How To Create a Timetable and Get Rid of Procrastination

Perhaps you’re familiar with the overused phrases, “I have plenty of time.” or “I can do it tomorrow.” As I’m chronos- challenged, I often believe I have that invisible superman power to be able to do all my to-do lists in one single sweep. Five humongous tasks in one hour? No problem.

Not really.

This has unfortunately lead me to rushing my personal tasks year after year. The ubiquitous last minute syndrome. Packing for China an hour before heading to the airport. Packing my belongings into boxes and move to a new apartment two days before rushing to catch my plane to Australia for a 2 month backpacking trip. Thinking I could get a job in another country two weeks before my contract runs out. No wonder I couldn’t accomplish my yearly goals for four years.

This year I decided to change that.

One trick I learned from my teaching field and organizing conferences is the use of a timetable. In one semester, there is so much material to teach that you want to organize and stay on track so you could comply with your syllabus objectives and learning outcomes. See sample below.

WEEK	TOPIC(S)	ACTIVITY
1 6/02	Introductions, Course outline; Formal v Informal	Written paragraph for homework
2 13/02	Paraphrase & Parts of the book	Library Visit?
3 20/02	Paraphrasing Skimming & Annotating	Library Visit?

Likewise, in a conference you cannot afford to stay behind schedule with so many components (budget, accommodations, logistics, guest speakers, sponsors, etc) that a timetable calendar is a must to stay up to date and make sure you’re on top of your game. There is more at stake because you don’t want the event to fuck up- or you for the matter.

Now why can’t they do this for your personal development? We need a syllabus to our life (objectives- purpose) and a calendar with deadlines to make sure we’re on track. Like a conference, there is a lot at stake (our goals) and there will be a lot of changes along the way (flexible calendar needed) but in the end you can see where you’re at and soon will get to the finish line where champagne heaven awaits.  Below is a sample of my timetable with 80/20 prioritization.

WEEK	80%	20%
1 6/02	research Australia
2 13/02	publish 3 blog entries Sleep at 11pm 5x a week Notary- Macau & apply for new Phil. passport on Thursday? Create checklist for OZ requirements	Learn Spanish commands and questions and basic expressions
3 20/02 (slump week- downtime)	Contact schools for copies of Transcript of Records Fill in OZ education assessment application	Return Process Essay

I found using a timetable to be more effective than using David Allen’s GTD 90 Day-Monthly -Weekly system. It takes me less time and more importantly, I can see how much time I have left before my deadline. Also, how each step contributes to the next one tells me how important it is to do them on that week. This helps me stop procrastinating.

Here are the steps to create a timetable

1^st STEP: Break your yearly goals into projects. For example, one of my goals is to try to apply for a migration visa to Australia. The simple steps could be broken down to research, gathering paperwork and apply. More steps could be added as soon as you have gathered more information.

2^nd STEP: Make sure to be realistic and create a plan B and its steps for your goals. A timetable helps me create back-up plans. Should migrating to Australia fail, I’ll try to apply to Canada and New Zealand. If that does not work either, then I’ll try volunteering or study exchange programs. I like to create a Plan C, D, E, F to my Plan B and sometimes none of those happen and something completely surprising will be thrown at you. But you should always keep in mind that whatever plan you take it should be in line with your purpose in life. Mine is to travel, experience and inspire and be inspired by life.

3^rd STEP: Now that you have your steps and back-up plans in place, it’s time to fill in your calendar. You can use Google Calendar or create your own template in a word document. I aim for a 6 month plan which will leave plenty of flexibility for the other half of the year. Make sure to put deadlines to your goals and stick to them. Making the calendar at first would be a bit taxing but it would save you much time and stress in the end. It did for me.

With a timetable, you could also observe which weeks you’d be the most productive and schedule your most important tasks there. Likewise, you’d see which dates you’d likely be in a slump and pencil in some down time. Remember to carry your timetable with you wherever you go to be reminded of your tasks. Lastly, be flexible. There are many things that could happen in life but always make sure you keep the big picture in mind.

Happy Planning!

Photo from 2nd Green Revolution

How To Focus On What Makes You Happy And Get You Closer to Your Goals

I sat there finishing my application form when I noticed something. The first page was written with a different shade of black ink from the rest. I started worrying and then imagined this inane scenario that the person evaluating my application would throw it away exclaiming, “What a careless lady using two different shades of black ink! Can’t she see one’s darker than the other?”

Meanwhile the Chinese courier guy was impatiently waiting for me to put my papers into the envelope. He lifted his pinkie with its long shiny nail and proceeded to pick his nose.

I scrambled looking for the pen on my desk with the right shade of black ink.

Dial, dial, dial.

He flicked his finger. The booger landed on the envelope. It was like a play doh marble with the sheen and pallor of a 100 year old egg complete with mushy egg yolk stickiness.

