Creating Holiday Schedules that Actually Work!
Do you struggle when there is no routine?
Often routine gives structure but once school is out, the kids are at home, family trips, holidays, and parties, it sure becomes a challenge to keep a schedule.
What do you do to make sure everything stays under control?
Cognitive Functions
There are 28 thinking skills that use on a daily basis.
We use these thinking skills to do any task (including making schedules!)
If any of those thinking skills are weak, it's going to be a challenge for you to do the task.
As I share with you 5 tips on how to create schedules that work, I'll share with you the thinking skills (cognitive functions) that are related to that tip.
1. Different Life
Start by understanding life will be different.
Often we know it intellectually, but we don’t actually practice it and still demand unreasonable expectations (consciously or unconsciously.)
This comes from the cognitive function called cognitive flexibility. Being willing to be flexible and see if another approach is needed, is something you’ll need to create a holiday schedule.
2. Labels You Give Yourself
Notice the labels you give yourself and see if it’s getting in your way of what you’re trying to accomplish.
These labels don’t have to be negative but they can still be hindering you.
For example, when I went to Israel for a good couple of weeks and would be working, I had to evaluate the label of “morning person” and see if it was really helping me here. Because many of my meetings were scheduled with people in America, I had meetings that went till midnight.
At home that would be 5 pm which is normal timing but with a 7-hour time difference I was doing work late.
Instead of saying “I can’t do this because it’s so late and my brain works best in the morning.” I decided to challenge my label and my brain.
Can I work late even though I’m a morning person?
Maybe I can be both a morning person and a night person?
It did take a couple of days to get used to it, but it worked out incredibly well in the end.
Think about the labels and assumptions you made about yourself & your life and see if there’s a way you can challenge them.
This comes from the cognitive function of labeling.
3. Best Way to Batch
In episode 423 we spoke about batching tasks and how in different situations you need to batch your tasks differently.
Holidays is a perfect example of this. Although I love to do all my meetings on Monday and Thursday, I don’t love working till midnight (even with the challenge I prefer not to have to if I don’t need to;))
That’s why, once I knew I was going to Israel (which was just a couple of days before I went) I started booking meetings on other days if Monday/Thursday got too late. Instead of batching meetings to 2 days a week, I batched meetings to 4 afternoons a week. Different batching for different situations.
A great question to ask yourself is - What is the best way to group tasks in this situation?
This comes from the cognitive function of categorizations
4. Simple Routine
Start each morning and end each night with a routine.
I am NOT talking about long routines that include journaling, exercising, visualizing, etc. All that’s good but not necessary.
The point is to create structure in the unstructured times.
Your morning routine can be as simple as washing your face, brushing your teeth, and having coffee on the porch.
Night routine can be showering, preparing clothes for tomorrow, and reading in bed.
This doesn’t require the cognitive function of time, but most definitely helps with time. As you giving your body the sense of time that after this we are going to sleep etc.
5. Keep Note
Keep note of the schedules and systems that work for that time.
Often when we come back from vacation or kids go back to school, we think about what worked/didn’t work. This can be helpful for the future.
We don’t have to wait so long to see the benefits. Every couple of days, take the time to do metacognition, thinking about your thinking, thinking about how you’re doing things. Write it all out. See what’s working and what you need to change. You’ve got this!
Your Challenge
Your challenge this week is to decide which one of 5 tips we spoke about you are going to implement this holiday session:
Cheers to Peak Brain Performance!
Hi, I'm ST,
Just like you, I want to be more efficient and effective.
Most entrepreneurs want to grow their business but already got a lot of stress.
At LifePix University we help you rewire your brain to become more efficient and effective while experiencing more inner peace.
Learn more here.
Your Essential Guide
to Cognitive Functions
This guide will give you all you need to start improving your cognitive functions. Learn what all 28 thinking skills are, how they apply to you and what you can do today to begin improving them.
Cognitive Functions Assessment
Thinking is not one big thing. Thinking is made up of 28 parts, called cognitive functions.
Take the FREE assessment to see where each of your cognitive functions are currently at.
We're on for 1M downloads
By the end of 2025
Can you help us reach our goal?
Share this podcast with someone you love!
