Thursday, October 13, 2022

Shaking up Your Planning Routine

Hiread,

Happy Thursday!!! I've been re-working my planning routine this fall and it feels GREAT!

I am going to tell you all about how I'm organizing my life for this season.

But first, let's talk about change. I've been using a bullet journal approach for about a year, with a nice blank notebook and bullet journal weekly and daily formats. It worked well for me because I wanted that flexibility.

In this season, though, I need something different. I realized that I wasn't using my in-between times productively. You know that 30-60 minutes between meetings? You COULD do something productive but sometimes you just...don't? Well I wasn't using that time as well as I wanted to.

I'm working on a couple of major career projects. My kids are back in school and they seem to need more from me this year in terms of homework support and teacher followup. I need to use my time very effectively.

Recently I was inspired by Cal Newport's organizational structure. I adjusted it slightly, because the best organizational/planning structure is the one that works for you. Here is what I am doing right now:

1) I created a Core Beliefs document that covers my goals and beliefs in the following areas: career, financial, personal, kids, community, and family. My document is pretty free form because that works for me. It's more about high level vision than about specific goals, but I will use it to set goals.

2) I also created a Root Document, an idea that comes directly from Cal Newport's system. This document lays out my weekly and daily planning processes. I am going to try to stick to this for a month! I will also probably layer in quarterly and yearly processes at the appropriate time.

3) I have started explicitly time blocking my work days. I am filling in the time between meetings with explicit tasks, big or small, personal or work related. If I don't lay the plan out for myself, I often don't use that time productively.

4) I have transitioned some of my planning tasks, like my weekly to do list and my weekly plan, to a digital format. I'm experimenting with Google Keep because it's accessible on my computer and phone.

Have you made any planning changes lately? Are you facing any planning or organizational struggles? I would love to hear from you!

Best,

Beth

PS. Over the next few weeks, I'll deep dive into my weekly and daily processes. If I share my plans with you, I'm much more likely to stick with them. Thanks for keeping me on track! :)





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