86: 3 Steps to Make Time for Urgent or Unexpected Tasks

Life happens. No matter how beautifully planned out a project is or how prepared you are for the day, things happen that throw your schedule out of whack.

This summer I had my schedule perfectly planned out. I was wanting to meet some deadlines for a course that I was creating, so I had scheduled everything.

And then… life threw me a curveball and I had to somehow squeeze in two hours into my already jam-packed day.

In our busy world, this is all too common. Our schedules are packed to the limit and when urgent things come up – which they always do – we feel overwhelmed and feel like we’re constantly playing catch up.

Today I’m going to share one strategy to set your day up for success, so you don’t spiral into a stress ball when unexpected things pop up.

I’m an over planner at heart

I love planning.

I gave my wedding party typed instructions on my wedding day, I created a massive 3-inch binder of notes to prepare for my dissertation, and my day-to-day schedule is color coded.

But despite all your best planning, stuff happens.

On my wedding day, I accidentally made my husband wait for 10 minutes at the altar with the music playing because I missed my cue. And that dissertation I had prepared for with the huge binder? I had to staple my pants together that morning.

(If you wanna hear the whole story of my stapled pants, listen to episode #3 of The Bold Life: )

How I preplan my schedule and what happened when I got a curve ball

When I plan major projects I work backwards. I start at the end date and plan my schedule in reverse. It goes like this:

Pick a goal
Decide when I want to have it done
Brainstorm everything that needs to get done
Work backwards from my due date to put all the steps in my schedule so I save time for everything

With my new course and coaching program, The Productivity Formula, I knew I wanted to be ready to welcome new students in September. I had set weekly deadlines starting in June that led all the way up to the doors opening in September.

One of the tasks was getting some Facebook and Instagram ads set up for a free productivity challenge that I was running in order to get folks interested in my new program.

I had it all figured out and ready to go (or so I thought). Everything was up, running, and pre-set to post.

Feeling accomplished, I headed to the lake for the weekend. Everything is all set, I’m confident it’s ready, and I spend a great weekend with my family.

When I get home on Monday evening from the last summer hoorah… I see there’s a typo on one of the images for the ads. My stomach dropped.

The problem wasn’t the typo itself; the problem was that it wasn’t a quick fix.

Fixing the typo on the image – easy enough. But the way that Facebook ads work meant I had to delete pretty much everything and start all over again. I had to restart and re-upload all the ads to fix this mistake.

All of the sudden, I’m spending two hours on Monday trying to fix this problem. I had not planned for these two hours.

Life Happens and Unexpected Tasks Come Up

Sometimes those unexpected things are smaller...

A project takes you an hour rather than 30 minutes, or
Your colleague interrupts you for help, or
You get a flat tire on your way to work.

Sometimes those unexpected tasks can take up more time…

Your boss throws a project or deadline your way, or
There’s a calculation error in a report and it’s a major fix.

All of those urgent tasks can take time out of your day, and also use up all of your energy fast.

Your brain wants life to be consistent and easy. Urgent tasks send our stress levels way up.

In some cases, this can actually be a good thing. That boost of adrenaline can help us focus better and kick start our motivation. But it’s also normal to be exhausted after dealing with an unexpected crisis, because these surprise tasks drain your mental resources.

It’s not just doing the task that drains your brain power. Having to problem solve and figure out where you’ll make time for the task takes energy. Even the thought of playing catch up can totally stress you out.

We can’t predict the curveballs that are going to be thrown our way and mess up our perfect schedules…

…But we can set up our schedules in a way that have space to accommodate these urgent tasks when they surprisingly pop up.

Three keys to dealing with unexpected tasks:

1. Be clear on your priorities.

I schedule my days the night before. This means I can show up to work in the morning and hit the ground running, avoiding any distractions.

When I plan my days, I keep my priorities for the week in mind. Being clear on priorities allows me to accommodate urgent or unexpected tasks because I know what I’m not willing to move or cut out.

Those priorities can change week to week, or even day to day, but being clear on what matters makes it easier to cut out the things that aren’t important when that urgent task interrupts.

2. Make time, not find time

Make time for the urgent task, don’t find the time.

I know it’s easy to add that extra work to your schedule at the end of the day and think “I’ll just squeeze it in”. Or you stop what you’re doing immediately and try to tackle that task without figuring out how you’re going to get back to that task you were working on in the first place.

Just adding things into your schedule that’s already busy is going to make you feel stressed and like you’re constantly playing catch up. Plus, you’ll probably end up sacrificing things that are important to your health and productivity over the long run (like taking breaks and getting enough sleep).

If you’re adding something to your schedule, decide what you’re going to take out to make that extra thing happen. You’re not going to find the time – your schedule’s packed – you have to create the time by eliminating something else.

Back to my Facebook disaster… When I plan my weeks, it’s color coded. Nonurgent tasks are one colour, and priority tasks are another. This makes it easy to decide what can get cut. When my Facebook ads crashed, I moved some of the nonurgent tasks a couple weeks down the road to make time for the unexpected Facebook work.

3. Plan in advance for urgent/unexpected tasks to come up (because they will!)

Leave some blank space in your schedule! It’s time to get out of the habit of packing your schedule to the limit.

Packing your schedule is not a good long term productivity strategy, because life never goes entirely as expected.

When I plan my schedule for the week on Sunday nights, I like to leave two hours of space on Friday afternoons as my buffer time. Then, when things come up during the week (because remember, they always do), I have some catch up time already built into my schedule.

You can also build buffer windows into your days, especially if you’re in a job where urgent or unexpected tasks tend to come up frequently. Leave a 30 minute blank spot at the end of your day to catch up as needed.

Bonus resources:

Want more tips on saving brain resources so you can be more productive? Check out my free daily productivity checklist. In this workbook I’ll show you how to use neuroscience-based strategies to set up your workday for success. You’ll learn how to get more done, get out of the habit of busy work, and feel less overwhelmed. You can get your free copy here