Planning Your Ideal Week

What is an ideal week? Basically it is a map of your week where you plan blocks of time to focus on certain activities, with the goal of increasing your effectiveness and productivity. The ideal week allows you to make sure that the important things are locked into your week therefore minimising the chance of you getting to the end of the week having been busy but not effective.

Here are some key steps to help you:

1. Remember that no week is ideal. It’s important to leave some slack time in your schedule for things that pop up unexpectedly.
   

2. Start with big rocks. These are the items you must do each week, and then expand from there. Think about those similar tasks and group them into blocks.
   

3. Don’t cheat on yourself. Treat your big rock tasks like they are the most crucial items on your to-do list, as if they are the most important appointment in your week.
   

4. Print it out and keep it visible, share it with your team, and set clear boundaries for uninterrupted work time. This helps create a focused environment, maximizes efficiency and effectiveness, and ensures that interruptions are only for important matters.
   

5. Review after every week for at least a month, make changes based on observations, keep copies of each week with notes. This ensures that your ideal week stays effective over time.

Check out our sample ideal week, as well as find a blank copy for you to get started here!