Man, let me tell you, getting things done used to be a proper mess for me. I’d wake up, full of bright ideas, right? You know the drill. “Today, I’ll tackle that big coding project!” or “Gonna write three blog posts!” Then, by lunchtime, I’d be staring at half-finished notes, probably clicked away on some rabbit hole, and the actual work? Barely touched. Rinse and repeat, week after week. It was bloody frustrating, I tell ya.
I was always chasing my tail, feeling like I was running on empty, but never actually seeing anything through. Projects would start strong, then just… fizzle out. My blog? Updates were sporadic, at best. I had all these fantastic ideas floating around in my head, just waiting to get out, but the execution was always the stumbling block.
It got to a point where I was just plain fed up. I remember one particular Sunday night, I was sitting there, looking at a week’s worth of ambitious to-do lists that had maybe two items checked off. My head was pounding from the mental clutter. I thought, “This can’t go on. Something’s gotta give.”
That feeling, that absolute wall I hit, it was the kick I needed. I realized I wasn’t just bad at doing things; I was terrible at planning them in a way that actually worked for a real human, not some robot.
How I Started Turning the Ship Around
My first step? It sounds dumb simple, but I ditched the fancy apps for a bit. Grabbed a plain old notebook and a pen. I just started scribbling down everything that was swirling around my brain. Not just work stuff, but personal bits too – “call mum,” “fix that squeaky door,” “finally learn to make that sourdough bread.” Everything. Just dumped it all out.
Then I sat with it. I looked at the sheer volume of “stuff” and started to categorize. This was for the blog, that was for a client, this was for me. It was like finally seeing the true scale of the beast I was fighting.
The real shift came when I started thinking about the week ahead, not just the day. I’d sit down, usually Sunday afternoon, cup of coffee in hand, and map out the entire week. Not hour by hour, because who actually sticks to that? But big blocks. Mondays and Tuesdays for deep work, maybe coding or long-form writing. Wednesdays for meetings and administrative junk. Thursdays and Fridays for creative stuff, smaller tasks, prepping for next week.
I started breaking down those huge, daunting projects into tiny, manageable chunks. Instead of “Write blog post about X,” it became:
- Brainstorm topic for X (30 mins)
- Outline key points for X (1 hour)
- Draft intro for X (45 mins)
- Research supporting data for X (1.5 hours)
- Write body paragraphs for X (2 hours)
- Edit and format for X (1 hour)
You get the picture. Suddenly, “writing a blog post” wasn’t this massive mountain; it was a series of small hills I could actually climb.
The Nitty-Gritty of My Weekly Grind
So, every Sunday, before the new week even hits, I pull out my trusty notebook – yeah, I went back to paper, it just feels more tactile and less distracting than a screen. I list out my absolute must-dos for the upcoming week. These are the non-negotiables, the things that have to get done no matter what. I usually cap it at three big things, maybe five if they’re super quick.
Next, I slot those into my daily blocks. I actually draw out a simple grid for the week. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, etc. For each day, I literally write down 1-3 key tasks. The idea is, if I get these three done, the day is a win. Anything else is a bonus. This stops me from overloading and feeling like a failure if I don’t achieve twenty things.
I also started scheduling in breaks. Seriously. Lunch breaks, short walks, even just ten minutes away from the screen. Sounds obvious, right? But before, I’d just power through until I was burnt out. Now, they’re part of the plan. It’s like telling myself, “Hey, you get to recharge, but only after you tackle this next thing.”
Another thing I picked up? The “review.” Every Friday afternoon, I spend about twenty minutes looking back at the week. What did I finish? What did I not? Why? This isn’t about beating myself up. It’s about learning. Maybe I underestimated a task, or maybe I got distracted too much. It helps me adjust for the next week’s plan.
This whole system, it wasn’t some overnight magic bullet. I messed up plenty. There were weeks where I barely stuck to it. But the key was just starting again. Not throwing the whole thing out, just tweaking it. Realizing that the plan isn’t rigid; it’s a living document that flexes with real life.
What really changed for me was moving from just having a list to actively planning how and when those things would get done. It’s the difference between wishing something would happen and making a clear path for it to happen. And that, my friends, is why you see me churning out these posts regularly now, because I finally figured out how to turn those ideas into actual finished pieces. It’s about having that roadmap, that weekly blueprint, that keeps everything moving forward, even when life throws curveballs.
