What Are Your Plans?

Continual planning and setting of goals is critical in accomplishing those things that are most important to you. You should take at least 15 minutes each day, formally planning your day and reviewing your goals. What effort is it going to take today to accomplish your goals tomorrow? It can be hard work and also requires discipline to keep focused on your plan. There is so much "stuff" that can get in the way of what you truly what to accomplish.

A good measuring stick for how you are doing with the planning of your life is to ask yourself this question, "Do I spend more time planning my weekend or planning for a vacation than I do planning my life?" You tend to plan for those things that you value and that are most important to you - especially in the short term. In the big picture and the long term, how important is your life?

Can You Afford That Act In Your Lineup?

Here's a strange situation. According to an article in USA Today, a newly built high school in Riverside California (at a cost of $105 million) will sit idle because the school district doesn't have the money to pay for operating it. While the cost of operating the school would be $3 million dollars per year, just maintaining it comes with an annual price tag of $1 million.

While the source of their problem stems from inadequate funding sources (and maybe some poor planning), we experience similar challenges when we start a project or a task that will ongoing activities associated with it. We meant well when we started, but just didn't think about all the "maintenance" costs associated with it.

The next time you are contemplating bringing a large act into your lineup, ask yourself these questions:

• What ongoing tasks or activities will result from success with this project?
• Can I consistently complete these tasks and my other responsibilities as well?
• Can others consistently contribute their time and energy to the ongoing activities that will result from this project?
• What will I have to take out of my current schedule to spend the necessary time on this project?

Having clear answers to these questions may prevent a perfectly good elephant from squashing you!

Why?

Have you ever had a conversation with a young child and have them curiously ask you several times in a row the question, "Why?" If you can be patient with the exercise, you find that repeatedly asking, "Why?" results in getting to the root of the initial question.

Do you ever ask, "Why?" Have a conversation with yourself and ask the question, "Why?"

• Why don't I write down my dreams and do something about them?


• Why am I busy? Am I accomplishing what is important or am I just doing stuff?


• Why do I plan my schedule at work but don't plan my life?


• Why can't I get anything done?


• Why do I focus so much time on my work and relationships and not on taking care of myself?


• Why do I spend so much time dealing with email? Is it productive?


• Why are we having this meeting?


• Why don't I read more?

It is important to regularly stop, reflect and as yourself some questions that could change the course of your life. What distractions do you need to remove? Why?

Planning and Doing

What is more important, planning or doing? You can create a great plan but if you don't execute that plan then there isn't a lot of value to the plan. You can do a lot of "stuff" but if the stuff isn't part of a plan then typically you are getting nowhere fast. Planning and doing are equally important as you strive to accomplish what is most important to you.

But how many times do we wake up in the morning and just dive into a lot of activities without an end in mind? Do you ever sit down at work and start checking email and find out that 3 hours later you have accomplished nothing but cleaning out your inbox of junk?

On the other hand, what about the dreams, goals and projects that you have laid out and yet have found yourself afraid to take the first step. The little voice inside your head tells you that you don't have time, that you are too old, too bald or not smart enough. The plan just sits on a piece of paper or in the back of your mind gathering dust.

Create a plan, write it down and then do it! It doesn't matter whether it is a plan of what you are going to accomplish today or the plans for the business that you are going to start - begin with a plan and then get started. Planning and doing are both critical elements that go hand in hand. Plan your work and work your plan.

Time To Go Home

You look at the clock and realize that you should have left work 20 minutes ago. "Where has this day gone?", you say out loud to yourself. You quickly pile everything into a stack , throw some stuff into your bag and rush out the door. On the drive home and throughout the evening you think about what you have left undone and what you are going to do tomorrow. If the above description is a typical "end of your day routine", consider an alternative strategy.

Set an alarm to ring 15 minutes before it is time to go home. When the alarm goes off, STOP! Quickly finish what you are doing and E.N.D. your day:

1. Evaluate: Consider what went right and what went wrong with your day. Review your meetings and the tasks you accomplished. What was successful and is worth repeating tomorrow? What wasn't so successful and can be improved upon? Make some notes. Schedule some tasks. Self reflection and learning is a powerful and lifelong tool. Too often we rush and fail to learn from our successes and failures.


2. Neatness: Organize and/or clean off your desk/work area. File the papers that you were working on. Put away and organize your clutter. When you return to work in the morning and find your work area clean, you get a good start on your day and hit the ground running.


3. Diagram: Diagram and plan what you are going to do tomorrow. First, review your calendar. What meetings do you have? How much time will you have to work on other tasks/projects. Based on the amount of time available, what will you get done? Make a list. Prioritize it. Delegate, Delete and Delay what isn't going to fit in tomorrow's schedule. Leave some time for interruptions and emergencies.

15 minutes have past and you can go home with peace of mind - not to mention that you are leaving "on time". As you turn the lights off, mentally signal to yourself that you have earned the right to step out of your "work ring" and now it is time to step into your "self ring" and/or "relationship ring".