Learning to manage my time better after quitting my job

I quit my job in March 2021 to start my own business, I soon realized how much I relied on external sources to provide a consistent schedule.

Examples:

• Commuting was when I would reflect or process my thoughts
• Lunchtime was when I would have some much needed alone time
• Morning meetings were what got me out of bed

When I started working for myself, I would start each day by deciding what I wanted to work on that day. This sounds nice on paper, but it actually led to many unproductive and unsatisfying days.

The entire time I worked, I longed for pure freedom with my schedule. I jealously listened as successful founders recounted how much flexibility and freedom they had over their time. What I underestimated what that with so much freedom comes the need for structure. I took external structures for granted and it took me a long time to realize that I needed to replace it with something self-driven.

Scheduling for Consistency

I've now learned to structure my weekly schedule so that it makes it easy for me to consistently stick to the habits I want to keep.

I know which days are for exercising and chores. I know what times of the day I try to work and which times I let myself rest

My weekly schedule generally starts out like this:

• Tuesday and Friday mornings: Exercise (boxing training)
• Monday, Wednesday, Thursday (10am - 2pm): Dedicated working times
• Monday & Tuesday evenings: Chores (usually split shores between these days)
• Saturday morning: Relationship meeting (dedicated time to talk with my partner about improving our relationship)

Most afternoons and evenings are flexible (by design), this lets me schedule meetups and hangouts. I've also found it's really important to scope out time for fun and leisure. For example, every Thursday I play Halo Infinite with a dedicated group. I also almost never work on stuff after dinner (usually eat around 8pm)

Free Tools that I Use Everyday

• Shift - I use Google Calendar for scheduling my time and meetings. Shift is a great way to use Google apps as a desktop app with desktop notifications.
• Notion for weekly templates to plan my week. I also use Notion for all of my note-taking and brainstorming docs.

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I'm sharing my learnings and journey on Twitter as I start my own business and navigate working a part-time developer job.