Day 3 – Plan for the Unexpected
Unexpected disruptions can throw your whole week off course like nothing else can. These can be anything from a minor obstacle to a serious crisis. In all cases, this will lead to delays. You may be forced to schedule emergency meetings, push back tasks on your schedule, or even reschedule your whole week.
This challenge will show you how to plan for the unexpected so that you don’t become totally derailed. Think of this challenge as similar to a risk management plan. It will allow you to overcome unexpected problems quickly, and with minimum loss of time and effort.
You know that change is the one constant in life, and this includes unexpected disruptions. Don’t let them faze you or throw you into panic. Instead, use the following steps to be prepared for the unexpected:
- Don’t obsess about disruptions and live in fear of something cropping up around the next corner. You will end up constantly looking over your shoulder and expecting the worst. It’s not hard to see how this mindset will kill your productivity and sap your focus. Simply understand that unexpected disruptions could happen but know that you have the tools to deal with them quickly.
- Take immediate action. Assess the situation and quickly decide on two or three actions you can take at once to prevent a problem from escalating, or settling it completely.
- Estimate how much time you will need to deal with the situation. Sometimes a serious problem may require more than a week to solve. Keep this in mind when scheduling your next week.
- As soon as something unexpected comes up, it should immediately become a top priority that is urgent and important. The sooner you deal with an issue or problem, the more you will be able to resume your week without too much delay.
- If an issue will require some time to resolve, quickly reshuffle your week as best you can to make more time for this high-priority task. This may require requesting an extension on a deadline or postponing less important tasks until you can get around to them.
- Stay calm and remind yourself that it’s not the first time this has happened, nor will it be the last. The more calmly and capably you deal with the situation, the more quickly it will be resolved. Don’t blame others, get angry or feel victimized. Such negative reactions will not get an issue settled but, on the contrary, can make things worse.
- Muster all of your forces and available tools and skills. This could include delegating scheduled tasks to keep your schedule on track while you deal with the situation. It could mean enlisting the help of people with expertise or creating a team to deal with a crisis situation.
The goal: Planning for the unexpected is one of the most empowering habits you can develop. When you master this challenge, your sense of achievement and self-pride will skyrocket. You will be able to deal with the unexpected calmly, efficiently, and always be in control. So, despite a delay or setback, you will still have an amazing week!
Day 4 – Get Creative
Routine is a huge motivation sapper. Following the same routine day-in and day-out could be preventing you from being your best and having your best week ever. The goal of this challenge is to enable you to break routine by unleashing your creativity.
It’s not carved in stone that you should schedule your week in a certain way. You won’t go to jail if you don’t make foot-long to-do lists or multitask. The conventional methods of planning may not be working for you because they’re not personalized to your needs.
The key to designing your best week ever is to find new and innovative ways to plan and work, according to your preferences and needs. This will be a process of trial and error because what works for you may not work for someone else. However, here are some tips to get you started:
- Consider grouping all of your errands together on one day. Block out a couple of hours to grocery shop, go to the bank, and so on. This is a huge time-saver.
- Do tasks differently, such as mixing up the steps, or for mundane tasks, challenging yourself against the clock.
- Work outdoors if you have the ability to do so. The fresh air and natural surroundings will fuel your focus and alleviate stress. This should be easy for people who work remotely and require nothing more than a laptop.
- Take creative breaks by doing what you love. For example, practicing a short meditation, listening to relaxing music, or taking a short walk. You might enjoy this more than the typical coffee break or gossiping around the water cooler.
- Personalize your workspace with your preferred colors, wall art and office supplies. This will help to keep you motivated and relaxed.
- Take advantage of empty chunks of time. Remember, we agreed that your schedule should be flexible. This means that sometimes, you may finish a scheduled task early with time to spare before the next one.
Or, a meeting or appointment could be canceled. You will be left with a chunk of time that you should always use wisely. Depending on how much spare time you have, choose an appropriate task to complete and put behind you. Remember, you should have already scheduled your breaks, so the spare time should not be wasted on taking an extra break! The precious time you have saved should go toward doing something productive.
- Save fun tasks for the end of the day. We all have specific tasks that excite us and that we look forward to doing. This could be anything from a brainstorming session with coworkers to doing web research. Save the tasks you enjoy most until the end of the day. That way, you have something to look forward to that will make getting through the day much easier.
The goal: Use the suggestions in this challenge and come up with your own ideas for planning creatively. Remember, the point is to find what works best for you and to break from traditional routine. Click here for part 3.
Hello, I’m Lorene Troyer, a designer and digital creator passionate about turning ideas into beautiful, sellable products. I help coaches, mentors, and entrepreneurs transform their wisdom into income-generating digital businesses through polished templates, printables, and ThriveCart sales pages. See my book on Amazon My articles on Medium: https://medium.com/@LoreneTroyer Connect with me on X: https://x.com/LoreneTroyer1