How To Make A Schedule For Yourself That You Stick With

Making a schedule sounds easy enough. Write down “Finish quarterly report at 2 PM.” But when 2 PM arrives, writing that report becomes the last thing you want to do. 

Procrastination ensues.

Making a plan is simple. Following through is where we falter.

A client calls with an urgent request. Your team needs help troubleshooting a problem. Your internet connection decides to take an unplanned vacation.

These interruptions derail your day, causing tasks to pile up.

In this guide, we’ll show you how to create  visual schedules you’ll actually follow so you can manage your workload and achieve the work-life balance you’re aiming for.

Microsoft’s 2024 Work Trend Index’s annual report reveals two chief issues of poor scheduling:

• 60% of productive time is spent on emails, chats, and meetings
• 68% of people struggle with the pace and volume of work

What’s worse, we fall into all sorts of traps when trying to overcome scheduling struggles.

Let’s analyze the most common ones.

What we call multitasking is actually rapid task-switching, as proven by multiple studies.

And this habit comes with a hefty productivity tax.

Each time a notification steals your focus, it costs you an average of 23 minutes of productive work.

Life does not slot into tidy 30-minute time blocks. When a task takes 10 minutes longer than expected, inflexible schedules create a domino effect where one delay derails your entire day.

We tend to be very optimistic about how much time it will take us to complete a task.

So much that there’s a name for this tendency: planning fallacy.

Schedules that don’t include time for recovery set the countdown to exhaustion.

Microsoft’s Work Trend Index reveals that 46% of workers report feeling burned out, largely because their schedules lack downtime needed for mental refreshment and creative thinking.

Your schedule should act as a supportive friend, not as a petty tyrant.

That’s why we collected some expert tips to help you create a schedule that behaves more like the former.

Start by writing down all the tasks you need to accomplish in a typical week.

Treat it more like a brainstorming session. You’re not looking to make a polished list, but a raw, comprehensive capture of everything on your mind.

Think of this as a mental download with no filter or judgment. You can do this either by hand on a notebook, or on your favorite notes app.

The goal is to get everything out of your head and onto the page.

Some suggestions on what you can brain dump to get you started:

• Work tasks
• Errands
• Personal projects
• Family commitments
• Health and fitness goals

And anything else that matters to you.

Don’t hold back. Include everything from small administrative tasks to big career goals. You may end up having to cull some items from the list later, but for now, capture everything. The more comprehensive your brain dump, the clearer your path to effective scheduling becomes.

How many times have we heard the sentence “if only I had 48 hours in a day”?

The phrase highlights an uncomfortable truth: we simply don’t have enough time to do everything we want.

You’ll have to make concessions. The key is to decide which ones you can live with.

A way to help you categorize your tasks is the Eisenhower matrix. 

To make your own:

• Draw a 2×2 grid by drawing two intersecting lines
• Label the top horizontal axis as “Urgent” (left to right from least to most)
• Label the vertical axis as “Important” (bottom to top from least to most)

It will look like this:

Now, grab the list you made in the previous step, and put each one in its respective quadrant:

• Urgent and important: Critical tasks that require immediate attention
• Urgent and not important: Tasks that seem pressing but don’t contribute to your core goals
• Not urgent and important: Strategic activities that drive long-term success
• Not urgent and not important: Time-wasting activities to eliminate

For example, fixing a critical product bug would go in the “Urgent and Important” quadran, while scrolling social media would land squarely in the “Not Urgent and Not Important” quadrant.

Most of us struggle with estimating how long tasks actually take.

To quote Douglas Hofstadter in “Gödel, Escher, Bach”:

It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter’s Law.

Go back to your Eisenhower matrix.

Start by estimating time with honesty. How long do you expect each task to take? For a conservative estimate, you should probably double the expected time. 

That report you think will take an hour? It might need two. That quick email check? Plan for 30 minutes, not five.

The next step is to match the tasks to your energy cycle. Our productivity ebbs and flows throughout the day. 

For example, if you feel extra sharp in the early morning, you should schedule your most complex and critical tasks during those peak hours, and save routine administrative work or easier tasks for times when your energy dips.

You can have a packed schedule, but always build in breathing room. Include 15-minute breaks and transition time between different type of work.

A few practical time-blocking tips:

• Color-code your time blocks
• Include buffer time between tasks
• Recognize your productivity isn’t a constant
• Use digital or visual tools to map out your schedule
• Add 25-50% more time to your initial task estimates
• Be flexible; your schedule is a guide, not a prison sentence

At the end of each week, review how your time blocking went. Did you consistently underestimate certain tasks? Adjust your future estimates accordingly.

Treat your schedule as a living document. It should evolve with your work patterns and changing priorities.

Our brains process visuals faster than text (between 6 and 600 times faster).

This makes visual schedules powerful tools, not just pretty alternatives to text lists.

The power in visual schedules lies in their concreteness. While a text list feels abstract and easy to ignore, a visual format with colors, blocks, and clear time allocations creates a stronger psychological contract with yourself.

For example, here’s a daily schedule I created:

You can see it like this: Visual schedules create a psychological contract with yourself. They make your commitments feel more real and binding.

