How do you schedule your life? Do you plan a week ahead? A month? Per sales quarter? Do you plan your life around work, or your work around your life?
Have you ever planned your ENTIRE year in advance?
Few people schedule their lives further than a couple of weeks in advance. But if you’re going to be intentional about the way you live your life, being intentional about your time is a MUST!
You see, time is the great equalizer. It’s the one and only thing that every person on the planet has the exact same amount of. Everyone. Nobody is allotted more hours in a day than anyone else.
Which begs the question: what do successful people do with their time that others don’t?
That’s a big question with a lot of answers. But for starters, they plan ahead. And here is how to do it.
When you schedule your life intentionally, write it down rather than using an electronic app or calendar. Get a day planner for the whole year that allows you to plan your months and your days.
Ready? Plan your entire year in advance.
And fill your schedule with your life’s priorities FIRST – then fit your work around that. Life is short, and ultimately YOU are in control of your time – fill it first with the things that are important to you!
Here’s what I mean.
START by planning your leisure time. Why? Because what happens when we don’t schedule our leisure time? It ends up being wasted time, right?
So, think: how many vacation days do you want to take? Do you want to take every Friday off? A week every month? There are no wrong answers – what works best for you? Now, schedule that time in your planner. Fill it with the hobbies you love, what you want to accomplish, and the things that help you relax.
In addition, make sure that you schedule time for self care. This includes time to work out, meditate, etc. Whatever it takes for you to be energized, put it in your week first! Once again, if we aren’t intentional about taking care of ourselves, what happens? Nothing – and we burn out pretty quick!
Finally, before you schedule in work, schedule time you want to set aside for your family or loved ones including your spouse, extended family, children, or friends.
Next, move on to your individual days. Evaluate what your ideal workday would look like. It’s empowering to know ahead of time what your day is going to be full of as you are selling with intention!
As you plan your days, begin with the end in mind.
So, before you schedule anything for work, write down what time you are going to END your work day. If you want to end at 4:30, try to schedule everything you need in by 3:30 to account for any unforeseen situations that may cause you to be in longer than usual.
Now, you know how and what time your day is going to start, you know when it’s going to end, when your hobby, leisure, workout, and family time will be.
Next, start scheduling your days hour by hour. Here is where you will determine exactly when you will make calls, schedule appointments, meet with your prospects, and work.
So, how to do you schedule those hours? That depends on your goals!
How much do you want to make annually? Simply do the math. How much do you make per sale? That will tell you how many appointments you need to make. In turn, this tells you how many calls to make!
In addition to making calls and setting appointments, it’s crucial that you make time to make connections with possible prospects. You cannot attract people to you if you’re never out meeting with them! In your work time, schedule time for networking, and for being where your prospects are!
So there you have it – your entire year at a glance! Doesn’t it feel empowering to know ahead of time what you will be doing to both live your life AND meet your goals?
Now remember: sticking to your schedule doesn’t just happen – YOU make it happen. And your 2018 will start with a bang – when you start it with intention.
