Combining work and home, managing a team and several projects, you risk encountering difficulties — missed important tasks, mistakes, forgotten meetings, and burning deadlines — therefore, unnecessary stress and problems with mental health.
To avoid all this and achieve the set goals, it is crucial to wisely manage our most important resource — time. And not only within a single day — but also within a week.
Weekly Plans and the Franklin's Pyramid
One of the American Founding Fathers, Benjamin Franklin, devised a system that helped him to rationally use resources and methodically move towards a goal. The essence can perfectly descripted by the motto of the pirate Francis Drake: Sic Parvis Magna, 'Greatness from small beginnings.'
A large goal is broken down into smaller ones, and those into even smaller ones — through such decomposition, a pyramid of tasks is formed, the completion of which leads to the achievement of a large goal.
At the bottom are the main life needs, and at the top are the daily plans.
If we consider such a pyramid as a way to achieve success, it seems to contradict itself. After all, moving towards a goal, we ascend to the top, not descend.
In this staircase-pyramid version of the pyramid, at the top are the main life values; then come the global goals; followed by a master plan for achieving them; next is the long-term plan (for several years); short-term (from a week to a month) and at the very bottom is the daily plan, on which everything is based.
Franklin's pyramid is more of a philosophical concept: the basis of your success is global goals for development, and on this foundation, you build everything else. Every day and decision of yours.
I know many people who meticulously schedule their day and feel in control. But living by the day, you don't see the whole picture. You don't understand in which direction to develop. Earlier, I wanted to learn to draw, but globally, it was a problem for Future-Nadya. I, Present-Nadya, did something, but made no plans to achieve this goal.
Now I know: when there is a goal but no direction of movement and plan for a slightly longer period than a day, achieving anything is very difficult.
The other extreme are people who set goals for the month and then immediately switch to daily plans. With a likelihood close to 100%, the goal drifts away from them, although they do something every day. The long-term plan is too far away — it provides a general idea of where to go but is too flexible and changeable to rely on in the short term.
Therefore, you can't do without a plan for the week. A short-term plan helps not only to be aware of current tasks but also to see the whole picture. Weekly planning provides space for analysis and working on mistakes, thus reducing the risk of new problems arising next week.
Let's be honest: scheduling all tasks for the week can be very tedious (perhaps the only downside), especially initially and if discipline isn't your strong suit. It requires developing a habit. But when you feel your efficiency increasing, it motivates you to continue.
The two most significant benefits of weekly planning are:
- At the end of each week, you can analyze what was done, what wasn’t done, and why — such regular self-analysis allows you to optimize your work and speed up the task resolution process.
- There's no need to rush into all tasks at once, get nervous, and make mistakes due to being overwhelmed — you clearly understand what needs to be done during the week to achieve a micro-goal.
How to build weekly plans: 5 principles
Define Goals
Each week should bring you closer to your overarching goal. Decide what results and weekly goals will help you progress.
List All Tasks
Then, list all tasks that will help achieve your weekly goals. There can be many goals and tasks. Next, distribute the tasks across the days: first those where timing is important (events, studies, meetings), then tasks not tied to specific times (fitness, hanging out with friends, minor work tasks, etc.).
Focus on the Priority
When you've distributed the tasks across the days, choose the most important ones to focus on. Ideally, to avoid burning out and worrying if you don't complete everything, there should be no more than two.
Postpone What You Didn't Finish
Weekly planning isn't a "survival race". The plan is meant to make your life easier and reduce stress, not increase it. Don't try to do everything at once. If it's not working out or you're running out of strength, postpone the task to another day or week.
Analyze Successes and Failures
At the end of the week, review everything that was done according to plan. This is a great opportunity to pinpoint all problems, optimize your work, make plans considering past failures, and find new hypotheses for solutions. I allocate half an hour on Sunday evenings for this task and advise you to do the same.
Stick to these principles, and everything will be great!
If you want to achieve goals and increase personal efficiency, try not to do everything at once and strain your nervous system. Systematic and sequential work is crucial.
Instead, take some time to create a plan for the week. This way, you'll look at tasks strategically, identify problem areas, and find the best solution.
To make it easier to work with tasks and build plans, I recommend using digital tools. The task manager WEEEK is perfectly suited for managing tasks and weekly planning — that's exactly why we created it.
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