Hi ,
Ooops! Sorry folks, this time with the Planner attached!
Welcome to Day 1 of Plan Your Ideal Week.
If you haven't done so already, write down …
What three things you want to achieve this week.
In order to make the most out of the time you have, you need to PLAN.
When you plan your day, you get more done. It sounds simple and perhaps obvious but it’s the number ONE thing that will make a real difference to how much you get done and how productive you are.
I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve worked with people who aren’t in the habit of planning who are surprised at how of a difference this one simple thing really makes. Perhaps they feel they’d be wasting time ‘planning’ when they could be ‘doing’ but the opposite is the case.
When you don't have a plan you’re more likely to react to whatever comes up at the time, whoever shouts loudest or you're tempted to cherry pick the easiest things on your list.
If you just launch into your day, you might have a rough idea of what you want to achieve but no idea of what your day actually looks like or how it's going to work out.
As you plan you day consider:
- When are you going to do each task?
- What are your priorities?
- What happens when a new task comes up or requests come in?
We’ll get to that last one later in the week but let’s at least start … with a plan.
Attached is the Ideal Week Planner. Use it as a template, either on it’s own or incorporate it into your existing planning system, whether paper based or digital.
Just because we have technology at our fingertips and use it on a day to day basis, doesn't mean you can't use a paper planner. There’s no right or wrong way to do this, you just need to DO … something.
How It Works
At the beginning of each week, set aside a few minutes before you start work.
First, plan in all of your fixed, non-negotiable time:
- Meetings, appointments, social commitments - things you can’t change or have no control over.
Next, plan in time for the important things you need to get done:
- Project work
- Your own meetings
- Important personal commitments
- Exercise/activity - yes this is important, you need to plan it in.
Finally, plan in
- Time for any other tasks on your list
- Make sure you have time for breaks! - these are important too if you want to stay productive.
If your week is already fully booked, through no fault of your own, apply these principles as you start to plan ahead. Start with where you are.
More on this tomorrow.
See you there,
Clare
