What Gets Scheduled Gets Done

Take a moment and pop up your work calendar. Glance at it, and you can quickly scan your commitments. A client call here, a team meeting there… Do the same with your personal calendar, and at a glance, you’ll be able to see all of the places you’re committed to be. Family in town on Tuesday, dentist appointment on Friday…

Our calendars provide a window into our commitments. Show me your calendar, and in a matter of minutes, I can tell you what you value based in where you spend your time.

Here’s the challenge… Often, our calendars are missing our most important commitments.

I am committed to working out – but is it on my calendar?

I am committed to journaling – but is it on my calendar?

I am committed to thinking about the vision for our business – but is it on my calendar?

I am committed to investing time with my friends – but is it on my calendar?

Ask me, and I’ll tell you that these commitments matter to me. Many are tied to my goals. In the rush of life, though, they’re often the things that get set aside, pushed out by other distractions.

“What gets scheduled gets done.” Michael Hyatt talks about this in Living Forward: A Proven Plan to Stop Drifting and Get the Life You Want. Doing the things you claim are the most important begins with blocking out time for them. Skip this simple step, scheduling time on your calendar, and these personal and professional commitments will get missed.

The solution? Make appointments with yourself and your commitments, and treat them like the other professional and personal commitments you’re already showing up for. If these things are priorities, treat them that way. It may require you to get more clear on your core values and what you say “yes” and “no” to, but if you block this time and hold yourself accountable to it, you’ll be on your way to the kind of life you want.

Call-to-Action

Open your calendar, pick one area to commit to, and schedule some time with yourself or the people you care about most. Then, protect those commitments and that blocked time aggressively, or the drifting will continue.