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The Art of Painless Planning

By Sarah Cooper

Republish: EasyPublish™ Published: 24Oct2008 Word count: 466 Viewed: 224 time(s) Get Free Content For Your Site

Have you experimented with all kinds of time management tools, only to give up because they are just too complicated? Many planning systems are great in theory but - I've found at least - too tough to stick to for the average imperfect human being. I've therefore developed a "quick and dirty" approach of my own, which I'm delighted to share with you now.

MY QUICK AND EASY PLANNING TOOL (for people who hate to plan)

1. Take a single sheet of A4 paper and create two columns extending two thirds of the way down the page.

2. In the left hand column, write down the key things you want to get done in the coming week.

3. At the end of the week, note your progress against each of these tasks in the right hand column opposite. If the task was completed, you have the satisfaction of ticking it off. If something is outstanding, this mini progress report feeds neatly into next week's left hand "to do" column.

4. In the bottom third of the page, jot down - your key achievements: it's too easy to forget these, so take this time to acknowledge to yourself what you should feel proud of - key lessons: so you can improve next time.

You can also use this space to record figures you want to keep track of. For example, I note how many client enquiries I receive, and how many new clients come on board.

It's important to choose a regular day and time for this plan and review session, and to stick to it, so it becomes a natural part of your weekly routine.

I find Friday lunchtime works well for me - I can end the week knowing I've got somewhere, and relax about what needs to happen from Monday because I already have a plan in place.

WHY THIS WORKS FOR ME

There are two main reasons: ease, and visibility.

It's SO easy. I've created the outline as a very simple template in Word. But I complete it using a good old-fashioned pen. It saves a lot of time and makes the whole process much friendlier. (It's a lot quicker to pick up a pen than to log on to your computer and retrieve a document.)

It's highly visible. I can stick my piece of paper up prominently above my desk so that throughout the week I'm constantly reminded of what I should be doing. And it's brief enough that I can take it all in at one glance without feeling too overwhelmed.

What do you think? If this sounds like something that could benefit you, give it a go. I am certainly no saint when it comes to always making the best use of my time, but I have found this "planning lite" approach quite sustainable.

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