How do you make a time schedule?

17 of February, 2021

Do you wish there were more than 24 hours in a day? Do you constantly feel pressed for time? Do you have trouble organising your team’s workload? Then what you need is a well-thought-out time schedule. Indeed, a schedule will help you make time for your professional and personal tasks. In this article, we explain how to make a time schedule for your team or for yourself step by step.

Why bother with a time schedule?

A time schedule is your best ally if you want to be organised and productive at work, while having time to live your personal life to the fullest. With a schedule, you can make sure that you and your team do what needs to be done when it needs to be done. You will also increase productivity at work and limit procrastination. This will ensure that you meet your daily and weekly goals, and, with time, your long-term objectives.

A good time schedule also tackles your personal goals and helps you stick to healthy habits. For instance, if you would like to meditate when you wake up but never find the time, then organising your morning by allocating a certain amount of time to meditation will make it easier to meet this goal. What’s more, following a time schedule will ensure that you get the rest you need and lower your stress levels, thus ensuring that you stay healthy and full of energy.

How to make a time schedule?

Write down all your tasks

Don’t worry about which task is more important or more urgent just yet. Just write down everything that needs to be done by your and your team. Also include the tasks that are related to your personal life: you will need to add them to your personal schedule.

Specify each task’s frequency

Determine if a task must be completed every day, every week or several times a week. This will come in handy when you establish your weekly schedule.

Determine priorities

To do so, you can organise all the tasks according to these categories: important and urgent, important but not urgent, urgent but not important, and not urgent nor important.

Estimate the time needed to complete each task

If you’re not sure how much time a task requires, you can ask more experienced professionals who also have to deal with it, or write down the time needed for a similar task. Always plan for some contingency time: quite often, you will need more time than planned to do a job, especially when you first start using your schedule.

Group similar tasks together

Group together the tasks that require the same tools or mindset, or happen in the same place. For instance, you can plan a time of the day where you make all your calls, whether they are to clients, business partners or suppliers. This will ensure optimal efficiency.

Organise your tasks in a chart

This can be a daily or a weekly chart, depending on your needs. Rather than creating an hourly schedule, organise your tasks in loose blocks, for instance: morning, midday, afternoon, and evening. Make sure to use a tool that makes it easy for you to plan tasks and track their progress. Sesame’s task planning allows you to assign tasks to your team members, check who is working on what, and even control the profitability of your projects.

Remain flexible

Life can be unpredictable and you should be able to adapt to unforeseen circumstances. By not planning your days too strictly, you will not get behind schedule every time something unexpected happens.

Review your time schedule

Your first attempt at a time schedule will not be perfect. Some tasks will require more or less time than you estimated. You will realise that there is a better way to group assignments. So don’t hesitate to make adjustments to your schedule.

Looking for more tips to manage your time more effectively? Check out these time management strategies you must know.