If you’ve been around for a while you’ve probably heard me say that people cringe when it comes to creating a plan and that some even say it’s a waste of time. Don’t believe the hype! Planning saves you plenty of your precious time and can help keep you from hitting road blocks.
Let’s talk about that plan you’ve created. It might have been hard for you to even do that if you’re one of those people who cringe when they hear the word “plan”, so congrats for getting that done! Your plan might be related to a particular goal, a project or maybe it’s something for a client. Once you’ve got it, you might not know exactly how to proceed. The key is one bite at a time. You take that large meal, so to speak, and break it down into bite sized pieces. In your plan you would have outlined the milestones for each goal or project, and if you didn’t you’ve got to take a step back and do that.
Looking at one milestone, figure out the smaller steps or tasks; the things that need to happen to reach that milestone and add them to your calendar. Putting things on your to-do list is okay if they will take less than 15 minutes, but if they take longer and you don’t have them in your calendar with a set block of time to complete them, you’re asking for trouble. At the beginning of each week, or at the end of the week for the upcoming week, go through this process. It doesn’t take long at all. As you place things on your to-do list and into your calendar, just like eating a meal, you don’t want to bite off more that you can chew. Don’t overload your plate. The other things that have to be done can stay in the fridge until you’re ready for them. Stick to your priorities as you plan. You should have assigned a level of priority to each goal or project when you created it. That allows you to automatically know which related tasks have priority when it comes to scheduling them.
This process, if you’ve created your plan properly, works really well because at this point, your priorities have been determined. Which allows you to focus on them regularly. That’s what gets you where you want to go. This process leaves no room for guessing, because it’s been removed from the equation altogether. You’ve planned your work, now it’s time to work your plan.