Transcript of Episode #6:
Say Goodbye to Overwhelm: Transform Your Life with the Ideal Week Method

Cristina:  Hello, and welcome back to the Blissful Mompreneur podcast. I’m your host, Cristina Hall, and I am so grateful you are here today. I am on a mission to help mompreneurs or female entrepreneurs who hope to be moms in the future, systemize and scale their businesses to beat overwhelm and reclaim their time. Join me each week as I dive into actionable strategies and inspiring stories to support you on your journey to entrepreneurial success and work-life balance. 

Question for you. Have you ever felt like you’re constantly spinning your wheels, trying to balance work and family life and never feeling like you’re getting ahead? Now, what if I told you there’s a simple yet powerful strategy that could help you regain control of your time and create more balance in your life? If the idea of such a strategy makes you jump for joy, then you are going to love today’s episode. 

Now, for the past few episodes, I’ve been referencing creating an ideal week. And today, I am finally going to share exactly what an ideal week is, how it will radically change your life. And most importantly, I’ll give you a step-by-step guide with examples so that you can create your ideal week and immediately begin experiencing the benefits. Full disclaimer, I did not come up with this idea. I learned about it from Michael Hyatt’s book, Free to Focus. All of Michael Hyatt’s books are amazing, but if you’re wanting to dive deep into time management and productivity, Free to Focus is a great read. 

Over the years, I’ve heard countless entrepreneurs share how they use the ideal week to manage their time effectively and achieve their goals. I recall Amy Porterfield talking about her ideal week on her podcast, Online Marketing Made Easy. And I’m sure it’s just one of the many reasons why she is so successful. 

Essentially, the ideal week is creating a schedule with time blocks that reflects your priorities and goals. It’s what your week would look like if you could wave a magic wand and focus on what matters most, which may be spending quality time with the people who matter most or practicing self-care or having dedicated times to do focused work to reach your business goals. You will not be able to always follow the ideal week, but it serves as a guide so that your priorities are front of mind and more likely to be accomplished. 

Once I set my ideal week, I instantly noticed that I was more intentional with my time. I was no longer wasting time on tasks that weren’t important or even worse being so overwhelmed with everything I had to do that I would procrastinate. Now, anytime I’m unsure of what to do, I look at my ideal week, instantly know what time block I’m in, and begin tackling the tasks I do in that particular time block. 

Having an ideal week has helped me spend more quality time with my family and allowed me to set clear boundaries between work and family time. If I’m in a time block that’s designated for my family, I know that it’s time to close the laptop. I’m also able to be more present with my family and my relationships with each and every one of them have drastically improved. Now my daughter’s face lights up. Every time we spend time together reading books, building Lego sets, or doing a puzzle, she also tells me she loves me way more than she ever used to, which warms my heart and affirms that I’m moving in the right direction. My son laughs and gives me unlimited hugs when we sing together, pass balls back and forth, or build train sets together. My husband enjoys when we can catch up at dinner. He can educate me on current events and tell me about his challenges and wins at work. I’m so happy that I’m not allowing time to pass me by and that I’m creating lasting memories. 

Another thing that I’ve struggled with over the years is finding time for self-care. Once I had children, I slowly started gaining weight and found myself over consuming sugar and ultra processed foods. Once I implemented the ideal week, I was able to focus more on my health. I began getting more consistent quality sleep, found time to work out five to six times per week and carved out time to cook healthy meals that nourished my body. I slowly started having more energy, losing weight, and overall just began feeling better. Now I rarely get sick. My kids are sick all the time and it’s extremely rare that I get what they have. I’m able to take care of them and keep up with my responsibilities. 

It has also helped me set realistic expectations. In the past, I would set a ton of goals, but when I tried to work towards those goals, I quickly realized they weren’t attainable, mostly because there are only 24 hours in each day. For example, I would set revenue goals for my business that were contingent upon me teaching more hours. But if I wanted to prioritize my family and practicing self-care, then I needed to adjust my goals.  Now when I set goals, I can cross reference my ideal week and can more clearly see if a goal is realistic. 

