Planning

I like to start my week by making a plan. Planning allows me to be productive rather than just busy. Being busy feels good but often does not produce anything, whereas designing and implementing a plan saves time and ends with a product.  

I begin planning by writing down and prioritizing everything I need to do for the week. Next, I write down the necessary steps to complete my week's goals, assign an amount of time to complete each step of each goal, and commit myself to meet it. 

If I need to learn how to do something, I include learning it as one of the steps. If I don't know all the steps, I give my best guess and build in research time. The important part is to begin planning, and the “how” will appear along the way.

Before I add each step to my calendar,  I make sure to first include personal/fun/rest/family time. Then, I place every goal step in my calendar, and I do that step on that date and within the time frame, no matter what. For every hour I spend planning, I create about 10 hours I would otherwise waste trying to figure out what my next step should be. 

I find that planning is more effective when I focus on one large goal at a time. Often when I arrive at my calendar, I don't feel like doing what's on it. Having a single focus helps me do it anyway. It's not negotiable. 

Stay focused, keep moving, say no, know what you value and the life you want, and keep going. Simplify by reducing the number of things that consume your time and doing the things that create time. If your plan doesn't work, look to change your plan, not your goal. 

See you on the other side.