Planning

Gandhi said, “Today I have twice as much to do, so I must meditate for twice as long.”  

At Success Groups we have changed this to;  

“Today I have twice as much to do, so I must plan for twice as long.”  

When you think you haven't got time to plan, it's even more vital to plan.  

As business owners, we’re constantly being pulled in so many different directions, which is why you need to be deliberate with your time and how you plan to use it.  

I know it sounds simple, and you’re thinking, ‘But I already plan.’  

What you need to think about is, is it working for you?   

Are you stressed? Are you under pressure? Are you putting too much in?  

Are you achieving everything you’ve set out to in the day, week or month?  

Look at what you’re doing and whether it works for you.  

I’ve found that being deliberate with my time allows me to say no to things that aren’t on my agenda and that ultimately aren’t going to help me achieve me long-term goals.  

To begin, I plan at a high level every year; I look at the quieter periods and activities during those times. This allows me to look at the large blocks of time in the year and plot in those large projects.  

After I’ve identified the yearly activity, I look at my calendar in a monthly view and identify the large level gaps, for example, do I have an extra gap for delivery or where I could put another project in?  

I’ll break this down even further into more detail, weekly and daily.  

When you look at it like this it allows you to plan the larger jobs that you need to do on a monthly level and identify the gaps you have and plan how best to use them to maximise your time.