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Thursday, August 18, 2011

Thursday's Time tip: Planning a week at a time.

As promised last week, I said I’d talk about planning a week at a time. True, we live a day at a time, but we work in weeks. We plan things for next week, or week after next, or later this week. And those infamous words from the old, old tv serials, “Last week as you will recall.”

So we should be able to plan out a week at a time. The “to do” list is still there, as well as your priorities, but it takes on a little different look. Instead of thinking what has to be done today, and what priorities there are, stop and take a look at your relationships and goals.

What are your roles? Mother/Father? Brother/Sister? Son/Daughter? Employer/Employee? Best friend? Adviser/Mentor? Student? Define your roles. Then think about who you need to see and what you need to do for someone else. Pick a day and time where those things will happen.

Lay out personal time for things you need to do for yourself.

So on a piece of paper write down your roles and what needs to be done this week. What needs to be strengthened? Projects for work and map out times for those. Work your way down the list and place those items on the day and time they need to be done. You’ll fill up your week, and with effort you’ll be able to accomplish what you need to do with those you need to be doing those things with.

I’ll cover more about this in future posts, but this is a brief overview of how to approach a week of planning.

The inescapable fact of both methods (daily and weekly) is you have to stop what you’re doing and think about your goals, and things that need to be done. You must take time to plan.

7 comments:

David P. King said...

Thanks for hosting A.M. Supinger earlier this week. She's so awesome!

I read your bio. We have a lot in common (finished 7 MSs).

Your post made me think about my roles and goals. Lots of goal making, but not enough role doing on my end. Thanks for pointing that out. :)

Jeff King said...

I suck at: goals, planning, scheduling or anything else that relates to organizing my writing habits or other wise... no, I do agree it would be useful, and probably the most productive.
But that isn't me!

I do want to hear more though--i could always change... maybe!

A.M.Supinger said...

I wish I was this organized....and thanks D.P. King! Y'all are the awesome ones! ;)

Dean C. Rich said...

David,

There are many ways to get to Chicago. Thinking about your roles and working to build relationships goes along way to making you effective.

Remember effective for people, efficient for things!

Dean C. Rich said...

Jeff,

Just because you haven't done something in the past doesn't mean you can't do something in the future! The time spent setting goals and planning how you will get there is time well spent. You may not need to plan a whole week, just try to organize some busy days a few times a week and see how it goes. Ease into it. You don't run a marathon the first time you start to exercise. So ease into it and see how it works. I never used to plan either. I find when I don't plan, I don't get the things done that matter to me. I'll post on some of this soon.

Dean C. Rich said...

AM,

You are more organized than you think. You maintain a blog, and you are writing. Both of which take foresight and planning. Give yourself more credit!

Thanks again for posting.

Riley Redgate said...

Dean, this is a GREAT post. I have a lot of roles to uphold, and figuring out a sort of rotation to keep them all well-maintained is a fantastic plan.

I've blawarded you the Liebster award! I see Lora already gave it to you XD but in any case, if you'd like to pick it up, it's on my blog.