How to Create a Weekly Schedule (My Real Weekly Schedule)
What is a weekly skeleton?
Fun Fact: the fastest way to burn out is by starting every single week off with a long to-do list and then just chipping away at it every day and hoping you make it to the end by Friday.
This is what I used to do and it was terrible. I felt like I was constantly chasing tasks and racing against the clock. When I decided to create a weekly skeleton, that’s when everything changed for me.
A weekly skeleton is a foundation for how your weeks are structured. It’s a blueprint for your weeks so you don’t have to start from scratch every single week when you sit down for your weekly prep meeting to plan the next week.
When is it time to adjust your weekly skeleton?
I recommend adjusting your weekly skeleton whenever your life season changes. For example, if you move, start a new job, have a baby, things like that.
I also personally audit my weekly skeleton every quarter just to make sure I’m doing things in the best way to support myself. It’s easy to just keep on keeping on and to forget to pause, intentionally reflect, and figure out what’s working versus what could be tweaked to support you better.
I recently made some changes to my weekly skeleton back in February and it has been incredible.
The changes I made were small but they have helped me get more work done in a shorter amount of time because I’m honoring my energy by scheduling my tasks when they make the most sense for me. Getting more work done in a shorter amount of time means more time to spend on life things like dates with Adam, reading, going on walks, and just living and enjoying life.
You’re probably wondering, what does my weekly skeleton look like?
Most of you know that I call myself a recovering hustle junkie. I used to think that I had to work all the time. I read something about hustle culture that I want to share with you.
Joe Ryle, who is the director of the 4 Day Week Campaign, said:
“Fundamentally, [hustle culture] is about work dominating your time in such an unnatural way that we have no time to live our lives.”
Hustle culture promotes a lifestyle where the career has become such a priority in your life or the environment that you work in that other aspects of being human — such as hobbies, family time, and self-care — often take a back seat. Can you say burnout?
Having this weekly skeleton has been so beneficial as a recovering workaholic because I can now see my entire week at a glance which shows me how much time I’m giving to work, life priorities, and everything else.
I used to work like 70 hours a week 3 years ago because I didn’t have a plan and just worked all the time. Now, most of my time is spent on my priorities like my morning routine, getting coffee with my husband, and visiting my family.
Having a weekly skeleton really helps you build your life around your priorities. Even if you work a 9-5 and clock 40 hours a week, you still have 128 hours a week to choose what to do with. If you take out 7 hours of sleep a night, that’s still 79 whole hours that you have the power to schedule every week.
Having a weekly skeleton helps me honor my energy and work smarter not harder and it can do the same for you, too.
How can you create a weekly skeleton?
I’ve got you covered because I actually put together a workshop (it’s only $49) where I walk you through my 6-step process for creating your own weekly skeleton. But I won’t leave you hanging here. Here are some tips to help you create your own weekly skeleton:
Tip #1: Use batching.
Allow me to introduce to you your new productivity bff (besides me): BATCHING!
The way that I use batching to create my weekly skeleton is:
⋒ Look at all the tasks that I’m responsible to get done in a week and group like tasks together.
⋒ Assign each day of the week a focus, based on the groups of tasks you created.
Weekly batching has been a GAME CHANGER for my productivity levels.
⋒ I am more efficient (aka I get things done faster and with better quality)
⋒ I’m WAY less stressed because I’m not worrying about when things are gonna get done because I have a plan of action for the week as a whole
I am BEGGING YOU to stop spinning in circles and constantly telling yourself, “After next week, life will be more chill and I’ll have time for [insert a priority you’re neglecting here].”
(Note: Life never chills unless you change something)
If you want:
✓ A copy of my exact weekly batch schedule
✓ To learn all the juicy details of my 6-step process for creating your very own weekly skeleton (Hint: weekly skeleton = your secret weapon for planning a peacefully productive week, seriously)
✓ Access to a workbook with exercises to help you create your weekly skeleton
✓ Access to a 45-minute training video to walk you through the workbook exercises
Tip #2 Create boundaries to protect your priorities.
Get clear on what your priorities are, determine what your capacity is once your priorities are scheduled on your calendar, and learn how to graciously say no when things don’t make sense for you to say yes to.
And there you have it – a look into my real-life weekly schedule and a few tips for how you can get started with creating your own weekly skeleton!
The 6-step process that I teach inside the How to Plan a Peacefully Productive Week Workshop is simple to follow and you’ll have your own beautiful weekly skeleton in no time if you do the exercises in the workshop workbook!
Just a little reminder that $49 is a small investment for getting your sanity back and creating a schedule that honors your true priorities.
Want to learn all the juicy details of my 6-step process for creating your very own weekly skeleton?
If you enjoyed this blog post, tune into episode 126 of The Hustle Sanely Podcast to dive deeper into this topic:
