Start Things Off With a Plan

Start Things Off With a Plan

Having your goals at hand means you will always keep them in mind. Think of this as a battle plan, something that will help you tackle day to day scenarios in your business. You already know what tasks are important to you and what tasks are not.

Depending on how you want to do, create a document or keep a notebook and dub it your battle plan. This document should contain the goals that you have for yourself and for your business. Make sure that this is placed somewhere that you can easily access or see. Call this your Battle Plan.

Do not be disheartened if your battle plan is empty at the moment. As you become more adept with planning, it will become an essential part of your life. A strategy, if you will, of dealing with the day to day.

Start each day off by planning what you want to do. Approaching each day in this manner will give you loads of relief from the stress that has been plaguing you. For those juggling a nine to five, a family and other responsibilities, this will also help you put things in focus.

One trick for the Daily Battle Plan is to write down the five or six most important things that you have to do. You will be tempted to add more, but start with just five or six. Why? Because crossing them out at the end of the day will give you a wonderful feeling of accomplishment.

But what if all the things you do are important? They are not. There are definitely some major tasks that you cannot leave out but once you have set goals and start planning your days.

Secondary tasks should also be part of the list but give it a bit of wiggle room. Will it really kill you if you do not complete that report today?

Once you have it down and see what you need to do, you can act around your list of priorities.

Another trick is to break your priorities and goals down into categories or by order of importance. For example, if saving enough capital to get your business off the ground without having to take a loan is your number one goal, what can you do to get to that place?

Know How You Work (And How Other People Work Too)

The next step is to evaluate your own personality. If you already have people who work for you and rely on you, you may want to evaluate their habits as well.

It is very simple and all you need are your powers of observation. You will easily be able to spot bad time habits and time traps without really lifting a finger.

The first thing that you have to remember is that people like to do things their own way.

Boxing someone in (including yourself) will end up causing damage.

Some people like to do things in fits and bursts. Others love to cram things with details. If you are the type of person who likes to color code your files, then use it to your advantage when changing your bad time habits. The great thing about technology is that you can use it to adapt to your environment.

· First, the paper freaks. They need to physically have something to touch in order to begin their time management process. These are the people who enjoy to-do lists, Post-It reminders, and paper or notebook planners. Investing in colored pens, highlighters and nice notebooks is a good start.

· Other people are more visual. They like to “see” projects, flows and tasks without having to consult a small notebook. They may set up bulletin boards or web spaces that allow them to add images and other visual reminders.

· Smart phones and computers often have downloadable applications that can help you manage your life. You may be the techie type of person who can benefit from this type of organization.

Knowing that different people adapt different and use different ways to manage their time and environment will help you in the long run. Think of the methods in this book as suggestions, not rules set in stone. Find something that works for you and stick with it.

Part of evaluating yourself is also being honest about your problem areas. Are you a serial procrastinator? Are you so disorganized that you have forgotten to pay bills and spend large chunks of your day looking for things? You have to be honest with yourself in order to know how to correct your bad habit.