Focus Folder

If you read last week’s blog article New Year + New Vision + New Ideas = Overwhelm, you’re likely ready to move forward with your 90 Day Focus Plan. This is where you’ll lay out what you need to do to accomplish your 90 Day Focus.

The reason that I recommend focusing on 90 days is because most of us can only visualize about 90 days out. Think about the times you’ve tried to plan something a year out. Maybe you’re going to move or a take a big vacation, or maybe even a begin a major project. You may create a big, year-long plan and then find that you either put it off until about 90 days out or you’re continually reassessing what you need to do.

So rather than try and keep a big plan up-to-date, I want you to focus on just the next 90 days. Yes, often it’s a piece of a bigger vision, such as growing your business — and that’s OK. As a small business you can only do so much at one time, and it’s better to continually take small steps than to try and take giant steps and lose focus or get side tracked.

Here are the main steps we use in my programs to create a 90 Day Focus Plan. You can download the 90 Day Focus Plan template here. (Print it out and grab a pack of small square stickies or the stickie tabs.)

1.     Spend a few minutes visualizing what you want to accomplish in the next 90 days. What does it looks like? How do you feel seeing it completed?

2.     Write down a short sentence or phrase that tells you what it looks like. Be specific. This is your Main 90 Day Focus.

a.     On the Focus Folder this phrase will go on the upper right side.

b.     If you want to use Excel, or another application instead, this will go at the top.

3.     Next, we’re going to look at 3 components of your 90 Day Focus (this is for a business related focus.) You’ll notice on the Focus Folder there are 3 sections: Sales, Marketing, and Business Structure. These 3 areas are related to your Main 90 Day Focus. By accomplishing them you’ll accomplish your Main 90 Day Focus.

a.     What do you need to focus on in each of these areas to accomplish your Main 90 Day Focus? (You’ll see there is also space for your Measures and the Outcome.)

b.     Write down your focus in each of those areas and how you’ll know that you’ve reached it.

4.     Next is the Idea Dump. For this you’ll need some stickies (in different colors if you want.) You can also do this on paper or in Excel.

a.     Jot down all the actions and ideas –anything you can think of that you’ll need to do. Start at the end and ask yourself, “What do I need to do before I do it?”

b.     If you’re not sure what to do, jot down who you can talk to or how you’ll research to find what help you need.

c.      I recommend that you do it once and then walk yourself through it again.

5.     Now lay out the stickies on the focus folder. You’ll see that it’s divided into three vertical segments; these represent 30 days (typically a month). This gives you a picture of how busy you’ll be at different times during the 90 days as you actually do the work.

a.     If you have a vacation or travel plans during this time, add them to the plan.

b.     Also remember that you still have your ‘normal’ business activities that you might not necessarily add to the 90 Day Focus Folder.

6.     Finally, step back, take a deep breath and look over your Focus Folder one more time. Does there seem to be anything missing, any glaring holes?

7.     To use the Focus Folder on a daily and weekly basis, review it and transfer what you need to do to your daily/ weekly schedules. (If you’re not sure how to do that… stay tuned for next week’s article, How to Manage Your Day.)

8.     As you accomplish each, item check it off.

9.     If you find out you need to add something, add it and see how it impacts your schedule. Do you need to move other actions to make room for this new one?

10.  Finally, what will you do to celebrate all the work you’ve done and what you’ve accomplished? (Not just if you accomplish your focus, it’s important to celebrate the work you did to get wherever you got..)

a.     Write your celebration under your Main 90 Day Focus.

Once you’ve done it though, you’ll see how much easier it is to work your plan when you can visualize how everything works together. It’s important to do this even if you’re going to put it into an Excel spreadsheet afterwards, because we see with pictures in our mind; our subconscious continues to work on this even as we’re doing other things. This is the reason you can go back and look at your vision board even a year or two later and realize you’ve accomplished things on the board that you had forgotten about.