Proper Preparation and Planning Prevents Poor Performance.
A lesson I learnt many moons ago from an incredible episode of Don’t Tell The Bride. In that instance I don’t think any amount of proper preparation was going to save him from the wrath on his bride once she’d seen the dress he’d picked out, but the sentiment has stuck with me ever since. My goal with this blog is to eliminate all need for those when it comes to you planning your weeks!
Here at RHouse we’re a small team with many strings to our bows – if you saw our #MeetTheTeamTuesday over on Instagram a little while back you’ll see that each of us doesn’t just do one thing. We’re constantly communicating over who’s sorting what with maintenance, covering what viewing and who will take Bear for a walk in the middle of it all!
The key to this is planning our weeks so they are productive ones, rather than rushed ones. Each of us has our own way of doing this, but here’s a few common themes in all of our methods that will hopefully mean you can also plan productive weeks…
To Do Lists.
We love a list at RHouse! And not just mental, in-our-head lists but physical ones written down on pieces of paper. The advantages of this mean firstly it helps create space in the brain as we’re not trying to remember an impossible amount of things. It’s also incredibly satisfying and good for the brain to see an item ticked off, and gives you a chance to reflect on what you’ve achieved come the end of the week.
We would recommend creating your weekly to do list before the start of the week. So if you start work on a Monday, use the Friday before to write your list. This way you begin each week with a purpose and a set of clear goals.
Variety
On my to do lists I break them down into three different types of energy – draining (e.g. sorting my expenses), neutral (e.g. managing the social media) and energizing (e.g. going on viewings). This helps me to allocate what gets done on what day – I try to make sure each day has a good balance of each energy so I don’t end one particular day more drained than the next. Keep your days balanced however you choose to, and if a lack of variety can’t be avoided one day then make sure your next day isn’t the same.
Non-negotiables
Prioritise that to do list. Things may have to change around a little bit throughout the week, other tasks might crop up out of the blue – as is definitely the way in this industry! But set your three non-negotiables right from the start. This way once the week is over you’ve completed the three MITs (Most Important Tasks) even if you haven’t got everything on the list ticked off.
Communication.
If you work with others you’ll know communication is key. I know we won’t be the only workforce out there with an extremely active WhatsApp group! We use this for both work chat and Love Island chat – it’s important to us as a team we have a rapport beyond moving housemates in and out. We also have access to each other’s calendars, not so we can stalk one another but so we can see who is covering what. We find this to be much more time efficient than asking around or potentially doing jobs twice.
Enlist outside help
There are a myriad of apps out there to help with focus and productivity, and I’m not ashamed to say I use them frequently! Struggling to focus one day? Try the app Forest which plants a tree and lets it grow for 30mins, unless you check your phone and then it ‘dies’. Want more organised notes? Evernote is your friend! Interested in time management? Try the time-tracking tool Toggl, which quantifies how much time is spent on different activities. Play around with them, find what works for you and watch how you smash a productive routine, week on week.
These are just a few small pointers on the way to a productive week, and hopefully you’ll find them a real help. Do you have any tips of your own to add to these suggestions? We’d love to hear what helps you make the most out of the time available in your working weeks.
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