How and Why I Jumpstart My Week on Sunday
Rather than reacting to developments on Monday, take action earlier to jumpstart the week. In this article, Rod Burkert shares five things he does to remain active and plan the week ahead.
Our RV travels cause us to keep some pretty weird hours. But one thing I never alter is how I prep for the coming week. I’m a fussy to-do list maker. And a meticulous scheduling planner. These two habits intersect every Sunday morning over coffee and scones.
I do five things to make sure I own my week and minimize operating in a Monday morning reactive zone. And it all revolves around my Google Calendar and what I call my Day Book, which is a journal for all the notes I make during meetings, phone calls, and webinars. I started this diary back in 2015, and it’s something I’ve found that really keeps me focused.
#1—So the first thing I do is review last week’s calendar and make sure that I did everything I was supposed to do. Anything I failed to complete gets re-scheduled in the upcoming week.
Because of #3, this rarely happens.
#2—The next thing is to transfer appointments/activities from my Day Book to specific days/times on my calendar. This allows me to visually see how busy my days will look and not overbook myself.
Lesson I’ve learned: A to-do list always grows. And if tasks don’t get scheduled, they don’t get done.
#3—Based on my schedule of tasks, I number the top 3–5 things that I must accomplish and write them on a post-it note. My criteria is simple: What are the 3–5 things I must get to so that, when completed, my week is a success even if I do nothing else. I start with the most important one, block out the necessary time on my calendar, and work my way down the list.
Why list only 3–5 things? Because I find that I can’t move forward on more tasks than that in a week. I could list more, but I’ll just get down on myself when I don’t get to them. And I know I won’t get to them. So why do something that I know is going to make me feel bad?
#4—Next, I download all the podcasts I want to listen to on my walks or while we’re driving.
#5—The last thing I do is update all my mobile device apps, back up my iPhone and iPad to the cloud, and backup my computer files to an external hard drive.
That’s it. I’m set for the coming week. The 60–90 minutes I spend planning on Sunday generates a multiple ROI on that time and next week’s productivity. The only thing left to do is eat up the scone crumbs.
How about you? How do you prep for the week ahead?
Everyone has a different idea of what a successful practice is. The practice you want is personal because it is based on what “successful” means to you. I help practitioners focus on the strategies, tactics, tools, and tech to build/grow/scale their versions of successful practices. If you want some help with that, e-mail me at rod@rodburkert.com.
