I got a question about how I organize my schedule last week. How do I keep five blogs, one magazine, and a stock photo site going—while still finding time to write books? So I thought I’d write a super practical post and give you a glimpse of how I keep track of my to-do list.
I use a free program called Wunderlist that syncs up my computer’s list with my phone’s list. I keep track of every single task in this software.
At the end of each week, I put together my whole list for the week. I stack all of my weekly activities on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. This leaves Thursday and Friday almost completely open. (I add a few tasks from pet projects like writing and developing new business ideas.) I find by Wednesday, I’ve already added a bunch of tasks to Thursday and Friday—because things just seem to come up during the week. Those last two open days give me quite a bit of margin so I don’t have to stress myself out.
Then I try to do my tasks in batches. I’ll post four stage designs at a time, or post two worship sets in a row. WordPress (my blogging platform) allows me to schedule my posts so I can create them ahead of time.
My typical Monday-Wednesday looks like this:
Monday
- Post 2 Worship Set Ideas
- Post 5 Sermon Series Ideas
- Post 7 Photos on Mopho.to
- Schedule 4 Tweets for @sundaymagtv (in Buffer App)
- Write 1 blog for JonathanMalm.com
- Create weekly blogging ideas email
- Assign one Sunday| Mag article
- Assign one graphic design for Sunday| Mag
- Lay out one article for Sunday| Mag
- Write one chapter in _______ book.
- Edit one chapter in _______ (different) book.
Tuesday
- Post 4 Stage Design Ideas
- Post 7 Photos to Mopho.to
- Schedule 4 Tweets for @sundaymagtv
- Write 1 blog for JonathanMalm.com
- Create weekly stage design tip email
- Renew advertiser
- Write 1 funny post
- Assign one Sunday| Mag article
- Assign one graphic design for Sunday| Mag
- Lay out one article for Sunday| Mag
- Write one chapter in _______ book.
- Edit one chapter in _______ (different) book.
Wednesday
- Post 4 Stage Design Ideas
- Post 7 Photos to Mopho.to
- Schedule 2 Tweets for @sundaymagtv
- Write 1 blog for JonathanMalm.com
- Assign an article for CSDI
- Write new song/article for SeriesIdeas or WorshipSetIdeas
- Assign one Sunday| Mag article
- Assign one graphic design for Sunday| Mag
- Lay out one article for Sunday| Mag
- Write one chapter in _______ book.
- Edit one chapter in _______ (different) book.
This isn’t a comprehensive list whatsoever. But it gives you a glimpse of what I do each week. These items recur. So as soon as I check them off, they’re automatically added back in for next week. I also have monthly and bi-weekly tasks that recur.
So that’s my method. It keeps me mostly sane.
What do you do?