And in the morning, I do a little needs check-in and I figure out what I need that day as my HS5 kind thing for someone else.
That’s what I love about HS5 – it’s a routine but it’s flexible. My therapist was saying that I am definitely a routine person but that I also crave flexibility within my routines which is probably why I created HS5 in the first place, lol.
So to summarize everything, using these 7 Hustle Sanely habits together helps me get my to-do list done without burning out because they help me see where everything fits into my schedule, they help me with chunking down tasks in a way that doesn’t feel overwhelming, and they hold me accountable to pausing to check in with my progress so I can make adjustments when necessary so I don’t hit burnout.
These 7 habits help me from feeling the need to cram things into my days because I know that I’ve created intentional space for my priorities by setting yearly goals, scheduling them by the quarter, focusing on 1-2 goals per month to move the needle on, creating 3 big action steps every week based on my monthly goals (aka Weekly Top 3), and then creating 3 small action steps every day based on my Weekly Top 3 (aka Focus 3).
I’m never playing a guessing game, wondering what my current goals are and when I’m going to have time to focus on them.
The Hustle Sanely Planning System helps me create a sustainable road map to make progress on my goals while still prioritizing my well-being which is what helps prevent burnout.
Wooo that was a jam-packed episode! I hope that hearing about the 7 Hustle Sanely Habits showed you how they work together to help you create a peacefully productive life, getting your to-do list done every day without burning out.
If you did vibe with this episode and you want to dive deep into how to apply The Hustle Sanely Planning System to your life and you want to see how I apply it to my life…
Sign up for our Peacefully Productive Schedule Course!
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Loved this blog post? Tune into the full podcast episode below!
