In our previous episode, I made the key point that, when it comes to time management, planning is your trump card! And the basic rule is… Before you do anything else, do something else first; plan!’
Sadly, most people either do not plan or that they use the wrong approach; or should I say, they do it the wrong way. That’s why work-related stress disorders are on the increase. That’s not your portion! It’s great you are taking this step to mitigate the potential negatives. In this episode, I describe what planning actually means, and then proceed to guide you into the most effective approach.
Planning, in simple terms, is the process of writing down how you intend to do a particular thing in future. It is to “think on paper”. You can extend the term “paper” to include note-taking apps or planning apps on your electronic devices, such as phone, tablet, or desktop computer or any medium that allows you to keep records of ideas.
It demands that you look to the future and prepare an intelligent course of action for it. It involves thinking and outlining details of what needs to be done to reach the desired outcome.
When you do that, you get a plan (of action). Without that you don’t have a plan, but just thoughts or ideas; if they remain in your brain.
It takes time to plan, however, when you do, you save more time than the time you spend in planning. For instance, it takes about 10 minutes to plan the day, but when you do, it can save you 40 minutes to 2 hours (in execution) for other things. It is estimated that on average, every 1 minute spent in proper planning saves you 10 minutes in execution.
There are 4 steps to take, and the first is to create a general ‘to-do’ list.
The General To-Do list is a general list of tasks or activities you need to be doing from now to as far as you can see; whether 1 week, 1 month, 1 quarter, 1 year, 1 decade or 1 century, etcetera, it all depends on you.
First, do a time audit to discover where your time really goes. So, track and document every activity of yours for three days or more. Indicate how much time each such activity takes to get done. And then…
Write down (in a list form) all the things you are required do over a seeable period, as well as those you just seek to achieve. Write everything, from the trivial or insignificant to the great. Add to this list as and when new things come up (especially meetings) and delete from it as and when a task is accomplished, or no longer necessary.
(Use pen & paper, apps, or spreadsheets; more about these tools in another section).
See more at seersapp.com/tm-basic
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