Life is crazy. Life is chaotic. Life can feel like you are putting out fires one after another. I once heard it like this: You are given a plate. This plate holds all your roles and responsibilities. Some leaders can handle a lot, while others not so much. All depends on the plate size. As a leader, wouldn’t you want a larger plate?

An Ideal Week can increase your plate size.

How do you increase your Plate Size?

Take charge of your day/week/month so you are productive and feel like you have accomplished something of value.

Wake up each day with purpose and a priority list of goals

Create a schedule that demands your very best without Burn Out.

Make an ideal week

Michael Hyatt states: “You have a choice in life. You can either live on-purpose, according to a plan you’ve set. Or you can live by accident, reacting to the demands of others. The first approach is proactive; the second reactive.”

A few years back my mentor Dave Kraft introduced me to an Ideal Week - A way to be more proactive. It is important and productive to have a game plan you can come back to when you lose course. An Ideal Week is your compass.

The ideal week is a visual of how you would like to use your time. In reality you are never really able to follow the schedule perfectly, however, you now have a game plan.

Here’s mine:

This keeps me balanced. You can find my focus areas on the bottom of the spreadsheet.

When I feel out of “whack” or unbalanced, I look at my ideal week. I will make adjustments to the seasons of life I find myself in. It is simple. An excel spreadsheet and I added color.

Interested in the Ideal Week.

Click here to download a blank copy (.xls)

Click here for a Google Drive copy

Get started on your own and let the productivity begin!

Conclusion

- I have coached/mentored college athletes who have put their class schedule in their ideal week and when they were going to study, go out, sleep, and workout.

- I have coached/mentored business professionals who wanted to make better time when they traveled and when they were working out of the house.

- I have coached/mentored pastors that desire to be more effective in their ministries and can give everyone the time they are asking for.

- I have coached/mentored teachers and coaches who wish to end their day feeling like they didn’t waste any time.

People count on you. This is just a tool. A means to an end. I personally don’t like my life as a template, however there is great value in routine, structure, and discipline. Time is a non-renewable resource. You only get so much of it. Use it wisely. Make an Ideal Week.