Planning is crucial. Not because things go according to plan. But that as Alan Lakein says “failing to plan, is planning to fail”. Brian Tracy suggests that 1 minute of planning saves an average of 10 minutes of execution. And anything that has a 10x ROI is something worth considering! Tracy also suggests that 12 minutes of planning the day before, will save roughly 2 hours the next day. Assuming an 8 hour work day, that’s a 25% increase in productivity and performance, which is fantastic considering an investing of less than 1% of your day.
The one crucial thing you have to have before planning and task management, is that you have a road map and “destinations” (goals) to get you there. Otherwise:
“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?”
“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to.”
“I don’t much care where –”
“Then it doesn’t matter which way you go.”
– Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
To get these benefits, start with this simple process:
Step 1 – Use a platform
This might be anything from a pad of paper, to my favorite; Trello which is built on a process called Kanban. But regardless of the platform, the key is to use it 110%.
To start using Trello:
A. Create an account here (if you haven’t already), I recommend signing in with your Gmail account so you don’t have another password to remember
B. Create a new personal Board (the “plus” button in the upper right on desktop), and name it something like “Tasks” or “To Do”
C. Then use the Eisenhower Matrix to create a total of 5 Lists inside that new board:
– Important and Urgent
– Important
– Urgent
– Not Important or Urgent
– Done.
This will help with prioritization and overwhelm if that’s a current problem. Example of this in action.
Step 2 – Add EVERYTHING to this platform! The system isn’t effective if you don’t use it 100%. Stop using sticky notes, start using the system.
Step 3 – Plan everything important in detail so that you can utilize the Law of Preparation
Step 4 – Plan your execution and action using something like Pomodoro and/or Brendon Burchard’s Millionaire Planning System