In this YouTube episode of Get Your Life Sundays, the host shares three practical strategies he has used for years to mentally prepare for the upcoming week. First, he takes inventory by reviewing a monthly planner and transferring relevant tasks onto a daily planner that is divided into a time schedule, a to‑do list (customized with categories such as family, meetings, etc.), and a notes section where he tracks university‑related duties. Second, he color‑codes his priorities, using a legend in his monthly view (e.g., orange for high‑priority bills, yellow for meetings, blue for school‑related items) to make visual learners quickly spot what needs attention. Third, he identifies his “biological prime time” – the hours (10 am‑2 pm for him) when he is most productive – and protects that block for high‑priority work, turning off notifications and avoiding interruptions. The video concludes with a promotion for a free 45‑minute workshop titled “Burnout is Preventable” and a plug for his book, The Couch Where Life Happens, encouraging viewers to register and purchase.
Chapters
Hey everyone, welcome to Get Your Life Sundays. This is typically a day where I like to reflect and figure out exactly what is it that I'm going to do this week. What have I committed to? How am I going to get it done? So I just wanted to come to you for a few moments just to really share 3 of the tips that I normally utilize when I am preparing for the week. I have used these tips really for years, at least 4 to 5 years, so I wanted to share them with you with hopes that it would really help you as you you are preparing for this week as well. So the first tip is for you to take inventory. And one of my go-to ways to take inventory, um, is for me to really utilize my planner. Um, I have a monthly and daily view planner and a way that I take inventory is by me looking at my monthly view, uh, which looks something like this. So I take a look at my monthly view And then, um, I, whatever I have dedicated my time to, um, within the upcoming week, I will transfer those tasks or those to-do stuff onto my daily view. Okay. So my daily view is really split up into 3 or 4 different spaces. It's, it has a schedule, a time schedule from 6:00 AM to 8:00 PM. Sometimes I go over that. Um, but I have a time schedule part. I have a to-do list part. And I have a notes section. I switch the titles on some of these categories. So the to-do section becomes my miscellaneous, family, extracurricular stuff, meetings, calls, that kind of thing. That's what it looks like within that to-do section. And in my notes section, I cross off the notes and I actually put my university affiliation there. And I write down all of the tasks that I need to do for that day as it relates to the university, um, the university that I work for. So I'm an online professor, uh, there's a lot of grading to get done. I need to keep up with that. So that's one way that I take inventory. Okay, so let's move on a little bit. The second way in which I mentally prepare for the week is I color code my priorities. So I am a visual learner. Um, I remember stuff in color. It's crazy. Yes, I know, sometimes, but I remember things once they're in a particular color. Sometimes it's pink, sometimes it's blue, sometimes it's, it's yellow, sometimes it's orange, but that helps me. So it would really be helpful if you know exactly what your learning style looks like. So what does this look like in theory or in practice rather? So in my monthly view, I have a legend where I color code the specific tasks that I have to do. So let's say I have a bill that needs to be paid. That's a high priority. Priority item, so I will put that in orange. Or let's say that I have a meeting or a call, I will put that in yellow because hey, I need to see how many meetings, how many calls I got going on this week. Um, and then like if it's a school-related item, then I'll put that in blue. You see where I'm going? So that's what that looks like for me. And it might sound like a lot to some, but it really makes sense. Um, once I'm able to see it on one sheet of paper, what it is that needs to get done. Okay. So color code priorities, that was number 2. And it's also helpful because you're able to see your high priority items from a glance. So hey. And the 3rd one is, get this, I have been reading Productivity Project by Chris Bailey and it's been a good book so far. I'm about halfway through, so I can update you on this once I'm done. But he talks about something called your biological prime time. So my third point is to know your biological prime time. Dr. T, Tyra, what, what does that mean? That means you need to understand exactly what time do you work best. For me, I tend to work best from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. So that looks like me setting aside that time specifically to do high priority items, things that need to get done. It's non-negotiable time. So that looks like me not accepting random calls, that That looks like me calling people back after that timeframe. Things like that. It looks like me setting notifications. Sorry, not setting notifications, but actually turning off my notifications so that I'm not just going from my phone to my work, from my phone to my work all day and wondering why the job still isn't done. So the third one was know your biological prime time, okay? So those are my 3 tips that I wanted to give to you as it relates to mentally preparing for the week. So on Tuesday, we're actually having a workshop, Live With Life LLC, we're having a workshop titled Burnout is Preventable. We'll be discussing a ton of tools and tips really to help you as it relates to avoiding burnout. There's, we don't have time for burnout, not now, not ever. So join us, please check the link that is in my bio to register. It's totally free. It's 45 minutes at 7 PM, 7 PM on Tuesday. Okay, so block that time out and spend some time with us and we'll jump into all of the, the tools that you would need to help prevent burnout. Also, if you have not purchased my book yet, it is still available. So you can also click the link in my bio and you'll see a tab there to say purchase my new book. It's called The Couch Where Life Happens, and I look forward to connecting with you all, us, much sooner than later. So that's all I got, and have a great week. Make it an epic one, and I'll see you soon.
