Everybody keeps lecturing on planning but when it comes to it, almost everyone fails. Ironic but true! Before you sneer over and give me a dirty look on another attempt at preaching, hold on. The following is a simple tell-a-tale about my life and times.To most of the people who know me well (including my own self), I’m quite an organized person. To me, being organized goes with being systematic and as far as I can, getting everything planned in advance. Planning is an element that has the effect of making things extra special. It has surprised me with many benefits in not just planning things but executing them as well. Here’s how!
First things first: When I plan, I tend to prioritize things. Every task comes with a deadline and I find planning to be an excellent way of doing things in the right order. Prioritizing events and activities puts me in a frame of mind where I know what needs to be done first and what comes last. Start with maintaining a journal and Go retro; keep a pen, paper, and a calendar handy all the time.
Do not delay things to their due day: I make a list of all the things that need to be completed in the coming days, weeks, or may be months like buying birthday presents for friends, paying monthly bills, shopping for a forthcoming family event, etc. As and when I find something interesting to gift to my friends, family, or my niece, I just pick it up. I gift these thoughtfully chosen articles on the right occasions to each of them. Similarly, whenever I am close to the place where I generally pay my bills, I make the payment even if it is long before the due date.
Before you leave the house, give yourself a minute. Think about every miscellaneous job that you can do on your way and follow a designated route for that.
The idea is to finish all those jobs that can be completed before time. This way I save time, I save money (by not feeling forced to choose whatever is available due to time constraint), and feel relaxed to see a to-do-job being deleted from the list. Yayyyy...
Prevent anxiety attacks: I tend to avoid more than 95% of crisis situations by staying organized with my work and my life in general. Everybody has his own way of accomplishing things. I prefer to do any task in stages if that is possible. I start with jobs that are most difficult, boring, monotonous, but still, very important. While planning, I assign a date to every task in accordance to its priority and then complete it within the deadline.
It allows me to be creative with my time: Another interesting way of finding good amount of time to relax and unwind even on fully packed working days is by doing bits of work on non-working days. Although I strictly stay away from work on weekends and holidays but when I’m bored or get free time, I tend to complete some easy tasks. A few small tasks combined together offer bonus time to enjoy a long walk followed by a hot cup of tea early in the evening.
Let’s face it! Planning is a way of life and does not apply to just office work or routine household chores. It applies to each and everything that I do from getting up in the morning till I lay my head on the pillow in the night.
It’s not easy to apply especially for someone who has not been doing it as a practice. But believe me; it only takes some discipline and practice on a regular basis. Try it and you will achieve it.
