As a teacher, you know all about Planning for school. But what about planning for your life outside of school? If you find yourself struggling to stay organized or get to all the things that you want to do, try some weekly planning for your personal life!

During my second year of teaching, I reached a breaking point. I was spending hours every day after school on teacher work (which expands to fill the time available). Then I was returning home to piles of laundry and an empty fridge. I was forgetting about meetings at work and social events and birthdays at home.

Hot tears filled my eyes and my heart was pounding as the anxiety built. Everyone else seemed to have their act together, but I did not. I knew this was not sustainable. Sound familiar?

The biggest game-changer for me was when I started planning my week outside of school. How big of a game-changer was it? I was surprised when I started seeing the benefits that very next week.

1 – I was more productive at school because I knew exactly what I needed to do AFTER school.

2 – I was more productive with all the chores and tasks I needed to do at home.

3 – I scheduled time to “pay myself first.” (More about that later!)

Getting all the “stuff” done gave me more time for myself and my family.

One important thing I have learned about productivity: it’s not about getting MORE stuff done. It’s about getting the MOST IMPORTANT stuff done.

Planning for what you need to do and deciding when you will do it helps reduce your decision fatigue throughout the week. Deciding once means you will have the energy and motivation to get to all the most important things that matter to you.

With that in mind – let’s get started! In this post, I will show you how I go about planning my week in advance. I’ll show you how I do this step by step, so it looks like a lot. But I promise you that it really only takes about 15 minutes.

TIPS TO GET STARTED WITH WEEKLY PLANNING

*Make this time into some kind of pleasant planning ritual. Grab a cup of tea or coffee, sit somewhere pleasant (outside if the weather is nice), and use some kind of pretty notebook or journal. Make this into an enjoyable ritual.

*Choose a day and time to do your planning. Some people prefer Sunday afternoon, some prefer first thing on Sunday morning. I have recently been doing my weekly planning on Friday afternoon. That way, I go into the weekend with more of a sense of relaxation, since my next week is already planned. It cuts down on the “Sunday Scaries” for me. But experiment and find the day and time that work for you.

*If your head is constantly spinning with all the tasks to complete, start keeping a running “brain dump” list. Your brain dump list doesn’t have to be pretty or organized. This is a running list of whatever comes to mind at any time during the week, not just during your weekly planning time.

This list helps your brain stop spinning. You will know that everything is written down, you don’t have to keep obsessing about it, and you can get back to the task at hand.

*One place to start your brain dump list: clean out your email inbox and make a list of things you need to do or where you need to follow up.

(I actually do this at a separate time. I clean out my school email inbox on Fridays and my home email inbox on Sundays. It doesn’t matter when you do it, but choose a day to go through your inbox and add those tasks to your brain dump list. Then, when you’re ready to plan your week, that list is handy.)

WEEKLY PLANNING – 5 STEPS

CHECK YOUR CALENDAR

1 – So now you’ve got your brain dump list, including any tasks or follow-up tasks from your email inbox.

First, review your calendar for appointments, meetings, and other scheduled tasks or obligations. Include work-related meetings that take place after school like faculty meetings, PLC meetings, IEP meetings, etc.

You will need to plan your things to do around these scheduled events because they have specific times. (If you have a lot of these, you will need to put fewer to-do items on your weekly planning list. More about that later.)

Make sure you include family obligations that you do daily or weekly, even if they’re not written on your calendar (child care for instance!)

What about weekly errands, such as grocery shopping? Think about when it’s best for you to do tasks like that.

Now you’ve got your calendar events and time blocked off for appointments and meetings.

PAY YOURSELF FIRST

2 – Next thing to plan – how you’re going to pay yourself first. This is how you’re going to create boundaries between the things you HAVE to do and the things you WANT to do for yourself.

Schedule your personal self-care time and your relationship-building time. These do not have to be huge blocks of time, but go ahead and schedule them first.

Scheduling these tasks helps to make sure they actually get done!

If you’re a runner or you go to the gym, when will you plan to do those things?

Add time for the important relationships in your life. Maybe that is a weekly date night or a night out with friends. Maybe it’s a weekly family event like family game night or visiting a park. Schedule whatever helps you stay connected to the most important people in your life.

And finally – make sure to schedule rest or downtime for yourself. This might be a consistent bedtime and wake-up time, time for a long nap on a Sunday afternoon, time when you’ll take a break from your family and spend time by yourself. Whatever will help you to get the rest you need, schedule that!

Now you’ve got your scheduled events (step one) and your time for yourself and your important relationships (step two).

DAILY DAILY ROUTINES, & BUFFER TIME

3 – Schedule your daily planning time, your morning and evening routines, and buffer time. When will you plan your week (like you’re doing now)?

When will you do lesson planning, unit planning, and daily planning for school? (Hopefully, you are getting that done at school. If you need help with your teacher to-do list, here’s a link to my post about that.)

When will you make your daily to-do list for your time outside of school?

What time will you start your morning routine and what will you do each morning to be ready for a great day?

What time will you start your evening routine so that you can get the rest you need for the next day?

