Simplify your life {Week fourteen: Time management – Planning}

Welcome to the next phase of Simplify Your Life. Over the next six weeks we will be tackling time management. Having done our inner work we know what our values and priorities are, we know what types of inner clutter can be stumbling blocks, and we know what vision we have for our lives.

Now we are going to tackle planning; obligations, commitments and choices; how to slow down and focus; decision making; procrastination; and routines. For many this will be the biggest area for simplifying your life with the hope of gaining clarity, reducing stress and finding the time to move forward with your goals and the things that bring you joy in life.

Right from day one on this topic I want to heavily emphasize one point – please know that you will never get it all done! There is always more to do so let go of the stress and pressure to clear your to do list to feel “done”. You are better served with an overall aim of doing what you can with the resources available to you (time, energy, etc) while focusing on what is important, what is of high value in your life and what has the best return on energy (ROE).

With planning there are various levels you can tackle looking at both long range and short term. I will share the methods I use along with some extensions or variations. This is not a prescription, but rather a guide. The point is to do whatever level of planning  suits your lifestyle and personality.

Later in the week I will cover planning for “type B” and creative people who may resist too much planning while knowing they need some degree of it to move ahead with goals or calm some excess chaos and stress they currently experience.

 

You need at least three essentials to create an anchor of planning in your life:

1. a calendar / diary / planner – whether you choose digital or paper is up to you. Do not be pressured to go digital just because it is 2012 and you own a smart phone. This is one area that is critical to suit to you rather than force yourself to match an image or a desire that does not come from within. If you regularly forget to check your digital calendar or simply prefer to write things down I don’t think you should force the situation.

2. a way to capture new information – again choose a simple notebook, a section in your planner,  a digital platform or app on your phone- just choose one method that you will use consistently and have one place for capturing information. Post it notes stuck to every surface or scribbles on scrap paper rarely work for the average person. Even if you choose not to use one notebook do not have multiple places to note things on one subject – ie have a single place to capture blog/writing notes and ideas so you always know where to go back to.

3. a master to do list (including project plans) – new tasks come up constantly and should not simply be tacked on your current day’s list. That is the fastest way to feel overwhelmed. A master list keeps everything safe and out of your head, but allows your current daily / weekly to do list to stay focused on what is actually being tackled this week.

Yearly planning

Setting goals as we have already done in week six was actually the first step in planning. The key is not to “set and forget” with our goals. After sitting down and deciding where you want to be headed in the coming year it is critical to both regularly check in to see if those goals are still important / suitable for you and continuously add action steps onto your monthly, weekly and daily planning.

 

Monthly planning

Note fixed appointments and activities (includes birthdays, anniversaries, soccer training, holidays booked, etc)

Add any related tasks to your master to do list or calendar (ie if you or your child are starting a new sport or season and need to purchase gear, or if you need 3 cards to mail out that month, or blood tests you have to get done before your doctor’s appointment)

Review your goals and note what is going well and what you want to change or add for next month. Acknowledge what you have done and see what you have been neglecting for whatever reason.

 

Weekly planning

Look at appointments and activities that have been scheduled in.

Take these into consideration as you meal plan for the week ahead (using whatever method suits your household).

From meal plan create shopping list for the week plus ongoing items added to shopping list previously (if you are keeping a running shopping list as I highly recommend). I have posted a resource of free printables to organise this area of your household.

Schedule in what is important to you (this is highly personal and can include exercise, a hobby, bible reading, meditation, family time, etc). If you want to lock these things in don’t add them to your to-do list, but instead book them in as appointments with yourself.

Review your previous week and see what personal things got cancelled (ie – if you did not make two of your scheduled workouts look at making this week a priority catch up) and what tasks are lingering on your list (try to move them forward – either do them, delegate them or ditch them).

Note any errands that you need to run and schedule them (ie printer ink is running low, library books are due or mail needs to be posted).

Group similar tasks together (ie errands, phone calls, emails to send, bills to be paid)

 

Daily planning

From your master to do list select tasks that are important to achieve or urgent and therefore must get done today.

Note any supporting tasks (ie getting a file ready before a meeting, taking out something to defrost for dinner)

Limit this to a few key tasks and if you achieve those you can always add more to your day.

As new things come up add them to your master list or calendar. Only do them today if they can be done quickly and easily or are urgent and therefore move ahead in priorities.

Carry over any incomplete tasks at the end of the day if they cannot be delegated or ditched at this stage (sometimes you realise you should not be doing a task) or delayed (if you are now waiting on someone else to move forward put it back on your master list).

Challenge for week fourteeen: Everyone will have a different starting point depending on how much planning you already have in your life. Review where you are at now, where you want to go and what you can change for the next six weeks. You will tweak as you go and will hopefully find by week twenty that you have created your own time management system that suits your lifestyle perfectly…If you don’t have a master to do list try a brain dump (noting all the things you currently have stored in your mind, on post it notes, jotted in your phone etc). If you have not set monthly goals based on your overall goal it would be a good step to start planning what realistic steps you can take for April.  and so on! If you need more direction we can chat in the comments or by email. Baby steps are all you need this week. You can take this first step in week fourteen and build on it as we go through the other topics.

 

I am a natural planner so what I have shared reflects both my personality and the fact that I have been planning like this almost from toddlerhood. Most of the weekly and daily planning for me is now automatic. If you don’t currently plan much you will need to allow for more trial and error and patience. Whatever first step you come up with is right for you if it takes into account your lifestyle, your goals and your personality / preferences. If you want to see some planning printables that you can use I did a round up that is thorough and free.

 

Find your simple,

Deb

 

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Image credit: 2012 calendars by flickr user Asja

Tagged as: goals, planning, time management