Practice: Make Time and Plan Ahead

Take lead of your agenda

What does it mean to "make time and plan ahead"?

This practice is about:

1. Making time to set plans.

Making clear plans requires time and thoughtful focus. The first step to planning is carving the time and space to dedicate to the practice.

2. Reviewing your goals and priorities.

What's your big picture goal? What do you want?

3. Breaking down your goals and priorities into simple actions that you can do in the day.

What, specifically, are one or a few small actions that you can take within ~ 1 day that would move you closer to your goals?

4. Making a specific and deliberate plan.

How exactly do you plan to execute those actions?

What exactly will have to happen in order for you to feel successful?

Try giving yourself multiple scenarios:

• What's the minimum that you'll accomplish (in the event that shit goes sideways)?

• What's the best case scenario (given an ideal situation of unicorns)?

Why and how to practice

In a life full of responsibilities, it's easy for a day to get pulled into chaos.

Bosses are demanding production. Children are demanding entertainment. Partners are demanding affection.

...

Netflix is demanding binging. Social media is demanding swiping and tapping and scrolling. Retail is demanding buying.

You can't stop the onslaught of demands for your attention.

The best you can do is prepare for chaos, and meet it with a plan of attack.

The best defense against unwieldy demands of the every day: set fiercely stable priorities.

What do you want to accomplish today?

You get to define what success means to you each day.

If you're not clear on what you want, you'll be acting on the plans that other people have for you, rather than on your own.

Without planning ahead, you'll end up accomplishing more of what other people want for you, and risk doing less of what you want for yourself.

Make time to stay in the driver's seat.

Planning ahead is setting a clear agenda of small, simple actions that will define your success for the day.

Then asking yourself,

"How, specifically, will you make your plan happen?"

What other competing commitments can you anticipate?

What will you have to trade off or say no to?

The more clearly and accurately you can predict and plan your future, the less you risk being swiped for other people's priorities, and the more controlled you'll feel in the moment.

At the same time...

It's often counter-productive to plan out every detail of the day minute-by-minute.

Unless you're living in a strictly regimented monastery or you have vivid visions of the future, the day will probably not unfold along every detail.

Instead, be strategic.

Set aside some time, even if only five minutes, to plout out the big rocks of your day.

Outline the 3-5 big-ticket items you want to accomplish, and clearly mark out time in your calendar to accomplish those top priorities. Have at least a general plan of how you'll ensure those minimum priorities get accomplished.

Then, when you finally get to that moment of truth when it's time for the priority to get done, you'll have clarity and control for exactly how to follow-through. A sense of a control in the moment is a matter of accurately planning ahead. The time spent now is worth it, for less chaos and more control later.