When you wear a lot of hats and have a million things on your to-do list it can get overwhelming. Here is how you can effectively schedule your week to maximize productivity and reduce stress.
Before we jump in...
I want to say this before jumping in. It is okay to not have it all together or to not knock out everything on your to-do list. We are all human, we are not perfect. Sometimes we need to give ourselves a little bit of grace. Even as someone who has A LOT of different things going on and effectively schedules their week, there are days where I don’t get everything done and that is okay! Life is all about balance.
How do I balance it all?
I am a mom that wears a lot of hats. Outside of being a mom, I work in higher education, I am in graduate school, I run the largest mom group in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, and I am a blogger & influencer (no they are not the same, no shade lol). Every time I tell someone everything I do, they look at me like I’m crazy and ask how I do it.
First things first, as I said before, I don’t. Most days and weeks I can effectively schedule my week and maximize my productivity, but there are also those days and weeks where my life is a complete shit show. Let’s be honest here, I’m a mom to a toddler, that within itself is a lot to handle. I will not lie and tell you that I don’t have my off days.
Having a lot of things on my plate has made me feel overwhelmed and downright stressed tf out. My traditional to-do lists and time blocking wasn’t working for me as I was trying to get as many things done as possible within a day. That’s when I came up with workgroup scheduling.
What is a workgroup?
A workgroup is a set of similar tasks that you need to get done in a week that you can group together to complete on a specific day.
For example, any task that I need to complete for the week related to cleaning, running errands, and grocery shopping are combined to a workgroup.
You can create workgroups for any type of tasks that you want. Here are some of my workgroups:
- Workgroup One: Household Chores, Errands, Grocery Shopping
- Workgroup Two: Drafting blog posts, creating Pinterest pins for blog posts, anything else needed for blog post
- Workgroup Three: Shoot Content, Edit Content, Plan/Schedule Content
- Workgroup Four: Work on Grad School HW and papers, Read
- Workgroup Five: Schedule Next Week’s tasks, Plan Meals, etc.
Again, you can make your workgroups however you see fit. However, the point of workgroups is to combine similar tasks together so when you are working on these tasks it doesn’t overwhelm you because the tasks are related and flow.
You also add and remove workgroups depending on what you need to get done that week. For example, if we are taking a family trip one week then I will create a workgroup specifically related to packing, purchasing last-minute items, gathering passports, etc.
So I have my workgroups, now what?
Well, this is the easy part. Now that you’ve created your workgroups, you just have to assign them to a specific day of the week. I personally keep my workgroups on the same day every week because it creates a routine for me and I know what to expect each day of the week. However, I know life is crazy and things can change so feel free to plan accordingly.
What I love most about workgroups is that you can complete them when you feel the most productive or when you have the time. For me personally, I have a regular job that I work so I complete my workgroup tasks either early in the morning or after I put my daughter down for bed.
For workgroups that may be more time consuming such as my workgroup one and three, I schedule those on a weekend or on my off day during the week when I have more available time.
I hope you can see how creating workgroups and assigning them to a specific day reduces the need to get everything done at once, feeling disorganized with everything on your plate, and not knowing where to start.
Workgroups for me have tremendously reduced the amount of stress I have when it comes to completing tasks. I hope this can help you to complete tasks a little bit easier and have you less overwhelmed. Now you know how to schedule your week effectively to maximize productivity.
But Wait, There's More!
Come on yall! If you know me well enough you know I am not going to leave you empty-handed. Here is a FREE printable that you can download FOR TODAY ONLY so you start scheduling your workgroups and maximixe productivity!
Awesome post! I currently use Asana and love it’s teams, projects (workgroups) and tasks. It allows me to manage my daily life with efficiency and accuracy. Everyone needs a system that works for them. I love how you mentioned adding a vacation, etc as a workgroup. Now that would truly help so many people to not forget items, their confirmations etc. Thanks so much for sharing
Loved this idea! I’m gonna definitely try this! I never thought to group my tasks in this way . Thank you for the practical tips.
Oh I love this idea so much, Juli! I’m great with planning & listing out what I need to do but execution is my weak area & I never thought to group my tasks like this. I can’t wait to try this next week. Thank you for sharing!
I’ve been doing it all wrong! I plan my days and have certain things for certain days, but they are not similar at all. Keeping them on the same track seems like an easier way to stay in the same flow. Definitely going to try this for the week!
Great tips!! I always seem to forget something when i plan but grupoing task should help with that.