When I work with my Platinum clients, we always devote a few sessions to re-learning time management.
Specifically, I encourage them to sit down at the beginning of each week and plan out their weekly schedule. Not just the appointments and commitments they have to others, but how they plan to use time for themselves, including business activities and personal activities.
This is a practice I learned as a mystery school student, and it’s surprisingly powerful for three reasons:
1. You learn how to command yourself. I often say, “You can only command the Universe as well as you command yourself.” In this attraction-based Universe, you always get what you expect, whether you’re conscious of it or not. Your calendar (how you arrange it and whether you follow it) is evidence of how well your conscious thoughts align with your conscious and unconscious expectations.
If you resist sitting down to pre-plan your schedule or you have trouble following what’s on it, then it’s likely some unconscious patterns are getting in the way – even if the deviations are caused external factors. Committing to this weekly practice anyway, even when you feel like you’re failing miserably at it, might eventually show you what those patterns are.
2. You learn how to command the Universe. Here’s the awesome thing about pre-filling your schedule: Once you’ve done this long enough to consistently follow your schedule, Life will follow suit and fill in your schedule according to what you’ve laid out.
For example, if I create a time block labeled “Discovery Sessions” and I don’t have any inner blocks to getting new clients, my experience shows that someone will book a Discovery Session during that time I’ve set.
The best part of this might be how distractions seem to fade away. Where you used to get constantly distracted by pesky phone calls and messages, now your phone will mysteriously become silent, while you also get better at ignoring what does come in instead of losing focus.
3. You create containers for all your great intuitive ideas and projects. As my clients go through their healing journey with me, their intuition opens one-thousandfold. It starts as soon as we heal their Core Wound and gets amped up again when we clear Trust blocks. But this increase in intuition introduces a new problem: how to manage all the inspired ideas that they’re receiving!
By creating time blocks on your schedule, you’re telling yourself (including your intuition), “This is when I want to focus on ideas about X, this is when I want to take action on ideas about Y, etc.” When your mind knows that there is going to be a time for you to access important ideas, it won’t become anxious about whether everything is going to be taken care of.
Want to create a weekly schedule practice for yourself? Here are a few steps to get you started:
- Look at your calendar right now and choose a day & time at the beginning of each week when you’re going to set your schedule. It works best as a recurring appointment with yourself, because a consistent appointment will eventually become an automatic habit.
- Brainstorm what needs to go on your calendar. This is HUGE. I’ve observed that when schedules fail, it’s because what went on the calendar didn’t match what was in the person’s head that they needed and/or wanted to do. Grab paper and pen or an empty electronic document and title it “Everything I Want to Make Time For.” Then make a list of everything, no matter how big or small, including everyday tasks like brushing your teeth and occasional tasks like day trips. Don’t leave anything out, even if you judge it as unproductive; if you enjoy watching TV or something others might deem wasteful, make time for it. This is your time and your life.
- Group similar activities together. Your calendar won’t need to be scheduled minute-by-minute, because if it’s too detailed then you’re likely to fail at following it, which defeats the purpose. Instead, group together activities that are related and interchangeable (e.g., “brush teeth” and “shower” become “bathroom routine”). Or “business admin activities” becomes an umbrella for marketing, bookkeeping, and other business tasks, while “client time” or “content creation” might be separate.
- Set up time blocks for your activities. I use a lot of recurring events and reminders on my Google calendar for this, knowing that when I sit down each Sunday night, I can always move things around for that week. Of course, anything that requires a specific time, like appointments and meetings, gets treated as it always has.
- Let the process be fluid. It takes several weeks, even months, to figure out a pattern that works for you. For example, some of my clients discover that their schedule is different from week to week because of external commitments, but when they look at the month as a whole, it actually is a recurring pattern. And of course, a vacation likely means that much of your schedule will go (joyfully) out the window!
Need an example? Here’s what my weekly calendar looks like, with time blocks, tasks, and recurring appointments. (Of course I’m not showing actual client appointments for privacy reasons.)
