GNT #029: Change your life rhythm, design your best week ever

Read time: 3.5 minutes

How's this week been going for you?

A bit off the rails?

If you could go back, would you design it differently?

This week we're diving into a concept that has the potential to change your life's rhythm.

It's about taking control of your time.

As we approach our week we have two choices:

1) Live in reaction mode
2) Live according to purpose with a pre-envisioned plan

Yes, unexpected stuff will come up.

Things we couldn't possibly anticipate.

But there's a better chance we will reach our goals when we know what they are... and work backwards with an ideal weekly plan.

A template for your Best Week Ever.

Michael Hyatt calls it his "Ideal Week™." Author Todd Duncan talked about the concept in his book, 'Time Traps.'

The strategy is similar to a financial budget, except we're spending against our time instead of money.

Pretty powerful, right?

Especially when you consider how little time we have each week.

And how few weeks we actually have in our lifetime...

I'm terrified and in awe of this graphic.

Each row of weeks makes up one year. That’s how many weeks it takes to turn a newborn into a 90-year-old.

Sometimes it feels like our lives are made up of an unlimited number of weeks.

But there they are—

fully countable—

staring you right in the face.

👀 

This week, let's take control of our time and make our days more intentional and fulfilling.

Let's build our Best Week Ever.

Today, I'll show you step-by-step how to take control your time and design your perfect week.

And then we'll create yours - and a plan to use it. I'll give you my template free to get started.

You are unstoppable.

Let's dig in.

Here's how it works:

The week above is just my example. Make your Best Week Ever work for you.

1. Define the Daily Themes:

Each day of your week can be given a unique theme.

For instance:

- Monday is devoted to regrouping with your team.
- Tuesday and Wednesday are dedicated to travel and external meetings.
- Thursday is kept flexible for ad hoc meetings.
- Friday is for planning and strategic thinking.
- Saturday is for personal chores and activities.
- Sunday is for spiritually recharging, rest, and planning the next week.

2. Segment the Day:

Each day is divided into specific focus areas by hour. 

For instance:

- Perhaps your early morning is dedicated to working out.
- The middle part of the day, from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm for work.
- Perhaps the evening is reserved for self, family, or creative endeavors.


3. Color Code Activities:

Color coding helps to distinguish between different kinds of activities.

For instance:

- Time devoted to goals and priorities could be blue.
- Time for self could be green.
- Email time could be white.

The possibilities are endless, but the point is to consider how to harness the power of planning in your week.

And remember, creating your Best Week Ever is like setting up a financial budget - but for time.

You decide in advance how to allocate your time, which activities you will invest it in, and what the boundaries are.

Let's create it:

I've built a free template for you to use here.

Click the link above. It's a view-only Google Sheet.

If you're already logged into Google, you can choose to download the file [File > Download] or save a copy [File > Save a Copy].

If you're not logged into Google or don't have an account just download the file. [File > Download]

Now, make it yours:

- Start with defining your daily themes if you have them - i.e. Mondays theme, Tues theme
- Segment the day into focus areas - i.e. Self, work, family, etc.
- And color code if you'd like - i.e. grey areas free & flexible

You can unmerge cells using the down arrow button to the right of the merge button.

To merge other cells, select multiple adjacent cells and click the merge button.

Remember horizontal and vertical alignment options to keep things super crisp. (The two buttons to the right of the merge button above.)

Let's use it:

Schedule a weekly shutdown meeting on Fridays before you end your day.

How did your week go?

Look at the next 2 weeks and make sure they are timeblocked and align with your Best Week Ever.

Read more here about how to structure your weekly shutdown.

When you're ready to put your Best Week Ever to work, delete my instructions at the top of the table (rows 1-12).

And print (if you wish) to align with your digital or paper calendars.

Takeaways

We know we need to set boundaries to avoid reaction mode and live according to plan.

We execute on boundaries by controlling our time.

We control our time by designing our Best Week Ever.

Identify it.
Create it.
Use it.

Challenge for this week - schedule and timeblock 1 hour to create your Best Week Ever. 

Copy the text from this newsletter and place it in the calendar invite with yourself.

Let me know how it goes for you!


See you next week.

Whenever you're ready, there are 3 ways I can help you:


1. Need some guidance? I'm here to help. It's easy to book time with me. Book a 1:1 worksession with me now.


2. Have a topic you want broken down into actionable steps? Send it to me and I'll write about it.

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