A million things raced through my head. Moist towelletes. Rubbing alcohol. cotton swabs. Perfume for that smell.

Just mail that goddamned application!, the booger seemed to be screaming.

I’m sure you’re not as crazy anal as I am but we’ve been in situations where we make mountains out of mole hills. 80% of the value of that task was simply to mail my papers but I was spending most of my time searching for the right shade of ink that’s not even part of the 20% of the value of the task.

I used to follow this ABC method of prioritization.

A- important but not urgent

B- urgent but not important

C- not important nor urgent

It resulted to years about bitching and moaning that I spent most of my time marking papers and lesson plans and not doing the things that I enjoyed. The previous posts of this blog reflected that. It actually got to the point I got tired of listening to me. Hell, I’m not a complainer, honey. Snap!

But then I discovered the 80/20 rule- Pareto’s principle. 80% of the value comes from 20% of the tasks.  80% of the value of my teaching job comes from student evaluations and grade assessment which is 20% of what I do. The bulk of my time (80%) comes from creating supplementary materials and marking which contribute to 20% of the value. It means at the end of the day, my admin will only look at those score and evaluation sheets. Many PD (Personal Development) gurus espouse on the 80/20 rule like it’s the holy grail – Tim Ferriss, Brian Tracy, Steve Pavlina – because it forces you to look at the few critical few, the Big Picture and get rid of the useless stuff. It is a lifestyle changer.

So like Tim Ferriss in his book The Four Hour Work Week, I decided to 80/20 my life.

80% of what I’m doing that yields only 20% output of getting me closer to my goals:

1. marking
2. creating lesson plans and materials

20% of what I’m doing that give me 80% happiness and output to my goals:

1. writing
2. preparing my application to perhaps migrate to New Zealand
3. wake up at 7am

So I reversed it and my new 80/20 weekly goals  look like this. I added a C column for those non-essential very low priority chores:

80%	20%	C
1. Post 3 blog entries this week	1. Mark paraphrasing papers	1. Pay rent
2. Notarize copies of my diploma	2. Mark summary papers	2. Organize papers in office
3. Plan 90 Day and Monthly		3. Organize class folder
4. Wake up at 7am 5x this week

But what if you get behind your day job because you give it less priority?  For me by focusing on the 80% first, I’m more motivated to doing the 20% later because I have that good flow that comes from what makes me happy first. You can also distribute your work plan in your week so you make sure you’re on top of your game. A Time Map can help you do that. I can’t tell you how much good vibes I have to doing what I love at the end of the week and knowing I’ve accomplished something meaningful.

Tip: If you get stuck on a task ask yourself, “Would this make a difference a year from now? 5 years?” If not, cross it out. I also set a timer for doing the 20% tasks so I don’t spend more time on it than necessary. However, you are also free to do the tasks you hate to do first. Brian Tracy once said to eat a live frog first thing in the morning just so you can get it out of the way. I tried that but procrastinated instead and ended up sprawled on the couch watching RuPaul’s Drag Race. Different people have different ways to be productive. Find what works for you but make sure to focus 80% on the 80%.

So back to that Chinese courier guy with decent etiquette. In the end, I gave my papers to him because I just couldn’t do it without making sure everything was perfect.  He slid the application package into envelope and sealed it. As he walked out the door, I saw the booger was still stuck on the envelope.

Oh well.

How To Get Clarity In Your Life

 

A week ago, I was overwhelmed. My mind felt like it was a garage that hadn’t been cleaned out for months. I was dedicating myself to so many tasks and felt really guilty if I never did one or the other. I was a mouse burying itself in a maze, getting more lost than ever. I couldn’t establish any priorities and randomly took on more work without any clear direction.

I decided I needed to take some time off from the hectic flow of things and really get clarity on what I really want.

Clarity. The word speaks volumes. It isn’t just merely knowing what you want but knowing how and why you need to get there. Narrowing it down to one specific measurable goal.

Without this, you’re a ship wandering wherever you want in a big ocean. You’ll never get to your destination because in the first place you don’t know where you want to go. You might waste years climbing the corporate ladder and only when reaching the top you feel unfulfilled, realizing that this wasn’t what you wanted. Don’t get in that situation! Do something about it now before you can regret it for the rest of your life.

Know your purpose

This is your foundation. The steady rock that holds everything you must build your goals upon. What do you think you were born in this world for? What’s the purpose of your existence? A great resource on finding your purpose is Steve Pavlina’s How To Discover Your Life Purpose In About 20 minutes. This article has helped me shape my purpose which is to listen and share stories to the world and inspire people to fly.