Creating Holiday Schedules that Actually Work!
Do you struggle when there is no routine?
Often routine gives structure but once school is out, the kids are at home, family trips, holidays, and parties, it sure becomes a challenge to keep a schedule.
What do you do to make sure everything stays under control?
Cognitive Functions
There are 28 thinking skills that use on a daily basis.
We use these thinking skills to do any task (including making schedules!)
If any of those thinking skills are weak, it's going to be a challenge for you to do the task.
As I share with you 5 tips on how to create schedules that work, I'll share with you the thinking skills (cognitive functions) that are related to that tip.
1. Different Life
Start by understanding life will be different.
Often we know it intellectually, but we don’t actually practice it and still demand unreasonable expectations (consciously or unconsciously.)
This comes from the cognitive function called cognitive flexibility. Being willing to be flexible and see if another approach is needed, is something you’ll need to create a holiday schedule.
2. Labels You Give Yourself
Notice the labels you give yourself and see if it’s getting in your way of what you’re trying to accomplish.
These labels don’t have to be negative but they can still be hindering you.
For example, when I went to Israel for a good couple of weeks and would be working, I had to evaluate the label of “morning person” and see if it was really helping me here. Because many of my meetings were scheduled with people in America, I had meetings that went till midnight.
At home that would be 5 pm which is normal timing but with a 7-hour time difference I was doing work late.
Instead of saying “I can’t do this because it’s so late and my brain works best in the morning.” I decided to challenge my label and my brain.
Can I work late even though I’m a morning person?
Maybe I can be both a morning person and a night person?
It did take a couple of days to get used to it, but it worked out incredibly well in the end.
Think about the labels and assumptions you made about yourself & your life and see if there’s a way you can challenge them.
This comes from the cognitive function of labeling.
3. Best Way to Batch
In episode 423 we spoke about batching tasks and how in different situations you need to batch your tasks differently.
Holidays is a perfect example of this. Although I love to do all my meetings on Monday and Thursday, I don’t love working till midnight (even with the challenge I prefer not to have to if I don’t need to;))
That’s why, once I knew I was going to Israel (which was just a couple of days before I went) I started booking meetings on other days if Monday/Thursday got too late. Instead of batching meetings to 2 days a week, I batched meetings to 4 afternoons a week. Different batching for different situations.
A great question to ask yourself is - What is the best way to group tasks in this situation?
This comes from the cognitive function of categorizations
4. Simple Routine
Start each morning and end each night with a routine.
I am NOT talking about long routines that include journaling, exercising, visualizing, etc. All that’s good but not necessary.
The point is to create structure in the unstructured times.
Your morning routine can be as simple as washing your face, brushing your teeth, and having coffee on the porch.
Night routine can be showering, preparing clothes for tomorrow, and reading in bed.
This doesn’t require the cognitive function of time, but most definitely helps with time. As you giving your body the sense of time that after this we are going to sleep etc.
5. Keep Note
Keep note of the schedules and systems that work for that time.
Often when we come back from vacation or kids go back to school, we think about what worked/didn’t work. This can be helpful for the future.
We don’t have to wait so long to see the benefits. Every couple of days, take the time to do metacognition, thinking about your thinking, thinking about how you’re doing things. Write it all out. See what’s working and what you need to change. You’ve got this!
Your Challenge
Your challenge this week is to decide which one of 5 tips we spoke about you are going to implement this holiday session:
Cheers to Peak Brain Performance!
Hi, I'm ST,
Just like you, I want to be more efficient and effective.
Most entrepreneurs want to grow their business but already got a lot of stress.
At LifePix University we help you rewire your brain to become more efficient and effective while experiencing more inner peace.
Learn more here.
Your Essential Guide
to Cognitive Functions
This guide will give you all you need to start improving your cognitive functions. Learn what all 28 thinking skills are, how they apply to you and what you can do today to begin improving them.
Cognitive Functions Assessment
Thinking is not one big thing. Thinking is made up of 28 parts, called cognitive functions.
Take the FREE assessment to see where each of your cognitive functions are currently at.
We're on for 1M downloads
By the end of 2025
Can you help us reach our goal?
Share this podcast with someone you love!
