How does planning and scheduling better my life?

With so many things going on in my life about my studies, work, health, family, relationships, and personal needs, I ended up feeling so overwhelmed and exhausted. Most times, I am left wondering how to achieve the so called “work life balance.” Last semester, I tried to console myself and believe that the situation will soon be over, everything will be all right, and things will go as planned, and even starting to set boundaries. However, nothing has changed, and it is getting worse as I am working now on a few projects in school and joining some events to earn the needed credits. I wanted to shout for help but there could be nothing much that others could do as this involved entirely myself, my time, and my space.

Our starting workshop this year was a dialogue about planning and scheduling. It was an interesting topic for my chaotic self I would say. Immediately after our paja session, I decided to write an essay about it. It was so helpful to me, and I learned things that I needed to apply in my life immediately. Setting my personal and team goals both needs planning and scheduling. Previously, I would say I have so many plans and are always in my head, I got things to do in list for today and tomorrow and so on but are not working and keeps on failing to achieve my goals. Then, what is wrong? One of the realizations I had, after that paja session, is that planning and scheduling are two distinct things yet interrelated processes which are key factors to execute tasks and achieve goals. Is this a complicated process or can we do it in a simpler way? How should my planning and scheduling go together to be effective and work for me to better my life? What would be the best planning and scheduling to use for my personal goals and team goals?

Both planning and scheduling are crucial for successful execution and achieving desired outcomes. Planning provides the strategic framework, goals, and overall direction, while scheduling ensures efficient resource allocation, task sequencing, and timely execution. Planning sets the foundation for effective scheduling, and scheduling translates the plan into actionable tasks within a specified time. (Testbook.com). It is a basic understanding to know how these two things go and work together. One needs to define what the purpose of planning is, knowing what is to be done and how. It is about strategy. On the other hand, scheduling is about tactics. It provides specifics and targets for the plans. The relationship between planning and scheduling is symbiotic. (Siemens.2024). Effective planning requires scheduling that gives necessary information and strategic guidance. While scheduling, it sees that the plan is executed in an organized and timely process. Effective planning and scheduling need not be complicated. It could not always be simpler as it depends on what it is for. For personal aspects it could be simple, but for big companies and institutions it would need a thorough process of planning and making a schedule.

A deep thought about the relationship of these two provides me a better understanding of how I should do my own planning and scheduling pertaining to my personal goal and team goals. For my personal planning, I am trying to set a few goals that I can achieve both in a shorter and longer time. To keep me always reminded, I have written them down on my vision wall, my notepad both in my phone and laptop. Laptop. Identifying the tasks for each goal and the time and schedule for the task and goals. However, doing this is such an exciting thing for me, but sometimes along the way, I could be lost or destroyed and sometimes procrastinate. I used to over plan and create tight schedules. This led me to being extremely occupied and exhausted. And instead of feeling accomplished because I completed a task, my feeling of joy that I expected could not be much felt, but rather dissatisfaction or frustration. So, then I realized that this should not be the case. If I must achieve my goal and be happy about it, I must do proper planning and effective scheduling. Firstly, I have a few goals and things that matter so much to me and provide a significant factor for the development of my career and wellbeing. Secondly, I will define the concrete tasks for each goal on how to achieve them. Flexibility is a key here too, as there might be better steps that could be taken along the way and there could be circumstances that are not under my control. If there are constraints, then embrace them. It could spark innovation, creativity, and better ideas. Making a vision board that is visible to me every day is helpful as I could always be reminded of my goals, especially when times would be so difficult and challenging. Then making a daily and monthly schedule for the tasks geared to my goal is necessary so I will be kept track to effectively attain my goals. Based on my experience, I am so bad of following schedules, I get easily distracted like lingering so much time in unnecessary activities. I need to discipline myself and commit to following my schedules of doing the tasks that pertain to achieve my goals, or setting some tasks aside could keep filing up.

Time and energy level management are important skills that will really help me become more productive. I need to identify my peak energy levels to prioritize important tasks. That means maximizing my energy level to tasks that require the most. Keeping time to rest and activity to keep me motivated is also necessary to include in my task and schedule.  Task after task or goal after goal is also a stressful and draining process. So, time to rest, mediate, exercise, and get motivated would be a reward and fantastic ways to get myself recharged, especially during the winter season that the coldness and darkness can affect so much with the energy level.

Lastly, a kind reminder to myself, that there is no competition in life. I can go on my on phase and do well on myself, and I enjoy learning on my journey. I need to be compassionate and treat myself kindly. If I win then celebrate, if I lose then learn, if I’ve mistaken then forgive myself and simplify life then complicate it.

For our Kaaos team, planning and scheduling became better now. Our BL and FL produced project and finance plans and system. These records all our projects and finances. This will help us see what we have accomplished, what, what we are doing, what we need to be done, and what we need to accomplish. Having a clear roadmap would provide us with an understanding of where each one and the team is going and progressing. But as always, teamwork and commitment are necessary factors too to achieve our goals as a team, plus fun together would be a superb spice to keep our team going!

Conclusion

Through proper strategic planning and effective scheduling, life, work, and relationship could be simpler and better. Goals remain goals if not achieved. Directed task, energy and time requires effective management to be productive and accomplish the set goals. There is no specific perfect plan and scheduling for all. It all depends on the nature of the person, team, organization, environment and what works better for each person or team. What is important is that whatever planning and scheduling there is, they help attain the goals and enrich one’s life.

Reference:

Testbook.com. Difference Between Planning and Scheduling.

Read on 05.12.2024

https://testbook.com/key-differences/difference-between-planning-and-scheduling

Siemens. 2024. Planning vs. Scheduling. Which is best solution for you needs?

Read on 05.12.2024

https://resources.sw.siemens.com/en-US/game-manufacturing-planning-vs-production-scheduling