A Critical End of the Year Life Design Exercise

I could begin this post with another reminder about how crazy 2020 has been for all of us, but let's be honest, every single year of our lives brings with it it's own craziness. Albeit not of the variety we've experienced this year, but truly, life is always handing us adversity.

Additionally, it's always handing us opportunities to reflect and grow.

There is one life design practice that I urge people to do on a semi-regular basis. Maybe 2-3 times per year. Since we're nearing the end of the year, now is a great time to introduce it again. 

The practice is a calendar audit.

What is a calendar audit?

A calendar audit is where we set aside a couple of hours to literally flip through the last 6ish months of our calendar, day-by-day, week-by-week, month-by-month.

It's our time to reflect on a few things:

• How we spent our time
• Who we spent our time with
• What was working
• What wasn't
• How we can improve

Simply the act of looking back through your digital or physical calendar can be enlightening, but I suggest following a semi-structured path to truly make the most out of it.

Let's dive in!

Step 1 - Schedule your calendar audit ON YOUR CALENDAR!

For many of us, if it's not on our calendar, it doesn't happen. Competing responsibilities and other people invade the space we intended to use, and we find ourselves lacking the time and space we need to accomplish something like this.

Schedule 2 hours on your calendar sometime in the next 3-4 weeks to allow you to move through this process. 

Step 2 - Gather your supplies

You'll need a few things:

• Your calendar (physical or digital)
• Post-it notes
• Your favorite pen or Sharpie marker
• A good playlist. Here's one we like.

Step 3 - Log what's there

Choose the chunk of time you're going to audit. I recommend starting with the last 6 months, but you can flex depending upon what feels right for you.

Flip through your calendar, day-by-day, and write each 'thing' you do on its own Post-it note. For example:

• Morning routines
• Morning responsibilities
• Commuting
• Reoccurring meetings
• Client meetings
• Team meetings
• Sporting events
• Volunteer work
• Evening responsibilities

Obviously, these are just a few to get you thinking. The goal is to have a big stack of Post-it notes that, more or less, comprise your activities (big and small) over the last 6 months (or whatever time period you're working with).

Step 4 - Log what's not there

Now, ask yourself this: what's not on my calendar that should be? What's not there that I'd like to be there? What's missing?

Write each of those things down on their own Post-it note.

For many of us, this might be things like:

• Exercise
• Self-care
• Hobbies
• Relaxation / pure leisure time

In a perfect world, what activities would be on your calendar that weren't really there over the last 6 months?

Step 5 - Chunk it up

Go back to that stack of Post-it notes you created in Step 3. Start chunking them together into categories.

Maybe all work-related stuff goes to one side, and all kid-related stuff goes on another pile. Maybe inside your 'work pile' you have sub-piles for 'leadership & team' and 'hands-on work.' These are just examples.

Get creative, sort and re-sort. Try to find categories of activities that appeared on your calendar during the last 6 months.

Step 6 - Analyze

As you look at the piles, one-by-one, ask yourself these questions with radical honesty:

• How absolutely necessary were these activities?
• Did they drive value for me or for someone else?
• How aligned to my values were these activities?
• How passionate am I about these activities?
• How much energy does each activity take?
• What skills does each activity rely on?
• In a perfect world, which activities would I eliminate or delegate?
• Is there a change I could make to improve these activities?

Step 7 - Redesign

Once you've analyzed your activities, let's start planning out how they'd ideally happen. 

Consider the following:

• Which activities should 'go together' on your calendar because they require the same skills? Chunking similar activities eliminates 'context switching,' which can zap you of your effectiveness.
• Which activities require the most energy? Try placing those activities during the time of day when you actually have the most energy. Maybe you're a morning person. Maybe you're a night owl. Keep it in mind!
• Aim for a balance of activities that benefits others, as well as yourself. Look at that set of activities you generated in Step 4. Some of these should appear on your 'ideal schedule,' alongside everything you're doing to benefit others.

Step 8 - Create your 'ideal calendar'

Step 7 likely will require some iteration. Post-it notes are amazing because you can stick and restick them until you come up with a game plan that actually looks like it would work.

Now it's time to create your 'ideal calendar.' 

Ideally, what would your week look like? Begin by slotting in the things you have zero control over. For example, if your kids have to be dropped off at school at a certain time, put it in first. Let's make reality our friend and get the uncontrollables out of the way and onto our new calendar.

WARNING: Sometimes, items will seem like they're out of your control when, in fact, they just require a straight-forward conversation and a new boundary. Push yourself to be honest about whether things are actually out of your control.

Now, use the results of your analysis to create the rest of your ideal calendar. For example, if your hands-on work takes the most energy and you're a morning person, try to schedule meetings in the afternoons to leave your mornings open for work time.

If you need time to wrap up your day before going home, but that wasn't happening during the last 6 months, schedule it in. 

Schedule blocks of time for chunks of similar activities.

Be honest about distractions like email and social media. Perhaps they need their own time slot.

Our goal is to get the ideal state down on paper, so we've got something to shoot for. In reality, you won't hit it 100%, but wow, an aligned 80% is so much better than a haphazard, unintentional schedule!!

Step 9 - Create some rules

Now look at your ideal week, and jot down some 'general rules' that, if you follow them, you'll bring your calendar closer to your ideal. 

Here are a few examples:

• I'm most productive in the morning so, as a general rule, I only have meetings in the afternoons.
• I have a big writing project this year, so as a general rule, Tuesdays and Fridays are devoted to writing.
• My email inbox is a frequent distraction, so as a general rule, I only check email twice per day now during my designated times.

I hope you get the picture. What rules do you want to encourage yourself to follow in order to get closer to your ideal week?

Step 10 - Iterate and adjust!

The final step in any life design activity is always the same: iterate and adjust as you go. 

What you create during this 2-hour calendar audit session is your best guess at what will work for you. Adjust as you go with the goal of continuing to iterate toward a calendar that works well for you.

You only get one life, and the intention you put into designing your life will impact how much enjoyment, satisfaction, and meaning you get out of it.