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by Donna Birk
Everybody plans. When you decide to do something and then do it,
even if
its at the spur-of-the-moment, that's planning. Most of us
can decrease the level of stress in our day to day lives by
improving our planning habits. Here are ten tips to help you move
toward more effective planning.
1. Keep all of your planning tools and forms together in one
place. This way, you’ll know where to go to check on anything and
when you check on one item, the others will be there, reminding you
that they might need to be reviewed, too.
2. Plan ahead of time, however frequently you plan. If you plan
daily, decide on your daily plan at the end of the previous day; if
you plan weekly, decide on your weekly plan at the end of the
previous week, and so forth. You’ll be able to go home without
taking your work with you and you’ll come to work knowing exactly
what you need to accomplish.
3. Separate your planning from your doing. Take time specifically
to plan what you’re going to do rather than having that get
mingled in with your doing. You’ll just get more done if you plan
it and then do it instead of "planning on the go." The
very first item on any to-do list should be "plan my day, week,
month, etc." Start simple and keep it as simple as you can.
4. Don’t try to imitate the people who deal with all kinds of
complicated calendars, schedules, matrixes, flow charts, PERT
diagrams, Gannt charts, etc. Make your planning a natural process
for yourself by choosing things that you understand and can easily
implement.
5. Stretch yourself on an ongoing basis and try out something
new. If, after giving it a fair shot, it doesn’t work, you can and
should leave it out of your repertoire. You only grow and increase
your effectiveness, however, by moving out of your comfort zone.
6. Quiz other friends, colleagues, and coworkers about how they
plan and what works for them. I’ll be each one will have at least
one great idea for you to try!
7. Remember that planning is an ongoing process. None of us
maintain it absolutely 100% of the time with 100% effort. Try for
80%, knowing that there will be times when you pass and others when
you are absolutely diligent.
8. Make being proactive a personal priority for you. This means
taking charge of your life by taking action and utilizing your
personal planning style. Avoid being reactive, or waiting for things
to happen to which you then respond or react.
9. Choose planning tools that help you to organize your meetings,
appointments, tasks, projects, etc. in a consolidated manner. For
example, find one form that serves more than one function, rather
than having to deal with 6 different papers. If you’re using
something that doesn’t help you feel organized, replace it with
something that will.
10. Respect your time by learning how to deal with interruptions.
Become an expert at distinguishing the truly important priorities
from the daily crises that tend to steal your time.
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