If you find yourself surprised by mornings … Perhaps you need a different plan.
If you find yourself having all of your tasks and priorities assigned for you … Perhaps you need a different plan.
Caveat: If you like to be told what to do and if you like to be surprised by what you’ll do every day … stop reading now.
If you want more. If you want to lead (even on a small scale). May I suggest you continue reading.
As I wrote about in Plan Your Days … or Else it is imperative that you plan your time wisely. We all have the same amount of time every day. Those that use it best are happier and more successful (by whatever definition they use).
How to avoid being surprised by mornings?
Start Slow.
Start with looking at your schedule the night before.
It can be as simple as this. Just review your schedule the night before. Know who you are going to be meeting with or what you need to be doing. This one small step can greatly improve your time utilization. Think about the meetings and plans you have for the next day. Really think about them. What is the purpose of the meeting. Who will be there. What do you need to bring to the meeting? What questions do you need to ask? What questions can you ask and answer the night before so that the meeting time can be consumed with questions that really need to be asked.
Note: If you find that meetings are not productive … do what you can to avoid attending. Perhaps you can address your part of the meeting by submitting a report or by giving your part of the presentation at the beginning of the meeting then stepping out. Of course, this is not always an option, but it’s worth exploring.
Next … work up to 2 nights before, then a week before.
Go for broke…if you can do a day and a week
Try for a month.
Then a year.
Businesses do this. So should you.
Of course, everyone cannot predict all the things that will happen a year in advance. Businesses have this same challenge…multiplied by the number of employees and again multiplied by the number of customers, suppliers and partners they have. It’s not easy. But it’s worth it. Sometimes we cannot predict what will happen a day or a few hours in advance. However, having a vision of the big picture enables you to focus the time you do have more effectively.
By planning your time … You prevent someone else from planning it for you.
By posting your schedule you let people know a few things:
1. You are making a statement. The statement you are making is … “This is how I work!”
2. It sets out your priorities, your commitments and states “This is how I plan to work for this time period” – whether it’s a day, a week, a month or even a year.
3. It opens the door for questions and conversations.
Not questioning your priorities per se. Rather, by stating what you are planning to work on others know what your commitments are and they can decide if they want to work with you. Of course, everyone has a boss (even if you are self employed you are working for someone / something) and you need to make sure your goals and commitments align with the overall mission.
For me this is one of the most powerful reasons for taking the time to plan your time. To foster conversations. To align goals.
- If someone has a question, comment or concern…this is a very good thing.
- It let’s you know that people are reading and evaluating your plans and commitments
INTERNAL FEAR – You might be wondering …
What if they think my ideas and plans or planning skills are terrible?
- That’s a risk you’ll have to take.
- The flip side of NOT writing down your goals and commitments is that someone else will ALWAYS be setting your schedule. Flashback to Plan Your Days … or Else
- Questions are GOOD:
- They open the door for another conversation (which is a VERY GOOD THING)
- When someone has a question … embrace it.
- Take the time to listen to their points. Then ask the following:
- What would they like to change?
- If you agree, then a negotiation can ensue. You can set/re-set deliverables and timelines together.
And to think … This all started because you wrote down what you are planning to do and put it on your calendar. Then reviewed your calendar a day, a week, a month or even a year in advance.
Do you review you calendar beforehand today?
If not, what’s stopping you?
Get started today! And stop being surprised by mornings.
Author:
Jeff is a veteran in the Enterprise Content Management industry. Over the past 20 years he has worked with customers and partners to design, develop and deploy solutions around the world. Jeff is currently the Director of Strategic Alliances at Winshuttle. He has worked for Microsoft, FileNet (IBM), K2, Captaris, Open Text, Kofax and Kodak. He speaks and blogs about ECM and the Intersection between Social, Mobile and Cloud Computing.
