Planning has been on my mind lately. Most likely because I’m getting ready to host my mastermind’s quarterly planning session in addition to spending a day last week with one of my clients focused on their quarterly plan. I’m very skilled at helping others layout their plans, and like most entrepreneurs I’m challenged with helping myself. This is one of the reasons we’ve started including planning sessions as a regular part of our mastermind group.
It’s one thing to spend one day a quarter and one or two days annually planning. The second part is living that plan in a way that supports your ability to accomplish what you said you wanted to do, while providing the flexibility to create and innovate as you move forward.
One thing I’ve done is commit to writing things down. I was introduced to a pretty basic system that I’ve modified only slightly at this point. You being by writing down every project that you’re working on or thinking that you might want to work on. Get them all down on paper. This is the key to the system and the freedom the system brings. Get it all out of your head and on paper. I can guarantee you’ll feel lighter and freer by listing all (and I do mean all) of your projects and dream projects. And continue to list them as they come up. You can create two lists one for the projects you’re working on now and then one for all the projects you want to do someday.
After you’ve listed them, start a second sheet for each project you’re working on. On each project page list all the actions you need to take to accomplish this task. Don’t worry about putting them in any particular order, just get them down. Again the point is to get all this stuff out of your head. Feeling lighter yet?
After you have the project pages created, create a weekly list for each project. On this sheet list the tasks you’re going to do this week. Finally on your daily calendar for the week add the tasks, making sure you give yourself enough time to accomplish each task. This is another challenge we entrepreneurs face. We don’t give ourselves enough time to really do the job the way we want without rushing and feeling that we’re not giving it our all.
The final steps are then either Sunday evening or Monday morning have a staff meeting with yourself and lay out your week, then each morning review what you’re doing and see if anything has come up that requires a change in plans.
Commit to writing everything down and reviewing it weekly and daily and I know the chaos and overwhelm you feel when you think about everything you need to do will quickly dissipate.
If you want a copy of the forms I modified send me an email at jlovas@lovasconsulting. I’m happy to share them.
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Jane works with CEOs, Partners, Principals and Executives who are looking for Clarity, Focus and Release. My clients and colleagues call me a thought provoking Business Therapist. My focus is helping overwhelmed executives regain clarity, let go of ambiguity, uncertainty and fear, while bringing focus to their goals and objectives. I ask the hard questions knowing that you’re ready to answer them.
Jane is also the author of Put Your Big Girl Panties On and Kick Your Fears in the Ass.
Additional information is available at www.lovasconsulting.com. Contact Jane by email jlovas@lovasconsulting.com or by telephone at 703.981.3157
703.981.3157