The last few months of 2024 really stretched my scheduling skills. Besides a very busy bidding schedule, there were holidays, family commitments, family health crises, technology problems, mechanical failures, public safety power shutdowns and other unpredictable events.

Basic scheduling

When it comes to keeping a schedule, I use two technologies. The first is a table I created in a note-taking app for listing projects and bid dates. This is a simple table that has columns for project name, customer and bid date. I keep the table sorted by bid date. I also use the app for organizing what I write on Post-It notes and scrap paper, including research for these articles. After adding the project to my schedule, I put it in a calendar app. There, I can visually see conflicts with all projects, appointments, holidays and tasks. I’ll talk more about calendar use below.

Work-life balance

I want to emphasize the importance of keeping your life sane and balanced. I understand the stress and anxiety that comes with starting and keeping a company going. I also understand the stress of keeping schedules as an employee. However, the rest of your life also needs attention. 

When I started my company, I had been laid off for a couple of months, just purchased a new home, was the president of two boards and had kids in school. I was overwhelmed, and had to make some choices. The first choice was to quit one of the boards. I stayed on the other one because it contributed to the enhancement of my kids’ education. I also eliminated a lot of television watching and other activities unnecessary to my company’s and family’s welfare. And yes, for the first year or so, I often had to work late, even overnight a few times. I would make a point of spending some time with my family before going back to a late evening of work.

Advanced scheduling

In the mid-1980s, I was trained in the use of the Day-Timer time management system. While I have discontinued the use of Day-Timer paper planners in favor of my digital calendar, I still use the methods I was taught. When learning this method, the most important realization was that I was rigid and inflexible in my planning. I would fall apart if my plans had to be changed. Here is what I learned and still use today.

First, start by developing goals. Of course, your project bids are primary on your schedule. After your bid dates are recorded, create other short- and long-term goals. 

When first switching from paper to digital, I used a calendar and a task list. While this worked, I did not like having to access two programs to create my schedule. Instead, I set my calendar to show my weeks as starting on Monday. After creating my work and personal events, I use the rest of the open weekend time slots to list my goals and tasks. For instance, after a birthday party on Sunday, I have added research porch rail hardware, make flu shot appointment, call Social Security, call Microsoft support, call AT&T support, call an exterminator and fix the watering lines. 

After all your goals and tasks are recorded, it’s time to prioritize them. For example, the flu shots should be done now, as we are already in the flu season, and calling Social Security can wait until the recent changes become law. My calendar app allows me to drag and drop events anywhere, making it very easy to arrange my schedule. I do this planning every morning before starting work and as often as needed throughout the day. On a typical day, my schedule can change several times. 

There are two events that often affect my schedule in a major way: emergency customer requests and addendums. A request from a customer cannot be ignored, and addendums are often the bane of my existence. Receiving an addendum that replaces all of the drawings without a time extension has been known to cause the use of inappropriate language.

Developing history

By the way, I have not mentioned that I keep a history of how long it takes to complete my estimates, expressed as hours per plan sheet. This information is very important when I consider adding a project. 

Usually, my schedule is packed enough that recovering from unpredictable events will require working some late evenings and weekends. This is the reason I never plan to work past a 40-hour week. Unfortunately, I often end up doing it anyway.

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