Hello and Welcome!
Thank you for joining us here at the Buildify blog. Welcome to Buildify and The Buildify Method.
My name is Aaron Keith, and I will be leading the conversation around this this topic.
First off, I want to welcome you and thank you being a part of the Buildify family. I know you have a very busy life and I really appreciate your interest in learning and growing as a business owner & entrepreneur!
Before we get into the content of this specific blog topic, I would like to explain why I created Buildify & The Buildify Method.
I created Buildify because this allows me to do what I love to do, which is teach business owners how to better own and operate a successful business. In each blog we will do a deep dive into very specific topics and distinctions that make up The Buildify Method.
I also created these blogs because I feel it’s very important for business owners to make time to learn tangible skills that they can take back to their companies the very next day!
I believe it’s very important for business owners to be constantly looking for ways to better own and operate their business. And I designed each of these blog topics to do just that.
And those are the reasons why I created Buildify and all the resources under its umbrella! …with that in mind, let’s get to work!
The topic of this specific blog is on… “Scheduling & Task Management Essentials!”
The intention that we are out to fulfill on in this blog discussion is…“That you understand how to be more Organized, Efficient & Productive through improving your relationship to Scheduling and Task Management.”
Tonight we are going to be working with our Schedules, so let us start by distinguishing what a Schedule is…
What do you think a Schedule is?
…It’s a “System”
If your Schedule is a “System” then let’s distinguish what a System is.
What do you think a System is?
What it is: A System is a repeatable process that produces a predictable & consistent outcome.
Anytime something is not consistent, a system is either not in place, or its breaking down and not functioning properly.
What it’s NOT: a System is not a process that is governed by or influenced by your feelings. It is not something that gets ongoingly altered or changed.
It does not fluctuate.
Ask yourself if you want to have more…
- Money
- Free Time
- Travel
- Customers
- Fun
Every single one of those things comes from having a reliable Scheduling System.
How you schedule now, might work for you but if you are looking to have all the areas of your life work and thrive while you take your business to the next level then you will need to improve your scheduling ability’s.
As your business becomes more successful your ability to manage tasks must also grow or you end up not being able to effectively manage things and you end up having an increasing number of breakdowns in all the other areas of your life!
Having an effective scheduling system is for people who are committed to having their business and personal life work well at a high level.
There are 2 main parts to being effective at Scheduling & Task Management.
The “Mental Game” and the “Physical Game”.
Without the mental game firmly in place, the physical game will never quite work!
Be honest…, how do you Really relate to your schedule or calendar?
As you can see there are a lot of thoughts you have around your Scheduling System, and many of those thoughts have become blocks in your Organization, Effectiveness & Productivity.
There are several facets to the Mental Game of Scheduling!
The first area that you want to look at when you are setting up an effective Scheduling System is you’re “Feelings”.
Do you relate to your Scheduling System as more of a guide line for your day, rather than a rule?
Your Scheduling System is not a “good idea” of what you “could do”, it is what you have to do!
Your Scheduling System cannot be a fluid system, or it becomes an
Emotional System vs. a Scheduling System.
To be highly effective as a business owner, you want to get your emotions out of your Scheduling System!
Your scheduling system will dramatically breakdown if its founded in your Emotions.
Do you allow your emotions to dictate what you do or what you don’t do, during your day?
I have my “Feelings” too, I just don’t listen to them when they are not in alignment with the goals I gave my word to accomplishing!
What allows your Scheduling System to work is Your Word, Integrity & Discipline.
Did you know that 95% of the money is made by 5% of the population?
It takes discipline to be successful in life.
People who are successful have gotten good at honoring their Word and being disciplined vs. honoring their Feelings!
Having a business and having a job,in the world of scheduling is the same.
You start work when your boss tells you too, you end when your boss tells you too, and you need to be productively working when you are there at work.
The Boss that a business owner has is called their Scheduling System!
Now let’s talk about another major facet of the Mental Game of Scheduling!
The next area that you want to look at when you are setting up an effective Scheduling System is the area of “Consistency”.
Do you have Consistently, the same schedule week-after-week?
Many of us do things haphazardly, then wonder why you don’t have time, why your not on top of things, disorganized, and not as effective as you know you could be.
Many business owners keep all these important tasks in their head. Then they go about their day and all of a sudden they remember they need to do something important.
Then in the moment they try to jam this important task into their full day.
Next thing they know they are behind, overwhelmed, and working long hours. …does this sound familiar to you?
A large part to having a highly effective Scheduling System is having your important Tasks “Reoccurring”!
When the important tasks are reoccurred, your Schedule becomes a habit vs. it being a constantly fluctuating thing!
Why do you want the tasks in your schedule to become a habit?
When something is a habit it creates consistency and effectiveness. When something is constantly fluctuating it creates instability and decreases effectiveness.
When things are scheduled, there becomes a deliberateness to the tasks and when you are intentional towards a task you are more effective at that task.
See you do all these tasks anyway, but you keep a lot of them in your head and you do it randomly when you remember or when its last minute and you have too… vs. laying it out ahead of time in a manner that works for all involved.
Many of us have things scheduled and its randomly placed. But that one thing does not work for anyone else! Vs. schedule tasks that work for others as well as yourself!
Either way you must get those same tasks done… why not plan ahead and reoccur them throughout your schedule so you can relax and not have to remember it or worry about getting to it. Or where you are going to fit it in.
Note: Not having a set reoccurring schedule creates a lot of Drama! Often business owners like the drama and that is why they don’t have a scheduling system that truly works for them.
See, either you control your schedule or your schedule will control you.
Now let’s talk about another major facet of the Mental Game of Scheduling!