Finally, schedule some buffer time because nothing ever goes as planned! I try to schedule one afternoon a week with nothing planned so I can catch up. I also like to schedule some time every day, when possible, even if it’s just 15 – 30 minutes.

Now you’ve scheduled your events and appointments (step one), your self-care and relationship time (step two), your planning time and some buffer time (step three).

TIME FOR YOUR GOALS

4 – Next, think about your goals and what you are working on in your life right now. If that goal is still important to you, schedule time to work on it or it will not happen.

Start with just scheduling 15 minutes every day. (You can always build up time later.) Is 15 minutes too hard right now? Start with five minutes.

Is your goal to do some writing, organize your closet, study the Bible, or read to your kids every day? Whatever it is, make note of it and plan the times when you will work on that goal.

A goal doesn’t have to be related to your home or your family. A goal could be something that is just for you.

Are you crafty and want time to create? Schedule that 15 minutes.

Are you thinking about starting some kind of side business (like selling your teaching resources on Teachers Pay Teachers) or an Etsy shop? Schedule that 15 minutes. You get the idea.

(If you want more guidance on setting goals, here are some tips!)

You’ve now scheduled events and appointments (step one), self-care and relationship time (step two), planning time and buffer time (step three), and time to work on your personal goals (step four).

THINGS TO DO THIS WEEK

5 – Finally, the tasks that remain will be listed as “Things to Do This Week”.

You have scheduled all of the most important stuff. Now it’s time to think about how (or if) you can get to other tasks on the list.

Why have a weekly list? Because some days are better than others in terms of your energy or how much time you have to do something.

This list allows for that by not locking you into having to do certain things on certain days or completing a certain number of tasks each day. It helps you see the big picture for the week.

It also helps you be realistic about what you can actually get done and what might need to be postponed (or rescheduled) for another week.

One way to be more productive and effective with this list is to cnsider “batching” some tasks. Try getting all of your errands done on one day, for instance.

Other things to consider as you make your weekly to-do list

*Is this a week filled with lots of appointments or meetings?

If so, put fewer things on the “Things to Do This Week” list.

*What are the top projects that need to be done soon?

Put these tasks at the top of your list or indicate their urgency with some kind of symbol. Maybe a star or exclamation point or the letter A.

Examples: packing for a trip, prepping for hosting a social event at your home, getting ready for a move, etc.

*Does this really need to be done?

Honestly – can it just be eliminated? What is the point of doing it?

If I keep writing something down on my list, but don’t actually ever get to it, maybe it’s time to rethink the importance of the task. Does it still matter to me? If so, I’ll make it a priority to get it done. If it doesn’t matter to me as much now as it used to, I just eliminate it.

*Does this need to be done by me?

Can you delegate it, or get help with the project?

Some examples: can you form a carpool to get kids to and from extracurricular activities? Can you schedule a grocery order to be picked up or delivered instead of actually going to the store?

*Does it need to be done right now?

If not, leave it on the brain dump list for another time OR put it on your calendar for a future time when you might have more time or energy for it.

An example: I’m working on cleaning out my attic storage areas. Summer might seem like it would be a good time for this since I have bigger blocks of time, but it’s way too hot. So I schedule this for fall or spring when the temperatures are not as extreme.

The bottom line question to ask is:

*Does this task really matter right now, in this season of life?

During busy back-to-school time, for example, I eliminate or postpone or delegate tons of things because I know that my time and energy will be stretched to their limit.

This doesn’t mean that cleaning out my closet or making a doctor’s appointment isn’t important – it’s just not important right now, in this season. (By the way – it’s a good idea to ask yourself this question as you make your daily to-do list as well.)

Remember that the point of your to-do list is not to overwhelm you or to schedule yourself like an airport runway.

Your to-do list:

*helps you do the things you have to do (chores, etc.) more efficiently

*helps you schedule time for yourself, your important relationships, and your time for rest

*helps you focus on what really matters to you.

Keep your list manageable and focused on what really matters!

With that in mind: every week will not be the most “productive” week in terms of completing tasks.

If you get sick, or if a family member gets sick, and your time is spent caring for yourself or someone else, lots of tasks may not get done. That is totally fine! Your top priority – in that week, at that time – was to get well or to help someone else get well. That is the most productive use of your time, NOT all the other things.

Finally – and this is the most important thing: your weekly planning is meant to HELP you, not be the boss of you!

Things happen, emergencies come up. Give yourself grace when things don’t go according to plan.

Use your weekly planning as a way to focus on what is most important for you to do in THIS season of life.

Remember that you want to be productive, yes, but also effective – doing what is most important to do right now.

To recap:

5 steps for weekly planning:

1 – scheduled appointments, meetings, events, work responsibilities, family/child care time

2 – pay yourself first – time for yourself and time for your important relationships

3 – daily routines and buffer time to catch up

4 – time to work on a goal

5 – “things to do this week” tasks

I can’t wait to hear how these tips help to make you more productive and effective, doing the things that are most important to you!

The post Why Weekly Planning Helps You Be More Productive & Effective – 5 Steps first appeared on Still Teaching, Still Learning.