Alright, so how do we create an ideal week? Here we go. First, you’re going to open up your calendar app such as Google Calendar or iCal and create a new calendar titled Ideal Week. You can also do this in a planner or spreadsheet. You’re going to review your personal and business goals, identify your non-negotiables.  For me, being in bed between 8 and 9 p.m. is a non-negotiable. Working out five to six times per week is a non-negotiable. Having dinner with my family six days a week is a non-negotiable. Then I begin to identify things that are set. For me, I’ve dropped my daughter off at school at a set time each day, take my son to parent and me classes certain days of the week, take my daughter to her piano lesson and dance classes. I go food shopping at a certain time each week. Now that you have a good idea of your goals, your non-negotiables, and other responsibilities, you’re going to try to block off the following categories. I’m going to list them off first and then I’m going to explain what I put in each of these time blocks. 

First one is personal morning routine, then am block, mid-morning block, work block, p.m. block, dinner and bedtime block, personal bedtime routine, and sleep. So for me, the personal morning routine is when I work out and shower. I also sometimes use that block to meditate or journal, but the workout and shower are my priorities right now. Once my kids wake up, I switch over to my am block. This includes taking care of the kids and household chores. I focus on getting the kids fed and dressed, putting on a load of wash, emptying the dishwasher, making the beds, and eating my own breakfast. Now sometimes my kids wake up really early and I don’t get through my personal morning routine. And then it just bleeds into my am block and I try to involve my kids. My daughter has her own set of two-pound weights and she’ll work out with me. And my son loves to lay on top of me if I’m doing exercises from the floor. Once I drop my daughter off at school, I switch over to my mid-morning block. This is usually when I take my son to a class, go food shopping, or spend quality time with him at home. When he goes down for a nap, I go into my work block. When he wakes up, I switch to my p.m. block where I feed him, pick up my daughter from school, take her to an activity, or we do homework at home. This is usually when I fold laundry, do miscellaneous chores around the house, and then in the evening, I switch over to my dinner and bedtime block where I cook dinner, eat as a family, and then after we clean up, I begin the kids’ bedtime routines. Once they are asleep, I go into my quick personal bedtime routine and this is when I just turn on the dishwasher, load the washing machine for the next day, make lunches, and get myself ready for bed. I’ll do a little reading or watch a TV show, but I usually don’t last long. 

Now, what I just outlined is what my days look like if I don’t have child care or go into the studio. Tuesdays, I go into the studio to teach, so my p.m. block and dinner and bedtime block do not exist that day, and instead, that’s a long work block. Wednesdays and Fridays, my mom watches my son while my daughter is at school, so I don’t have that mid-morning block. Instead, that’s just a longer work block. And Thursday, my mother-in-law comes over to watch the kids in the afternoon, so my p.m. block that day is a work block instead. You could start to see how this can be adjusted for your needs and the needs of your family. And I don’t expect you to commit to memory, you know, how my week looks, but I just am sharing this to just kind of illustrate for you that there’s so much flexibility in this. My weekend schedule is a little different, but follows a similar format. Sundays, I have replaced the work block with quality time with my family. 

Now, as I reflect on my current ideal week, the number one thing missing is quality time with my husband.  We get a little bit of time together during the p.m. block and dinner block, but in a perfect world, I would love more time together. It’s just difficult right now with the kids being so young, but I’m hoping we can have regular date nights as they get a bit older. You know, I share this because depending on where you are in your journey as a mom, you may be struggling with the same thing. And I just want you to know that you’re not alone. This is totally normal. When I speak with other moms that are a farther along, they often share that it does get easier. So I’m just holding on to that hope.

The key to making the ideal week work is to be flexible. Your week will almost never go exactly as planned, but even just adhering to 75% of your ideal week will allow you to see remarkable changes. Also, you will likely have to adjust your ideal week as your family’s needs change. Just since September, I’ve had to adjust my ideal week several times to accommodate my son’s changing nap schedule and then activities being added and then removed. Alright, so if you don’t have time right now to craft your ideal week, put it in your planner or on your calendar and aim to get this done in the next week. Allow yourself the freedom to try a certain routine and then modify it as you go. Nothing is set in stone. Now, once you try out your ideal week for a full week, DM me at the Blissful Mompreneur on Instagram and let me know how your first week went. What did you notice? What did you find challenging? I always love hearing from you. 

Thank you so much for tuning in to today’s episode of the Blissful Mompreneur podcast. I hope you found the information valuable and inspiring. Remember, you have the power to step off that hamster wheel, reclaim your time, and find balance in your life. If you enjoyed today’s episode, please subscribe and leave us a review on your favorite podcast platform. Your feedback helps me continue to provide valuable content to mompreneurs like you. Until next time, keep pursuing your dreams, finding joy in the journey, and creating a life and business you love. Take care and I’ll see you in the next episode.