Episode #11 Schedule Your Priorities

Often we neglect the important tasks in life because we let the things that feel more urgent get in the way. This week, Dr. Michael Brown and Dan Costello unpack principles and practices that will help you take control of your schedule.

Show Notes

If you don’t schedule your priorities, somebody else will schedule them for you.
Dan Costello

Three Problems

  • The tasks that we perceive as most urgent tend to crowd out the tasks that are truly most important.
  • If we fail to schedule our priorities, our calendars will not reflect what we consider most important.
  • Our schedules are more likely to be disrupted by our own choices than by circumstances outside of our control.

Three Principles

  • Time management has little to do with managing our time and everything to do with managing our lives.
  • If our lives feel out of control, we have likely allowed them to become that way.
  • Scheduling our priorities is always worth our time, and it actually creates more margin for spontaneity.

Three Practices

  • Set aside time every seven days to reflect on the week behind you and to prepare for the week ahead of you.
  • Write a personal mission statement and funeral journal that will guide the way you schedule your time.
  • Schedule meetings with yourself and create events in your calendar with titles like “Think” and “Plan.”