The next area you want to look at when you are setting up an effective Scheduling System is the “Design” of the schedule.
Do you consciously sit down and designed a schedule from the standpoint of Productivity, Balance, Enjoyment?
Many people don’t follow their schedule because they don’t love it! It does not truly support them.
Many of you are not as Productive, Effective or as Balanced as you would like because you have not designed your Scheduling System to provide that for you.
Often people don’t put in their schedule all the things that they would normally do or that are important to them, then they wonder why they don’t have time for the things in their life that they care about!
Many of you may think that I am overly scheduled, like that is odd or weird. The only difference is, is that I have just put in my schedule the things I would naturally do if I were living a Productive, Effective, and Balanced life.
My life is a “life by design”.
I literally designed the experiences that I wanted to have, and then designed my schedule to match!
If I follow my schedule, I will have an effective, balanced life with all the experiences in it that I wanted!
Don’t think of it as scheduling, think of it as Life Designing because that is what it truly is!
We have talked about the Mental Game behind your Scheduling System, now we are going to shift gears and work on the Physical Game of your Scheduling System.
The first part of your Physical Scheduling System that we want to put in place is called your “Core Schedule”.
What do you think your Core Schedule is?
Your Core Schedule is made up of the foundational Tasks that allow your Business & Personal Life to run smoothly.
We are going to start by creating the Core Schedule for your Business.
Please write down all of the foundational tasks that allow your Business to run smoothly.
Here are some examples to get you thinking:
~ Business Development
~ Management
~ Administration
~ Finance
~ Marketing
~ Sales
~ Production
~ Quality Assurance
Next, by each Task write down the frequency and duration of each task.
Example:
Finances – 1.5 hours is the “Duration”, weekly is the “Frequency”.
Now we have your Core Schedule designed for your Business, now let’s design your Personal “Core Schedule”.
Just like your business, your Personal “Core Schedule” is made up of the foundational tasks that are important to you and provide you with Balance, fun, etc.
Write down all the foundational tasks that allow your Personal life to run smoothly and with Balance.
Here are some examples to get you thinking:
~ Selfcare
~ Exercise
~ Date night
~ Pay bills
~ Family time
~ Gardening
~ Reading & Meditation
Next, by each Task write down the frequency and duration of each task.
Example:
Exercise – 1 hour is the “Duration”, 5 days a week is the “Frequency”.
Your schedule should be a match to both your Business & Personal Goals.
If its important to you, then it should be in your schedule.
Remember; getting your schedule set and then following it consistently takes time… be patient!
We have talked about the Mental Game & the Physical Game behind your Scheduling System, now we are going to switch gears and talk about your To-Do List.
What is the purpose of a To-Do List?
A To-do List is a list of tasks that you are not committed to doing yet!
It’s a place to store ideas or things that at some point you want to get to.
…That is it!
Your Schedule is a “Now-Doing List”!
Which means that you are committed to doing it, and you are now committed to it because you assigned it a date and time by which you will do it!
To be effective at managing your Tasks you need a structure that will keep your Tasks organized.
That could be a pad of paper, a running document on your computer.
What’s important is that you only have 1 To-Do List for your Business!
Once your Core Schedule is set then you can take some of your To-Do’s and place them into the schedule, so they become “Now-Doing” items!
You may also have reoccurring items in your schedule pre-set-up so that you can manage things from your To-Do List.
Example:
If Marketing Time is reoccurred weekly then each week you can look at your marketing ideas that you have been compiling on your To-Do List and then pick what you want to implement and then work on that new idea during your Scheduled Marketing time that week.
Other blocks of time that are preschedule will allow you to address things on your To do list and work on them because during that time that is when you are able to address things that fall under that area.
Remember Business Owner’s…your “Business Day” is when you will address a lot of things on your To-Do List! That is why that day is so important.
Up to this point we have talked about the Mental Game and the Physical Game behind your Scheduling System.
We have talked about how to manage your To-Do List and Tasks.
Now I want to sum all that up… Your Scheduling System provides you with…
- Balance
- Organization
- Free Time
- Fun
- Productivity
By being more Organized, Effective & Productive as a business owner you actually increase your Capacity to handle more!
Having an increased capacity allows you to grow your business to that next level and to be able to keep it there!
If you don’t have all the things that are important to you both Business & Personal in your schedule and set to reoccur the same way each week and each month, then your Scheduling System is not a working system!
Paper Calendar System vs. Electronic Calendar System:
Paper calendars allow for altering of the Core Schedule, which then interrupts your consistency and fluidity which then impacts your performance.
Why would you want to rewrite your whole schedule 52 times per year? Waste of time.
If you want your schedule with you buy an iPad or print it out. If this is the most foundational and important systems in your life, then invest in having it work well!
View – need to be able to see your week at a glance… not day but week. Many paper calendars only allow you to see a few hours of a day and don’t have room to show a really scheduled out day.
To learn more about this topic, you can go to the Seminars Page and you can watch the full seminar on “Scheduling & Task Management”.
Website link: https://www.buildifysystems.com/seminars/
If your business could benefit from having the kind of seamless experience that only the Buildify Systems suite provides, log in now and start Buildifying your systems!
At Buildify, we are committed to empowering business owners by giving them powerful tools right at their fingertips.
In the Buildify Systems platform, we have made creating and implementing key system easier and more efficient for you. We are committed to providing your with all the foundational business systems you need in order to grow and scale. Aaron Keith, our founder and master business coach, has masterminded our dynamic systems with his more than 20 years in business and having worked with more than 10,000 companies over that time.
To learn more about Buildify Systems or to start your Free Trial just https://www.buildifysoftware.com/
To listen to The Buildify Method Podcast go to https://www.thebuildifymethod.com/