Know what you want to do

Now that you’ve got your purpose ask yourself the question, “What do I really want to do that makes me happy?”. Go with the first answer that pops into your mind. In my case every time I’ve asked myself this question, it was always writing and nothing else. I’ve been boringly consistent all these years since 2^nd grade.

Hit that target! Choosing one thing to focus on

My dream is to become a writer specifically a novelist but there are many ways to get there. I figured I should start now and build my way up. I’m not afraid of dedicating 10 or 20 years of my life pursuing this. Do you remember the parable about the talents in the Bible? Well, your dream is like that. Imagine investing your time and effort on your talent. No matter what, you’d still grow.

I’ve decided at the present moment to concentrate solely on building my blog. Practicing my craft and building up a name for myself. I’ve managed to combine my love for fiction and writing articles under this paradigm. From now on everything that I do would be for the blog. Submitting my work and what-nots would come second place for now. That way I would still fulfill my purpose and contribute for the people.

To really strip down and make it simpler, I chose to focus on one thing and one thing only. I’ve decided to set a goal for myself to reach 20,000 stats at the end of this month and 24,000 at the end of this year. Crystal clear clarity. That means attracting at least 80 readers per day. When I got back to blogging earlier this year, I only had 10-15 readers. Then it gradually climbed to 20. Then 30. Currently, I’m oscillating between 40-70. Last month has been my highest climb in readers so far starting with the Being Grateful post. I’m looking forward to the challenge of increasing it. : )

4,335 to go.

Apply the 80/20 rule and zero based thinking

Now that you know exactly what you want, it’s time to apply these two principles to get rid of those unnecessary tasks that waste your time, stop you from being overwhelmed and double your productivity.

Do less to do more.

Taken from Tim Ferriss’ Four Hour Work Week ask yourself these questions, “Which 20% causes 80% of my happiness?” and “Which 20% causes 80% of my unhappiness?”. List them down. What you want to do is focus on the 20% that gives you the most happiness and trash the 80% that don’t.

I will admit I suck at applying the 80/20 rule or Pareto’s Law because I’m such a perfectionist. In this rule, 80% of the value lies in the 20% of the task and vice versa. Don’t spend hours looking for the perfect picture to accompany your blog post just because it would look smashing. Write the entry! After all, the main reason why the reader visited your site is to read it and not look at the picture.

But this is so hard when you apply this to teaching. Does lesson planning belong to the 20% or 80% of the value? Making it and your materials take 80% of your time and 20% of the value at the end of the semester. But if your lessons suck and are boring, you’d have a crappy student evaluation which takes a mere 20% but encompasses 80% of the school’s decision to hire you again or not.On the other hand, calculating their grades takes 20% of the time but accounts for 80% of importance. If you have an answer to this, let me know. Update: I did get an answer after a few years. Check out my latest entry on 80/20 rule, an update on how I finally implemented that into my daily life and pursuing your happiness in this post.

I usually get an aching feeling in my chest whenever I move or delete any task. I feel if I don’t do it now, I’d be losing an opportunity. For example, I’d like to create and submit my articles to Ehow, Ezine and Squidoo and circulate more of my fiction stories to magazines. But my present primary focus is building my blog and I cannot simply do that and all those things and still do well in my day job. They would have to wait and so I cross them off the list with an aching heart.

Only when you identify the crucial tasks and get clarity will you be free from stress and being bogged down with so much to do.

I hear a lot about zero based thinking from Brian Tracy. You often ask yourself, “Would I start this all over again knowing what I now know?” Last year, I gave a lot of quizzes and homework to my students –your typical idealistic teacher and all that. The result was I got buried in piles of paperwork which translated to a huge backlog. I ended up overly stressed and not marking some of them anyway just to catch up with the deadline of submitting the grades. I wasted a lot of my time researching and creating the tests. I applied zero based thinking for this semester and now gave them homework every 2 weeks and they usually mark their own exercises. Less work for me and I can still catch up with my marking. Which area of your life can benefit from applying zero based thinking?

This week my mind has never felt so much clarity and all my systems are raring to GO! GO! GO!. It was only by applying these methods that I was able to do that. By sharing these with you, I hope you can also get to enjoy from what I’m experiencing and start focusing on where you want to go with your life.

Get Clarity.

—-

Upcoming juicy bit: My next post will be about a kung-fu master I’ve recently interviewed so that should be fun and interesting complete with anecdotes about chi, yin and yang and other powerful kung-fu masters and what happened to them during the Cultural Revolution. Stay tuned!

RELATED POSTS:

Related Posts:

• How To Focus on What Makes You Happy and Get You Closer to Your Goals
• What’s the Rush?–Why People Are Missing Out on the Important Things in Life
• Strip Down- Getting Rid of the Non-essential Things in Life
• How to Cope with Rejection and Boost your Self-Esteem
• How To Talk To Your Subconscious

 

Share This: