"What are you doing later today?" he asked.
It was Sunday. He had spent countless Sunday afternoons with me. He should know what I do on Sunday.
"Putting my life together." I replied.
"I figured. Just seeing if you were going to break the habit."
"Nope."
The Sunday Ritual
It's taken me a few years and a half-dozen methods, but I've finally figured out how to organize my life in a way that enables me to get all my work done in a few short hours, keep a strong handle on my finances and investments, connect with readers, and spend a good chunk of time hanging out with family, going out to eat with friends, catching matinee movies, training, and reading.
Instead of succumbing to time-famine and feeling overworked or frustrated, I've learned to plan nearly every part of my day to become more effective and less stressed while allowing myself tons of "guilt-free" time to do whatever the hell I want.
Here's how I did it.
Whoa. Hold on. You mean you plan everything?
Pretty much, yeah. I mean, I don't get down to ridiculous details and plan things like "get coffee", but I do plan schedules for brainstorming and writing articles, phone-calls, e-mail, writing my blog, training, and free time.
Why the hell do you do that?
Because all of it gets done incredibly well and incredibly fast without any second-guessing, forgetting, or procrastination. In fact, it's 10:49 AM on Tuesday right now and I'm half-way through my work day. And I have a plan for exactly what's happening the rest of today. (In case you're wondering, I have a phone call with Biotest CEO Tim Patterson, and I plan on answering e-mail, brainstorming my next series of articles on T-Nation.com, grabbing lunch with friends, reading a few chapters of a finance book, playing ping-pong, and making dinner with my girlfriend.)
I think you'll find that once you start planning your life and writing down what you want to happen, it'll be a lot easier to actually live it.
OK, so what's your strategy and how can I start?
I have three whiteboards (one big, one medium, and one small) where I plan my life. They cost about $10-20 bucks apiece.
The Big Board
My big board is where I write my main goals and values that shape everything else I do. While these aren't set in stone, I rarely erase anything or add anything to it. Here are a few examples of what's on my big board:
- Personal goals and specific steps to maintain my relationships, learn new things, get out of my comfort zone, and gain better control over myself and my actions.
- Financial goals like how much money I want to save, invest, and spend.
- Professional goals like becoming a better writer and marketer.
The Medium Board
This is where I plan my week. At the top I have my "general work goals" which is a series of guidelines I try to follow every day. They include certain times to check e-mail, take breaks, and when to pack it up for the day.
I also write out Monday - Friday and write down what I need to have done on each day. I don't get too specific, but write just enough to know what I need to accomplish.
A sample day might look like this:
Wednesday:
Brainstorm interview questions and send to Berardi. Phone conference with Biotest. Outline article. Get a haircut. Training at 4PM.
The Small Board
This is where I write my daily schedule. It's the ultra-specific board.
A sample day may look like this:
Wednesday:
9AM - Breakfast
10AM - First e-mail and site check. (I'll usually check out my blog, Facebook, Twitter, and T-Nation after checking my two e-mail accounts.)
11AM - Write questions for Berardi and e-mail to set up interview. Grab snack.
11:45 - Phone conference
12:30- Lunch
1:30 - Outline article
2:30- Second e-mail check
3:00 - Plan tomorrow's schedule
3:30 - Haircut appointment
4:30 - Gym
6:00 - No more computer time. Read, hang out, and have fun!
Wrap-Up
It may not work for every one, but planning my day while focusing on long-term goals (big board), weekly goals (medium board), and daily goals (small board) has made a huge difference in my productivity and happiness.
Give it a shot and let me know your results!
And if you have any other organization ideas or tricks you use, please post them below!
Posted May 05, 2009 by .
This entry is filed under organization and lifestyle.
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Comments for This Entry
Nate- Great post. Keep up the good work
i follow a similar pattern, except I use my phone as the smallest board (since I'm outside my office a whole lot).
Good stuff, and good advice. I tend to make a lot of lists when I need to get things done. My lists end up being huge, with fun stuff on there too. I do plan out my days in google calendar, and try to find a rhythm for a given week.
But it's now officially summer, and I have nothing to do but eat, practice guitar, lift heavy shit and read.
-CD
Whiteboards, now that's a better idea. Thousands of post it notes tend to get lost or ignored. Google calendar is a good medium board, and it has email reminders for those who are always online.
By the way, I like the looks of the new site.
Good article as usual. If you look at the heart of it though, you are really just taking the sage old advice of writing down your goals and putting them somewhere you see them regularly. Your method just happens to be whiteboards. I am an absolute geek and prefer spreadsheets.
On a side note, your schedule looks pretty cake. lol. I TRY to do all of that stuff (though not with high profile people like JB and TP) and have an awesome 9 hour block of time called "a job". Haha, that thing keeps getting in the way of my true happiness.
I use a full-length mirror as my whiteboard. The marker erases completely without leaving a mark and I have no excuse not to check it regularly (because, let's face it, we all admire ourselves our reflection. Right…? RIGHT…?!)
I agree with Dave (on the job part, not the speadsheet). Most of us are doing the typical 8-5 or some 9 hour block of time, and THEN we cram all the other stuff you (Nate) do after noon (based on the your example schedule).
Nate, think your book would be any benefit for someone who is engaged, your age, and just finished a version of Waterbury's TBT? I'm looking for something new...
Pretty good plan. I might have to adopt that considering my planner seems to get a little old or I end up losing the did the mirror trick for a while, til the roommate got pissed about it.
In regards to financial organization, I follow the Dave Ramsey plan.
For every paycheck (twice a month for me), I get a sheet of paper and put three columns on it.
The first column has whatever expenses (food, gas, cell, 'fun' money, etc). The second column has the individual cost for that expense, the third column is a running total of all the expenses combined.
Once I get through everything I plan to spend my money on, I enter subtract my paycheck amount and usually come up with a negative amount (i.e. $500 in expenses -$1000 paycheck=-$500). That money goes towards paying off debt or saving. I'll immediately 'spend' that excess first, that way I am forced to stick to my budget.
Past that, I have a board with my workout/school/work/cooking schedule.
Thanks for the comments guys. If there's enough interest, I'll do a more in-depth post about how I keep track of finances and how I save and invest.
-Nate
You should just buy a blackberry...It takes up less space. :)
jk...great work bro.
HeyNate - love your site and blog. What I would really like is more info on is how you plan your meals and how detail you get. I get my food planned on Sunday for Monday to Sunday but by Wed I start to lose track and then I eat ingredients I need for a later in the week recipe etc. Do you plan your drinks and food for everyday and put it on the board??
IRT David:
You should cook 3 days or so worth of meals on Monday, then cook the rest of your meals on Thursday. That might help cut back on the random cooking of ingredients.
@ Trevor
Post-it notes are a pain in the ass. I actually transfer part of my schedule to an index card if I'm heading out to work at a cafe or something.
@ Dave and Ryan
I hear you guys. When I owned my personal training studio, trained 10+ clients per day, started writing for magazines, and began putting together a book proposal, I was in the same boat.
Luckily my schedule with T-Nation requires me to be effective and work on my own terms which is great for productivity.
@ David
I don't usually write my meals down although I'm sure it'll help if you're just starting to get in the habit of healthy eating with a purpose (i.e. gaining muscle).
-Nate
Great post Nate. Think I might have to adopt a similar schedule. Keep up the good work and I would be interested in seeing how you plan your finances and save.
Great post as always Nate. I'd be interested in how you keep track of your finances. I make it a point on Sunday plan dinners for the week and chop vegetables so I can make a quick salad before going to work.
Great post! And yes, in fact, I would be quite interested in hearing how you manage things like finances. It never hurts to get a fresh perspective and pick up a few ideas, especially considering my own youth and inexperience.
Me thinks I'll have to adopt your dry erase board method of schedule keeping. Seems rather easy to follow. How I never thought of this, I don't know.
Nate,
Great site. I like the new look. I think the boards would be a great way to stay organized. I need all the help I can get there. I would be interested in the investing ideas you have. I'm always looking for ways to save money and make my money work better for me. Thanks.
The big board is what's missing in my life. I'm impressed that you have such of sense of direction for yourself. The second thing I'm impressed with is how you can plan your day in a way that gets real balance. Most of us spend the majority of our day working for someone else. I don't have a 9-5 job. I have a 9-8 job (when I'm lucky). My job is one that many people want, it pays well but they extract every dollar of value out of me, and it makes the parents proud. But if I were to create my own "big board" I'd probably confirm my suspicions that this isn't what I want out of life.
So, I'm going to save up for a year or two, get some experience on someone else's dime, and then be an entrepreneur. And if the opportunity comes sooner, I'll take it. Doing my own thing will require that I'm a lot more organized and self-directed. That's where this article really put things in perspective for me. Thanks Nate!
Hey Nate,
Nice post! I've just recently been on a massive phase of organizing my life, and your post came at just the right time.
I'm just about to go off and go get myself some white boards, seems suited to how I work.
Something that's definitely helped me, especially for my school work, is having an in/out tray. Well, two of them.
The bottom one is for everything that needs sorting. If I bring it back from school, gym or anything, I shove it in there. Because of the size of it, it will eventually run out of room; which forces me to sort it.
The top one, is for all my 'works in progress'. Any assignments, assessments, projects, things-to-do, whatever... all go in here. This means that I constantly have a visual representation of what I need to get done. I can look down and say 'holy shit that's alot, better get started', or feel better about it like 'hell yeah, it's empty!'.
I just need to use your whiteboard tips to help me organize myself better.
Thanks once again!
Nate, are you the only guy who works for T-Nation...? 5 articles on the homepage are written by you. Maybe we should call it NateGreen-Nation?
@ Jake
I think that's a great way to start, man. I'd buy a big board and write out your "big" goals. What sounds fun?
If you haven't already, you should read The Four Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss. Lots of great tips and motivation.
Right now is also a perfect time to save. I'd start taking a look at high-interest bank accounts like ING Direct Orange savings and maybe opening a Roth IRA. You should be able to build a nice nest of savings over the next year or two as you plan your escape.
-Nate
HSBC Direct is another good online savings account. Bankrate.com is a good source for comparing most anything having to do with financial matters. Anyone else riding the BofA train right now? I got in a $5 a while ago and look at it go!
Checkingfinder.com is a great website as well. It lists banks/credit unions in your area that have high interest checking accounts.
Nate,
Thanks! I opened an HSBC Direct account and a Roth IRA this year. I'm putting a lot of money into retirement right now by maxing out 401(k) and my Roth - probably a third of my income. It's a lot of short term hurt, to be honest, for gain that won't come for decades ahead... but I figured I'd do it now while the market is weak and while I'm still working for the man.
I've been meaning to check out the Four Hour Work Week. I'll do it. I'm skeptical, to be honest, but the idea is tempting. Besides, if I can even get down to a 30 or 40 hour workweek, I'll be way ahead of where I am today.
@Jake
I don't think the title is literal (although I'm sure there are some guys doing it.) It's more about maximizing your time and effectiveness.
-Nate
How do you look at older blogs? Besides the recent ones.
Nate, did you get a promotion? i see your a contributing editor for t-nation now and not just a staff writer! congrats if you did!
I like to plan my day, and weeks, in my head while i walk each morning. I've found that I can be more productive if i mentally sort out and prioritize what I want to achieve prior to actually fitting it all together withing a time frame. The fresh air and sunshine also helps wake up and energize for the day! Since walking is pretty lame, and quite boring, it helps pass the time. It's also a good time to dream big and think about goals you want to achieve in the future, or brood over something that's been pissing you off for a while. Or more simply you can use the time to remind yourself how much of a badass you'll be deadlifting 500+ for reps later in the day...
Nate awesome post!
I suck at planning, I procrastinate alot and I feel like weeks are just going by and I'm not getting shit done!
This has actually motivated me to get my shit together and start propelling forward rather then sitting in one spot a.k.a. my comfort zone.
If you can, please do another post on how you manage/plan your finances.
Thanks
Ruslan
@ Ryan
To look at older entries go to the main blog page and look toward the bottom. You'll see a button marked "older entries" right next the the "recent entries".
Here's a link:
http://thenategreenexperience.com/blog/category/recent/2/
-Nate
Nate,
Any new books that you've recently read that you recommend? I'm trying to read at least one book a week...
Thanks
Nate, great post. I am late to getting everything read in my RSS reader. I really appreciate your approach to planning.
I myself use a regular notebook and just write out my tasks for the day on the night before. Once I get something done I just make a line through it. It''s very gratifying to look at a set of tasks and be able to cross them off one by one. A sense of accomplishment can be achieved in the smallest of things.
Good stuff, I do the same, but with only 1 big board, rest is on index cards.
Yes to the more with investing, etc.
Hey Nate;
I have been trying this whiteboard system of yours for about 2 weeks now and I have to say it is awesome. i am amazed at the number of things I am able to get done and how easy and convenient these white boards are.
Thanks man keep up the good work
Dpak
I really like this whiteboard system. I bought a larger one to start organizing and setting daily goals, but I really like the idea of having a small one to map out the day more than anything.
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