Benefits of making visual schedules include:

• Immediate comprehension: Your brain processes the entire day’s plan at once
• Pattern recognition: Easily spot scheduling conflicts or overcommitments
• Reduced mental fatigue: Less cognitive effort required to follow your plan
• Better time awareness: Visual blocks create a stronger sense of how long tasks take
• Increased motivation: Checking off visually represented tasks feels more satisfying

Visual schedules can benefit everyone from busy professionals to students managing their academic workload. Students can particularly benefit from having a clear visual breakdown of classes, study sessions, and extracurricular activities.

You don’t have to be a designer to craft a visual schedule. Piktochart’s ready-made schedule templates give you a robust foundation to build upon.

For another example, here’s a weekly schedule:

Creating your visual schedule is simple:

1. Pick a template you like 
2. Customize it with our drag-and-drop editor
3. Save it 

For maximum effectiveness, keep your schedule visible throughout the day. You can use it as your desktop background, print it at your workspace, or save it as your phone lock screen.

This constant visual reminder strengthens your commitment and keeps you on track.

Creating a schedule is just the first step. The real challenge lies in sticking with it day after day.

Psychologist Charles Duhigg, author of “The Power of Habit”, explains that habits consist of three parts:

• Cue: Set a specific time each day to review your schedule
• Routine: Spend 5-10 minutes reviewing and adjusting your plan for the day
• Reward: Track completed tasks visually.

This last part is crucial, as the satisfaction triggers dopamine in your brain, reinforcing the habit.

Schedule a 30-minute appointment with yourself every Friday or Sunday to:

• Evaluate what worked and what didn’t during the past week
• Celebrate wins (no matter how small)
• Identify recurring obstacles and adjust time estimates
• Plan the upcoming week with these insights in mind

According to research, people who regularly review their goals and progress are 42% more likely to achieve them.

Your schedule should serve you, not the other way around. Unexpected events happen all the time.

Here’s how you can deal with them:

• Ask: “Does this new task align with my priorities?”
• If yes, decide what can be moved or eliminated to make room
• If no, practice saying “not now” (which is different from “no”)

The best schedules aren’t monolithic. They have built-in buffer zones to give you breathing room between tasks. This way, you can deal with anything life throws at you.

Share your schedule with someone else. In his paper “The Impact of Commitment, Accountability, and Written Goals on Goal Achievement”, Dr. Gail Matthews reports that:

Participants who wrote down goals, shared them with a friend, and sent weekly progress updates achieved 76% of their goals, compared to 43% for those who only thought about goals.

Consider a weekly check-in with a trusted colleague or joining an accountability group to make the most out of your schedule.

Out of sight often means out of mind. Keep your schedule visible:

• Set it as your computer wallpaper
• Create a visual dashboard using Piktochart
• Use color-coding to create emotional connections to different tasks

When you fall off track, avoid the “what-the-hell effect” (the tendency to abandon a plan after a small slip-up). Simply reset and return to your schedule.

A schedule you follow 80% of the time is way better than a perfect one you abandon after three days.

Every quarter, re-evaluate your approach. As your skills improve and priorities shift, your scheduling needs will change too.

The keyword here is sustainability. A simpler schedule might feel like you’re wasting time, but it’s better to do few things well than a lot haphazardly.

We have prepared a diverse library of scheduling templates to fit your specific needs.

Looking for a minimalist daily planner? Or a colorful weekly schedule with dedicated sections for work and personal tasks?

Some people prefer more granular schedules, others want a looser one that focuses on the big picture.

Whatever your use case, we have several templates ready for you.

For daily planners, take a look at our Training Schedule and this Minimalist Daily Planner.

Another option could be this Daily Planner.

For a weekly planner, you could look into our Minimalist Training Schedule and this Weekly To Do List.

For something simpler, you could try out our Abstract Weekly Planner.

Browse our template library to find the perfect visual scheduler that matches your needs.

The best schedule combines structure with flexibility.

Start with a comprehensive brain dump of all tasks, then apply the Eisenhower Matrix to prioritize based on urgency and importance.

Don’t be too optimistic with the time each task takes. Match tasks to your natural energy cycles—tackle complex work during peak focus hours and routine tasks during energy dips.

Visual schedules work especially well since our brains process images faster than text. Use color-coding to create emotional connections with different task categories.

Most importantly, incorporate regular review sessions to adjust your approach as needed.

Remember that consistency beats perfection. A simple schedule you actually follow is better than an elaborate one you abandon.

Creating a realistic schedule starts with honest time estimation. Most of us fall victim to the planning fallacy. Combat this by adding generous buffer time to your initial estimates. When you think something will take an hour, schedule more time for it.

Include transition time between activities. Multitasking is a myth, no one can jump instantly from one focused task to another. Build in breathing room with short breaks throughout your day. Plan demanding tasks during your peak energy hours and lighter work during natural energy dips.

Most importantly, track actual completion times for a few weeks and adjust future schedules based on this data. The best schedules are refined through practice and reflection.

The key to a sustainable schedule is building a system that works with your habits rather than against them. Start small. Focus on scheduling your three most important tasks each day.

Make your schedule visually appealing and keep it visible throughout the day. Visual schedules create a stronger psychological commitment than text-based lists.

Find an accountability partner or group to share your schedule with.

When you inevitably fall off track, simply reset without self-criticism. Remember that following a schedule 80% of the time is far better than abandoning it completely after a minor slip-up.