We understand the importance of planning – planning our business, planning our week, planning our day. Best practice for planning the week ahead is Sunday evening – but Friday afternoon, or Monday early morning (before you get hijacked!) also work for some.
Your weekly plan should consider personal commitments as well as your “One Page” business plan and 90-day goals – what actions you will take this week to get closer to your goals? How can you effectively plan your week for success?
How to effectively plan your week:
- Use a cloud-based planning tool such as Outlook, so you can access it from all your devices
- Review your business plan, business and personal goals each week
- Schedule repeating chunks of time every week for Q2 activities (important but not urgent)
- Schedule time for recurring Q1 activities (important and urgent) such as email, phone calls and meetings
- Schedule any other Q2 activity time for the week/month ahead
- Schedule time for Q1 operational “money making” activities
- Leave the rest of your diary free.
Is at least 5-10% of your work week set aside for Q2 business activities such as upskilling, relationship building, process or system improvements, thinking, preparation or planning? What about daily personal Q2 activities such as exercise, reading, family time?
Remember Q1 activities are important and urgent (money making activities and sometimes crisis management!), Q2 activities are important but not urgent (time that if well spent will reap huge rewards for you in the future).
If you do not usually plan your Q1 and Q2 activities a week ahead I suggest you make a commitment to start this coming week.