Fixed schedule productivity is when you decide up front what time you’re going to finish your day, and then work backwards to allocate time to every task on your list. So, instead of starting with your to-do list and working until everything’s done (which, let’s face it, is never), you begin by setting firm boundaries around your working hours and then adapt your workload to fit within them

Fixed schedule productivity

Cal Newport describes this approach by saying that you should:

1. Choose a schedule of work hours that you think provides the ideal balance of effort and relaxation.
2. Do whatever it takes to avoid violating this schedule.

Newport acknowledges that it’s not easy to stick to the second rule, and that doing so may require drastic action. You may have to:

• Cut back on the number of projects you’re working on.
• Cull inefficient habits from your daily schedule.
• Risk mildly annoying or upsetting some people in exchange for gains in time.
• Stop procrastinating (this may have been the one I found hardest to address).

Academia is unpredictable

Of course, academic life rarely fits into neat boxes. Teaching schedules can vary dramatically from semester to semester, research deadlines often bunch together, and conference season can throw even the best-planned schedule into disarray. Grant applications, manuscript revisions, and student supervision don’t always align with our ideal working hours.

But rather than letting these irregular demands determine our entire schedule, we can use fixed schedule productivity to create a sustainable framework that accommodates these periodic intensities while maintaining clear boundaries. The goal isn’t rigid inflexibility, but rather thoughtful, strategic decisions about how and when we work.

Taking this step isn’t easy but it is simple; it just requires that you take a ruthless approach to evaluating your workload, and possibly making some hard choices along the way. In the rest of his post, Cal gives some examples of what some of these choices look like.

I’ve been using this approach for many years, and it’s very rare that I need to work in any additional time to get through my workload.

Stop letting your schedule control you. Explore the Time Management for Academics course and learn practical strategies for protecting your precious time, and making progress on your high-value work at your own pace.