How Scheduling Builds the Business (and Life) You Actually Want

Everyone wants to get more done — but without a schedule, that’s not necessarily going to happen.

The truth is, if it isn’t in your diary, it isn’t real. “Someday” never arrives — but Tuesday at 10am does.

In this Sunday Session, I’m sharing why scheduling is one of the simplest yet most powerful habits for creating progress — in your business and your life. 

You’ll hear how a classic Yale study proved that people who make concrete plans are nine times more likely to follow through, and how you can use that same principle to build momentum every week.

So tune in, grab your calendar, and start turning good intentions into real results.

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Discover the Client Control method so you attract better clients, win more valuable projects, and charge what you’re worth.

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Transcript

0:00 Hello there, and welcome back to another episode of Sunday Sessions with me, Nick Poninski. Today's episode is all about scheduling.
0:06 So, let's get into it. What is scheduling? What isn't it? Well, scheduling is deciding what you're going to do and when you're going to do it.
0:14 Thank you. Before the moment arrives. Now, it isn't a wish list, it isn't I'm gonna try, it isn't I'm gonna do this someday.
0:22 It's a journey. It's a diary slot that says, at this time, in this place, I'm doing this thing. Now, why does this matter?
0:29 Well, it matters for three reasons. Number one, if it isn't scheduled, it's not gonna happen. It isn't real. So, some day, or another day, or at some point, that is not a slot in your calendar or your diary.
0:42 But, Tuesday at 10am, that is a slot in your calendar. Next up, it saves willpower. So, you've already got, you've already decided that you are going to do XYZ at time.
0:55 There's no debate with yourself anymore. You've committed. It's going to happen. There's no willpower. There's no argument. It's going to happen.
1:03 So, number three, it protects what matters. Scheduling protects what matters. So, family, health, the tasks that actually grow your business.
1:12 They don't get squeezed out by the noise. They don't get de-stressed. Something is super important to you. You've scheduled time for it.
1:19 It's more likely to happen than if you just say, oh, well, I'll do it at some point. So this is really important for you as a business owner, but also as a fellow human being.
1:31 I want to share a, because all this sounds logical, right? I'm sure you've experienced this yourself, and maybe you already knew this, and this is just reconfirming.
1:39 for you, or you've kind of had this idea that scheduling works, but you've never had it presented to you. Either way, I want to share.
1:47 a scientific study with you to help bring this to life for you. So there was a classic, uh, vaccination study in the 1960s.
1:55 Students who were asked to make a specific plan, the exact time, day, and place where they were going get the job, they were 28% more likely to get the job than those who only got the information.
2:11 Wow, that's big. So those who only got the information, they were, uh, successful 3% of the time. Those who scheduled it, 28%.
2:22 So a massive, massive increase. And that's the power of implementation in the intentions. If you say on day, at time, in place, I will do X, that is much more likely to happen.
2:35 Then, I'll do it soon, I'll do it some day. So, here's how to use, hopefully that's got to the point, Tom.
2:43 Here's how to use scheduling to improve your business and your life. So, think of it in two layers, defaults and specifics.
2:51 So, I want you to set up your defaults in your diary, in your template week. So, give the important areas a regular home in your diary.
2:58 Thursday evening games. Phone's away. It's just, I don't know, everyone getting around. Board game. First Saturday of the month. Catch up with your best friends.
3:07 Book the cafe. Book it in your diary. Go to the cinema. Get dinner. Whatever it is. And that sounds, might sound like a lot.
3:15 First Saturday of every month. It's actually only 12 times a year. And if that's all you're really scheduling with your best friend, that's going to be way better than, yeah.
3:22 It's going it's not happening. Uh, Friday mornings. You might want to say to yourself, it's coffee and content day. So that outlines next week post it's Thursday.
3:31 Schedules your emails. You sit there with your coffee. Maybe you light your candle. That's when you get that piece of work done.
3:40 Weekly workouts, or free weekly workouts. It's the same time each week. So for me, that means, ah, Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday.
3:48 5.30, each day, each of those days, I'm at the gym for an hour. I'm doing my workouts. You might want to do something similar.
3:55 Again, in my house. It's happening because I've psychologically committed to it. And you might also want to put a sales block in your diary.
4:02 So outreach, follow-up. Booking calls. Whatever it is. Now these defaults, they make the right choice the easy choice. Now here's how to add specifics.
4:12 This turns goals into actions. So if you know something will move you forward, don't say someday, specify the task and the time.
4:20 If not, revamp my website. It's more Monday, 9am, write the homepage headline and the first paragraph. Not, get more clients, more Tuesday, 11-12, send 5 personalized looms.
4:34 Not, be healthier. Or, it's more, Wednesday, 7-7.30, walk in the park. These small, specific, scheduled actions beat business. Big, vague intentions, every single time.
4:47 And, what I want you to do is protect these slots, right? I want you to treat these scheduled tasks. Sometimes, like a client meeting, like a doctor's appointment, whatever it is.
4:56 A simple line. I'm heads down until eleven. I'll pick this up afterwards. Block off everything else. Block off, uhm, you know, any distractions.
5:05 Close the phone. Throw it in another room. Lock the door. Throw the kids out to the street. Whatever it is you need to do.
5:12 You need to protect these slots in your diary. And, I understand. You understand. You are You are not a robot.
5:19 Life happens, and if a slot gets knocked out, move it once. Don't do it. Don't delete it. Just move it.
5:26 If you moved your, if you missed your Friday coffee and content, slide it to Saturday, and then keep moving the momentum.
5:33 And, have a little review. If you keep end up moving Friday to Saturday, just move it to Saturday for now.
5:40 Good! You've got the feedback that your diary is not supportive of when you scheduled it. So, there's no problem with moving it around.
5:48 So, here's what I want you to do today. I want you to do a three-minute setup. So, open your calendar, drop in three recurring anchors.
5:56 Whatever it is, right? A coffee and a content. You might want to put that up Friday at 9 while 10.
6:03 Tuesday, 11 till 12. Outreach. Follow-ups, whatever it is. Friday afternoon, 4 while 5. Admin, invoices, whatever it is you need to do.
6:12 Thank you. I want you to pick three specific anchors, three things that will drive your business forward and put them in your diary.
6:20 And say, I'm going to do X. I'm going to do it at a certain time. Here's what a successful outcome looks like for me.
6:27 And then I want you to add some lines. So that family games night, or the best friend catch-up, or whatever it is, you know, ah, the going to the gym.
6:35 Get those slotted. Put them in your diary so that your brain knows it's going to happen when it's going to happen.
6:41 And that's it. Now your priorities have a home. And some day has a date. So, hopefully, this has been a useful episode for you.
6:51 Thank you for listening along. And, as ever, because it's Sunday, embrace the change. Because how we change is how we grow.