An ideal schedule is the next logical step to make use of the insights I gathered from the time audit last week about my time spending patterns. It goes hand in hand with a time audit. Having an ideal schedule doesn’t mean that you have to stick to it all the time. Every day is different, and especially so for a financial analyst. The goal is to adhere to it for 80% or more of the time.
An ideal schedule covers my activities in a typical week. It resembles a page in the week-at-a-glance organizer. The time of the day is on the left column and the days of the week on the right. I applied the “pay yourself first’ concept that I mentioned in A Secret To Making Time For Yourself. I began by blocking off time for personal commitments, including my exercise time, family time and personal time. Then I block off my work hours.
The next step, I sub-divided my work hours into categories. I reserved the first three hours of my work days, which are my most productive work hours, for high payoff actions. High payoff actions are the ones that yield the highest results for my efforts. My client calls are scheduled twice a week in the afternoons, once in the morning and once in the evening. Emails and phone calls are twice a day – before lunch and at the end of my work day. I end my day with planning for my next. Administrative work is on Friday afternoons.
Develop your own one-week ideal schedule after you have compiled the information you collected from your time audit. Remember to incorporate your observations from the time audit to help you decide the best way to allocate your time. Are you most productive in the mornings or afternoons? You probably have some regular commitments such as morning conference with your team or some monthly networking meetings to attend.
I understand that everyday is different and in the financial world, there are constant changes. Having the ideal schedule will ensure that all elements of your life are covered although you may not be able to commit to it 100% of the time. Having a routine would help you to develop a habit. In my case, this stops my urge to open every email as soon as it arrives at my mailbox. It helps me develop the discipline to always start my day with the most important task in my most productive work hours.
Have a go at your own ideal time schedule. As a financial analyst, you’ll probably have less flexibility over your work hours. The ideal schedule is a guideline. It will incorporate all your components of your life to make sure nothing important is being left out.
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