A year ago, it was Tuesday afternoon. I was sitting at my desk looking at my Google calendar. It was full of meetings, deadlines, calls, and backlogged tasks. Suddenly I remembered that my son’s birthday was coming up that weekend and I still hadn’t made any plans for it. Right then I felt something was off. I had everything in my calendar except life itself. That day I decided that instead of planning based on tasks, I would design my week based on my true values.
What is the difference between an ideal week and a regular schedule?
From task‑orientation to value‑orientation
A regular weekly schedule is like a shopping list: you have to do this task, then that one, then… But no one asks whether these tasks actually give meaning to life or just exhaust us. Research shows that task‑based planning usually leads to feelings of pressure and dissatisfaction [12]. But the ideal week I experienced is the opposite. First I ask myself: what values matter to me? Then I set a time block for each value during the week. For example: family, spirituality, learning, exercise. These blocks are like appointments with beloved guests; I don’t cancel them.
A practical exercise that changed my life
Take a piece of paper and line up the seven days of the week
The first time I did this exercise, I told myself it’s just the old planner. But I was wrong. I took a sheet of paper, wrote the days in rows and the hours in columns. Before filling in the table, I asked myself: what are my core values? I answered: family, health, learning, spirituality. Then I set a fixed time block for each one during the week. Sunday evening two hours for family, Tuesday morning one hour for exercise, Thursday evening one hour for studying, Friday morning two hours for prayer and silence [13]. I treated these blocks as golden appointments. No meeting or work request could disrupt them. After that, I assigned the remaining time to daily routines and essential tasks. The result? After a few weeks, I no longer felt that guilt or sense of falling behind. Because I knew that during the week I had attended to the most important parts of my life.
Don’t forget flexibility
The ideal week is not a prison
Once it happened that I couldn’t go to the gym on Tuesday morning. At first I was very upset. But then I learned that the ideal week is a goal, not a prison. On days you fall behind schedule, don’t blame yourself. Let go of that day and start fresh the next day. What matters is that the overall rhythm of your week is based on your values, not that every second goes exactly according to plan [14]. Also leave some empty space. Don’t fill your head so much that there’s no room to breathe. Leave one entire day completely free, or at least a few hours each week with no plan at all. Those are the hours when the best things sometimes happen.
References
[12] Lakein, A. (1973). How to Get Control of Your Time and Your Life. New York: P.H. Wyden.
[13] Covey, S. R. (1989). The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. New York: Simon & Schuster.
[14] Vanderkam, L. (2016). Off the Clock: Feel Less Busy While Getting More Done. New York: Portfolio.
