Rough Sketch Your Days
During my senior year of high school I came in contact with a very impactful mentor who taught me all about performing at a high level, in all facets of life. He gave me tools to put my words into action. He opened my eyes to a world full of opportunity. One of the tools he introduced me to was scheduling out your days in order to be as productive as possible, so when your head hits the pillow at night you are at peace with what you invested your time in and took advantage of opportunities.
My senior year of high school was a year defined by productivity, and shaped by setting intentions. Scheduling out my days was a huge help in getting the most out of my days. As time went on, and I started my journey in college, I started to get away from the habits which had set me up for success previously. The most impactful habit I stopped investing time into was scheduling out my days. I told myself that it put too much pressure on myself because I would become obsessed with matching my schedule down to the minute, and if I didn’t, my day was ruined. Part of this story in my head was true, I did indeed become obsessed with mirroring the schedule I laid out for myself, and my days were sometimes ruined because of a hiccup in the schedule that I didn’t account for. So I stopped for a while, until recently.
With time, I realized there was some immaturity affiliated with my obsession around matching my schedule to a T. I realized that I am in charge of my schedule at the end of the day, regardless of what I did or didn’t account for on paper. Now, I approach my schedule as more of a rough sketch. I prioritize three or four things a day and schedule those things out with a rough time to accomplish them. The rest of my day is geared towards rolling with the punches. I also edit my schedule throughout the day because there is no amount of planning that can prevent life from happening. Something will always come up, and you know it.
Creating and accomplishing your days rough sketch is such a rewarding feeling. I now realize, when I don’t plan, I am just going through the motions, and life doesn’t feel as rewarding. I encourage you to start by scheduling two tasks that are a priority, just two. Once completing two tasks a day becomes like a walk in the park, turn it up a little, until your rough sketch starts to become more filled in. Celebrate the small wins of accomplishing those two tasks a day, they will turn into bigger and more fulfilling wins. Remember that life will happen, and your day will be thrown off, so what? You can think on the fly.
With Love,
Luke
