How to Plan Your Week (in Less Than 30 Minutes)

After another week of chaos, I couldn't take it anymore.

I was finding myself unfocused, inconsistent, and drained of energy.

Balancing life, a 40+ hour work week as an engineer, and building a music audience was taking a lot out of me. The exhaustion was beginning to show on my face and in my work. I knew I needed to do something about it now before it was too late.

My schedule was unsustainable, and if I kept going in this direction I would soon run myself into the ground.

But right before I thought my head was gonna explode from the pressures of life, I remembered a 6 step process I learned as an engineer.

These simple steps guided our team in planning several multimillion-dollar projects and delivering them on time with a smiling client on the other side.

Step 1) The Brain Dump

Ever feel like you have a million things you know you need to do all swirling around in your head?

Having all these tasks swimming in your mind starts to distract you and "gum up" your attention.

It's similar to if you have a computer with 100 tabs open. It's going to slow down its performance.

Your brain works the same way.

So to clear it and free up your focus by doing a "Brain Dump"

This step is as easy as it sounds. You literally take all those thoughts in your head and write them out on a piece of paper.

The goal here is to free up brain space so you can start reaching your maximum performance when working.

Step 2) Pick A Prioritization System

There are so many systems to choose from to help you prioritize your work and everyone will say "this specific one is THE BEST"

I'm sorry to tell you they are lying. The best prioritization system is the one that works for you.

So try out multiple ones until you find something you are comfortable with and is suitable for your workflow.

Here are 4 systems we show you in the Music Momentum OS Program:

1. Prioritization Pyramid (Good for balancing daily life and business)

2. 5/25 Method (Good for goals and reducing daily distractions)

3. RICE Planner (Good for business and social media)

4. 3D Eisenhower Matrix (Good if you have a team or work with others)

Step 3) Time Block Your Schedule For The Week

Creating a schedule with time blocks is way more efficient than a to-do list.

With a to-do list, it's easy to put off an item and procrastinate doing the hard work.

While with a schedule, you have specific time slots when you need to finish the work by. This urgency acts as a forcing function to get you to do the work.

This is known as Parkinson’s Law which is that "work expands to fill the time allotted for its completion."

Don't make a to-do list only to finish what you "feel like". Instead, have a scheduled plan of action that you can use to attack the day.

Step 4) Set Intentions

Now that you have everything time blocked on your schedule, let's take it to the next level so you can take control!

For each action item you have listed on your schedule, you want to create an "Implementation Intention Statement". This will be in the form of...

You already listed the "day" and "time" parts of this by putting them in on your schedule, so now all you need to do is define "where" you will do it.

A study has shown that by setting this intention alone, you can increase your odds of taking action by 53%.

What would your days look like if you finished 53% more work than you usually do?

Step 5) Reflection & Feedback

Take time each week to look back and determine what worked and what didn’t work.

Create a weekly meeting with yourself where you can hold yourself accountable by tracking your results. Here are a few things to track and reflect on:

• Key performance indicators for your goals (KPI)
• Key performance actions for your goals (KPA)
• What gave me energy this week? Do more of this next week.
• What drained my energy this week? Do less of this next week.
• What can I do next week to get 1% better?

Simply put: double down on what works, and stop wasting time on what doesn’t.