The great value of scheduling your Saturdays and Sundays solid.

For most of us, the weekends are our free time. But when you consider that time is your most precious and un-renewable resource, wasting your free time comes at a very high cost. That’s why I employ time investment strategies to help me get the most out of my days.

Yesterday, was a Saturday on my part of the planet. And I only really had one must-do obligation. But I scheduled my entire day on a calendar so that I could get the greatest return on my free time. Here’s what it looked like.

Adam Albrecht’s Yesterday

6:30am Wake Up (I set my alarm for no later than 6:30am every Saturday, Sunday, Holiday and Vacation Day.)

6:45am Read Principles by Ray Dalio (It’s not about Victoria’s family or leaders of high schools)

7:45am Take Ava to driving lessons (I dropped my little girl off to drive around in a car for 2 hours with a dude I had never met. She said the strangest part was that he was listening to sports talk radio. And commercials about erectile disfunction came on at least 3 times during her drive. #awkward )

8:10am: Eat Breakfast (3 eggs)

8:30am: Finish Planning My Day (This is when I finished out my calendar)

9:15am: Clean Bedroom/Bathroom and Laundry (Every Saturday morning I make sure to clean up the stuff I didn’t put away properly during the week. Don’t give me too much credit for the laundry. That’s mostly to-and-from laundry room stuff. Dawn doesn’t trust me to do much more.)

9:50am: Pick up Ava and run to the library. (Ava was alive. And her arms were tired from all the 10-and-2ing. We dropped off Chronicles of Narnia books and picked up 3 science project kits for the kids. Yep, we are those parents.)

10:15am: Yardwork (The kids picked up sticks and I mowed the lawn for the first time this spring. It felt good to get back in the saddle of my John Deere lawn tractor. #shethinksmytractorssexy)

12:00pm: Magnus’ Lacrosse game (First game ever. Only 4 practices to prepare. They won 6-1.)

2:00pm: Eat lunch

2:30pm Nap (I scheduled this)

3:00pm Work on T-shirt Business (I love making t-shirts. And I have bigger plans in the works. Which I worked on at 3pm yesterday.)

3:30pm Organize next steps on my book (I have written a manuscript for my first book. And I needed to focus on what needs to happen next.)

4:00pm Plan next steps for Tucker Hill Properties (The property investment business Dawn and I started has some serious work in the works right now.)

4:30pm Go to the gym with Ava and Johann (My kids and I lift weights together 4 times per week.)

6:15pm Dinner (I eat. It helps me stay alive)

7:00pm Walk with Dawn (We take a regular 1.5 to 5-mile walk-and-talk. It’s good for marriage.)

8:00pm Family Game Night (Mexican Dominoes)

9:00pm Reading (This is the only thing on the calendar that didn’t happen. Because game night went until after 10pm. Then I worked on a puzzle for 20 minutes instead. Because I am a party animal.)

The Result

By scheduling my Saturday full and putting it into my Google calendar I made the most of my day. I prioritized my activities, which were a combination of work, play, togetherness, exercise, and responsibility. And aside from my evening reading, my day went exactly as planned. The time felt well invested and purposeful. And I moved a lot of my important trains forward.

Key Takeaway

Schedule your free time. By making a specific plan for your evenings, weekends, and vacations you will make the most of your ever-dwindling time. It is a great way to feel productive. Yet it lets you bake in your perfect combination of work and play. Plus, by utilizing a time-blocking calendar you face the reality of how much can actually be accomplished in a day. No overestimating. No underestimating. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to finish this up. I have a lot of other things to do today.

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