There are many things I’d like to change about my schedule, work flow and efficiency.
And I’m a guy who is pretty bent toward such activities, but it’s hard to get on track and even harder to stay there.
I’ve got lots of books on productivity. I read lots of blogs on productivity. And yes, I listen to Erik J. Fisher‘s new podcast Beyond The To-Do List. By the way, it’s a terrific podcast and I enjoy listening to what other people do.
Lately, a few things have compelled me wrestle my schedule to the ground. Again. Seems like I no sooner pin it down…then it gets back up and kicks my butt. Schedules are tough to create and even tougher to keep.
Here are my current motivators:
One, I juggle way too many books at one time. It’s a life long habit, but one that I’d like to change.
Two, and this one is much more difficult…I’d like to figure out a way to schedule better sleep habits. That may not be possible, but I need to try!
Three, I need to produce the podcast and release it the same day (and time) each week. This one is probably the easiest of the three.
Ryan Drean is a Dallas-based radio imaging expert who podcasts at Ryan On The Radio. I’m not in his space, but I enjoy his podcasts. He admits that a sporadic schedule rules his podcasting. Since I use iTunes to catch the podcasts I listen to, it doesn’t much matter to me when folks produce their shows. But it would be nice to hear Ryan more often. Then again, there’s the power of keeping ’em coming back for more.
It brings to mind the two parts of a schedule: a) when we produce, create, build, etc. and b) when we consume, read, watch or listen.
How do YOU consume content? Blogs, podcasts, videos, magazines, books, music, TV…content happens in more formats today than ever before!
Do you use an RSS reader? Do you use a podcast catcher like iTunes or Stitcher?
Do you schedule consumption of stuff or do you just snag it when it arrives (many people do)?
Do you schedule social media?
If you’re in sales, do you schedule making sales calls? If you’re a designer, artist or other creative type – do you wait for inspiration or do you report to work?
So many questions that we all need to spend more time answering. And if you’re like me you need to revisit what you’re currently doing because deep down, you know you could do a better job of managing your schedule (your time, your calendar).
No matter how organized or efficient I may be, it never takes very long before the schedule or process I’ve established is thrown out the window. It’s the nature of entropy. Over time everything decays. Nothing improves over time on its own.
I’ve made up my mind that every 2 weeks I need to re-examine my schedule including when and how I get things done. For me, entropy can begin to rule that quickly so I want to keep knocking it down before it gets back up, fully on its feet and slays me.
What about you?
