Week planning. Step-by-step algorithm and plan template

When is the best time to plan your week?

Of course, you should focus on your schedule and feelings.

Some people prefer to plan on Friday afternoon, others choose one of the days off: Saturday or Sunday.

One thing I can say for sure: it’s better to plan your week before it starts. That is, not on Monday. This way you don’t have to waste time thinking when you can directly engage in completing tasks. And the feeling of being collected on Monday morning, if the plan is prepared in advance, can in itself increase your efficiency.

I’ve been planning on Sunday for a long time, but now I’ve postponed this process to Saturday. Now on Sunday you can give yourself a complete reboot, disconnecting from all work tasks.

Why plan?

Develops self-discipline

Self-discipline is the ability to force yourself to act regardless of your desire. If you do the things written down in the plan, you gradually get used to doing the tasks from the plan. And every time, it becomes easier and easier for you to start and finish.

Simplifies the process

Essentially, a plan is instructions for performing some action. And following the instructions is much easier than deciding on the fly how and what to do. Of course, this does not mean that you should not completely trust only the plan. Sometimes the situation can completely change, then you should change your plan.

Increases efficiency

Of course, by simplifying tasks, we reduce the time it takes to complete a task. Thus, we increase efficiency.

Free time

Planning helps us find time for family, hobbies and relaxation, which we miss so much.

Order in affairs

Planning puts things in order. Helps set priorities and allocate resources correctly.

Freeing the Brain

Until the task is written down on a piece of paper or in the phone notes, it takes energy for the brain not to forget it.

How to plan your week?

There are also possible options here:

- a regular sheet of paper

But I wouldn't really recommend doing that. The sheet is easy to lose, and it is more convenient to store notes in one place.

- separate notepad

— special weekly planner — weekly planner

— programs for compiling mind maps

I use MindMeister on my tablet.

How do mind maps help in planning and in life?

— programs for planning tasks (Trello, etc.)

5 programs and applications that make life easier

How I plan my week

I'll tell you how I usually do this to make it clearer.

First, I make a mind map of areas of life (“brainstorming”) in the MindMeis program using a tablet. I add key tasks, events, and goals for the week there.

Then, based on the map, I directly plan things in a paper weekly planner , where the entire week is visible on the spread. This is what allows you to balance the load, since you can immediately see the number of tasks for each day.

If there are already a lot of plans for a certain day, I won’t even add anything else to it. Thanks to this, you don’t have to postpone unfinished tasks to one of the following days.

Also, when planning a week, I take the monthly plan as a basis. I talked about this in detail in one of the blog articles.

Personal effectiveness. We plan things for the month

Week planning algorithm

I have been using the planning method described below for several years now; I came to it as a result of many experiments. He takes into account the recommendations of such well-known experts in the subject of planning as Brian Tracy, David Allen, Gleb Arkhangelsky.

And here is the week planning algorithm itself:

1. We write down all the things in a separate list, if you don’t have one yet, we distribute them into categories or areas of life. Mind maps are best suited for this.

   
   An example of a mind map with a weekly plan. Compiled in MindMeister

2. We define 3 main tasks for the week.
3. First, we add all the obligatory tasks to the task list for a specific day. At the same time, we write down things that are tied to time on the left, everything that is not tied to time is on the right.
4. For clarity and a complete picture, working hours (if you have some kind of schedule) can be indicated as a time period. Mandatory matters also include the time of meetings, doctor’s appointments, dates of reports, payment of payments (taxes and fees, loan repayments, etc.).
5. Next, we “reserve” time for rest and write down plans. For example, we indicate “Saturday is a family day”, “a trip to the park”, “a trip to the cinema”, etc.
6. We add tasks from the general list for the first couple of days of the week (item 1). As a rule, it is easier to decide for this period. If something is still in question, write it down in pencil. It is better to make plans for the remaining days the night before. Although, when you get used to immediately entering tasks that are tied to the day into a notebook, it gradually fills up. The night before, all that remains is to review the plan and add a couple of things from the general list to it. Total - a couple of minutes a day. You can read more about planning your day in this article.
7. For each task we indicate the approximate time, which helps not to delay its completion and balance the load. We leave a small amount of time between tasks. If something moves a little, it won't affect the rest of the things on the list.
8. We indicate its priority with letters and numbers next to each task (A1, A2, B1, B2, etc.). We do not move on to the tasks of the next level until we have completed those that we marked as more important. You can read more about this in Brian Tracy’s book “Get Out of Your Comfort Zone. Change your life" . Photo of the book from the MIF publishing house website
9. We cross off everything that is completed during the day. Near the remaining tasks in the list, you can indicate with an arrow that they are being transferred. I usually write the date and reason next to it so I can remember it later. For example, a person who signed up for a consultation got sick, or the event was postponed by the organizers to another day. Not everything happens through our fault; in most cases there are some external circumstances.
10. It is also important to learn how to work with incoming tasks. The main rule: do not write down all incoming tasks for today or tomorrow if they are not actually tied to this day. For this purpose, there is a separate list (see point 1), which is then analyzed and sorted in a calm atmosphere. This is best explained in the book Getting Things Done . Photo of the book from the MIF publishing house website
11. At the end of the week, before making a list for a new one, it is important to analyze what has been completed and what has not. If any specific goals were set, evaluate how successful they were in achieving them and, if necessary, make changes to the original plans.

I hope that you will take note of the recommendations for planning your week, and that the template from the article will also be useful to you.

For points that are unclear or for which you have questions, write in the comments.

I spoke in more detail about how to create a simple and convenient system for planning and storing information for yourself at the webinar “How to organize your life using Trello.”

As a bonus, members receive a 45-page e-book with ideas for using Trello for all occasions and 8 themed board templates.

Information on how to purchase a webinar recording is on this page.

Save this article on Pinterest:

If you are interested in the topics of planning and personal effectiveness, join Telegram. There I run the “Planning is Easy” channel, where I share my experience and useful recommendations.

*article updated September 23, 2022

Calendar-thematic planning for the weekcalendar-thematic planning (senior group)

Topic of the week: “Migratory birds” (01.04. - 05.04.)

Goal: To form children’s ideas about the peculiarities of life of migratory birds, to develop cognitive interest in their native nature.

Final event: Entertainment “Spring Festival of the Arrival of Birds.”

Date of the final event: 05.04.

Responsible for the final event: educators.