Focus Digest: April 2023

How to create an effective weekly schedule... 📅 ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  Focus Digest: April 2023 Welcome to April, Friend. For the last month I’ve been submerged in the topic of margin. So far we've hosted two workshops exploring the necessity of margin and what happens if we don’t have any. We find ourselves in a unique moment in history being that we have to talk about things like "limits, overload, and decision fatigue." The reality is, the exponential advancement of technology has not faired well for our humanity. Our finite frame can only handle so much. And so, the conversation around margin is essential. We are faced with an overwhelming amount of information, requests for our time, options and opportunities on a daily basis. If we do not intentionally and deliberately manage our limited mental, emotional, and physical resource, we will quickly find ourselves overwhelmed and burned out. (Welcome to the Focus Digest. We send this out once a month. If you'd rather not get the focus digest you can easily opt-out via the link at the bottom.) When we surrender our ability to choose, something or someone else will step in to choose for us. — Greg McKeown The Power of Planning: How to Create an Effective Weekly Schedule Have you ever finished a week feeling like your to-do list got longer with each passing day? Even though each day was a flurry of activity, it feels like no matter how hard you try and regardless of how much you do, it seems impossible to make progress. I can relate. And there were a lot of weeks this was my reality. But it’s been a while since I’ve had one of those weeks. And as a whole, they have become a lot less common. I would attribute much of this due to my weekly and daily planning process. Every Monday for the past 5 years I’ve taken the first 15 minutes to plan the week ahead. For me, this has been my single greatest productivity routine. Before being sucked in to the myriad of inboxes and notifications, I take a brief moment to identify and plan what is truly important for the week ahead. Part of this planning process includes accounting for the unmovable rocks in my schedule. Meetings, errands, when the kids need picking up, the things I know are going to happen on a specific day and time. These events act as guardrails in my schedule. Hard stopping points in which I know I’ll have to transition out of "get things done" mode. With a framework of my week sketched out, I set myself to the task of painting what done or progress looks like. First, what two or three projects do I need to push forward? Second, what are the 2–4 tasks associated with each project? And what does "done" mean? The more specific the better. Targets In every sport there is a clear objective; get the ball into the basket, hit the target, get to home base. Strategy and tactics may differ, but ultimately there is clarity on what it means to win. That clarity allows for an endless number of ways to achieve success. The rules and boundaries actually cause creativity to thrive within their confines. When we give ourselves clear objectives (targets) to aim for through planning we increase our ability to be creative. A lack of clarity leads to confusion, inefficiency, and ultimately, frustration. When there is a lack of clarity, people waste time and energy on the trivial many. When they have sufficient levels of clarity, they are capable of greater breakthroughs and innovations—greater than people even realize they ought to have—in those areas that are truly vital. — Greg McKeown For me, the planning process gives me time and space to identify what is truly important. This results in clarity of what needs to be done. That clarity moves me to precise action. Winning Each Day Once I’ve outlined my weekly plan, I turn my attention to the day ahead. The same principles that guide my weekly plan are also true for daily planning. Greater clarity on what I’m trying to accomplish leads to taking action. This does not mean my tasks do not involve any level of ambiguity. Often in the doing of something greater clarity comes as a result. As much as possible I try to remove any guesswork for myself in planning out my tasks. Instead of assigning myself the task, "write weekly newsletter" I may start with instead "outline weekly newsletter on restoring margin." A smaller, bite-size, specific task. I’ve found my limit is typically three most important tasks (MITs) for each day. And usually I only have enough brain power for two deep work tasks. Things that require a large chunk of un-interrupted focus and creating time. If I assign myself five deep work tasks in a single day, it’s unlikely I’ll get through three of them. And finish the day feeling behind. The real secret to winning each day has been planning my three MITs the day before. At the end of each day I review what I accomplished and compare that to my plan for the week. Then, I look at my schedule for the next day and plan the 2–3 tasks I will tackle. * * * All of this leads to a remarkable level of calm and responsiveness to my work, rather than feeling frantic and reactive. I’m able to be proactive in managing my workload rather than just surviving the dog-pile nature of incoming requests. The more I lean into the 4-Focus Method, the more I find it working for me. IDENTIFY → PLAN → ACT → CELEBRATE My 15 minute planning session on Monday mornings has changed the way I get work done. And thankfully, it’s rare to find myself absolutely buried on Friday as I wrap up my week. There will always be more work to do, but I know I’ll be able to plan for it when I’m back in the saddle on Monday. (P.S. We’re re-launching our task and time management course All the Things next month (May). 🙌 In which we cover weekly and daily planning extensively.) Upcoming Accelerator Membership Events - Accelerator LIVE in Kansas City 🎉 (Apr 4) - Your Life with Breathing Room Coaching Call: (Apr 11 @ 12pm EDT) - Productivity Focus Booster Kickoff! (May 9) When you're ready... An all-access pass to every single course and tool in our library, plus a community to help you get clear, take action, and keep going. ✓ Unlimited access to every on-demand course in our library ✓ Instant access to all the tools, workflows, and resources in our vault ✓ Monthly office hours and Q&A with our team ✓ Gain accountability and breakthrough with the community You'll also get access to our complete library of templates for time management (including the brand-new 2023 Digital Planner). [Join Accelerator and get instant access to everything]( Noteworthy Reading For more on the topic planning, task, and time management, dive into the resources below! - [How to Startup and Shutdown Your Day with Sunsama]( - [How to Plan Your Week Like a Boss]( - [The Top 3 Things You Need to Implement from Shawn Blanc, Creator of The Focus Course]( (VIDEO) - [An Interview on Using Notion as a Time and Task Management System]( In virtually every instance, clarity about what is essential fuels us with the strength to say no to the nonessentials.  — Greg McKeown That's it for this month's Focus Digest. We're on the verge of spring here in the northern hemisphere, and I'm READY FOR IT! 🌷 — Isaac Smith Director of Accelerator [Unsubscribe from Focus Digest]([updates](. Or, to unsubscribe from everything, for ever and ever, [here](. Blanc Media, 714 Main St., Grandview, MO 64030, United States