It’s February! Can you believe it??? We have already completed a full month of 2017. Are you still keeping your resolutions? Did you reach your goals for January? I don’t set “resolutions”, but I do spend a lot of time in December thinking about what I want to accomplish the next year. This year I went to the next level with that thinking.
I did more than write it down and dream. I did more than start a plan and hope for the best. First I looked at what goals I achieved last year and I celebrated. One of my goals was to complete one 5K race per month. I actually completed 11 5Ks and one half marathon. Happy dance! I had some business goals and some other personal goals that I reached as well. More happy dancing! What did you achieve last year? Please share in the comments and we can celebrate together!!!
I created a vision board last year and when I started my vision board for 2017 I took anything off my 2016 board that was not completed and moved it over. Then I enjoyed what did not get moved. I actually still have it up. When I get a little discouraged it is there to remind me that I did reach some pretty awesome goals last year.
Goals are not dreams. They take vision, planning and work. Vision is seeing the goal as if it were already achieved. Planning takes thought and time. What really takes a lot of time is the work to get there. If you are training to do a 5k, see yourself crossing the finish line, plan your daily walks, runs and other training, then do the work.
Since the work is what takes most of the time, especially when it’s something new and different, we have to find ways to ensure we have the time set aside to allow us to achieve our goals. That is why consistently planning makes such a huge difference.
PLANNERING
I spend a couple hours a week (usually Sunday afternoons) planning the following week. That might sound obsessive to you or maybe you are thinking that time would be better spent actually doing the work to reach a goal. Honestly, if I don’t PLAN to succeed, I don’t succeed.
I’ve tried lots of techie calendar options, but what really works best, even for this geek, is a paper planner. I really fought the idea, but I’m so glad I gave in to it. I think there is something psychological about writing things that make them stick in our brains better. The planner I use is the Brilliant Life Planner. It’s pretty and it’s functional for both my life and my business.
Plan Your Week In Three Simple Steps
Step One – Celebrate Last Week:
I review the previous week. What special memories are there? What kept me from reaching a goal? What did I accomplish? What do I need to move to this week’s list that still needs work? Remember to celebrate your wins – you earned it!
Step Two – Time Block:
I have a crazy long checklist of everything you can imagine, from my husband’s appointments, to dog grooming, to time set aside to write blog-posts. As I review that list I block time for each thing that must be done that week – doctor’s appointments, grocery shopping, processing email, etc.
I don’t plan to do everything on that checklist every week, but I do check off each thing after deciding if it needs to happen that week. Having a checklist keeps me from forgetting things, especially monthly and quarterly tasks. If you’d like a copy of that list, comment below and I’ll be happy to share it with you.
Step Three – Everything Else:
Review my Getting Things Done runway, which is basically my list of everything that needs to be done from phone calls, to shipping orders, and everything else. It’s my brain dump. I look for what I must get done this week and block it in where-ever there is time available. Everything else has to wait for the next weekly review.
Honestly it probably would not take me two hours, if I did not enjoy it so much. Along with my Brilliant Life Planner I use some cool color ink gel pens for color coding and planner stickers. Some stickers are just for fun and others help me block the time more visibly or I use for checklists. I’ve purchased some on Etsy and others I’ve created and cut on my Silhouette Cameo. (I did warn you that I am a geek-girl.)
If you still think it’s too time consuming to take two hours to plan your week, consider the fact that you have 168 hours in your week. Is it worth two of those hours to plan to have the best week possible?
What are your tricks and tips for planning your week? What planner do you use? Feel free to comment and let us all know. Thanks for taking a few moments to read this post. I hope it blessed you!
Blessings,
Lauree
…keep dancing the dream
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