Kickfannie TimeMatters

by Terry Monaghan for Kickfannie Operations

Time Triage

5 reasons to make a plan (and give yourself an edge)

If you don’t know where you are going, you will probably end up … somewhere else.

We talked in an earlier column about creating an effective plan, and the steps that make up a complete plan – but we haven’t paid much attention to why create a plan in the first place. Much has been written about the importance of having a plan. There are hundreds of books, columns and articles devoted to planning.

We hear about business plans, strategic plans, operational plans, even vacation plans – so clearly planning is important.

But why should we plan? What does the act of planning provide that will make a difference to us in the long term? Why not just jump in and take action? After all, many do just that and they produce results. And we all know people who plan and never act, or even who plan to plan to plan (you get the point).

I vividly remember one group I worked with. The manager would set up a day a few times each year for planning. We were all expected to bring out targets and our calendars and any other material we needed into the meeting room. And we would spend the whole day mapping out three to six month’s worth of activity. I loved it! But most of my colleagues at the time would have rather gone to the dentist for a root canal.

What was it that I got out of planning that the others didn’t? There were five areas where planning made a huge impact:

Planning provides focus

Planning provides a focus for all my activity. Like many of you, I have loads of ideas – some good and some not so good. And I also had a never-ending task list. The action of creating a plan to accomplish a specific project or goal gave a shape and meaning to the specific items on the task list. It became crystal clear which tasks and actions were congruent with the plan and which ones could just be a distraction. The task was either going to move a specific project or goal towards completion or it was going to take me completely off track.

Planning creates clarity

Planning provides clarity of direction both for yourself and for anyone else on your team. It will establish a direction and a goal, and can facilitate coordinated action. Coordinated action tends to propel you forward at an exponentially increasing rate. Milestones are reached more quickly and with less confusion. And when team members are uncertain of what to work on next, the plan gives them a clear path to follow.

Planning facilitates decision making

When presented with the myriad actions and tasks that come up during the course of a day, having a plan gives you a structure for making decisions about which activities to incorporate and which to set aside for the time being.

Most highly creative and high performing entrepreneurs have some sort of incubating file – where new ideas that are not currently a priority can be kept in existence.

Without a plan, we are far too prone to bright shiny object syndrome – we will follow that distraction and get far off target. Planning gives us something to measure new ideas against – if it will aid us in accomplishing the current goal, then it can be incorporated into the plan. Otherwise it can go into the incubating file for later review.

And on a simpler level – having a question like “will this move me closer to my goal” or “is this what I am supposed to be working on right now” will allow you to let go of all the other distractions that are pulling for your attention at any given time.

Planning reduces stress

Let’s face it – there is more to be done than we will ever get around to doing. But when we take the time to set a plan, and we then schedule our time appropriately for that plan, and are clear what we are to be doing and when we are going to be doing it – we can eliminate most of the stress that sours our daily lives.

Much of the stress is a product of our own uncertainty or lack of focus. Without a plan, we aren’t certain if we are working on the right things. We may spend our days in furious action, only to discover that we were frantically busy but made no progress. Now, that’s stressful!

With the guidance of a plan, we can focus in on what will really make a difference, and while we might not be frantically busy (and that’s a good thing, by the way), we will accomplish far more – with ease. And wouldn’t that be a nice change of pace?

Planning increases results

Finally, planning leads to more results, more profits, more being accomplished. The person with a plan, who takes action consistent with the plan, will out-perform the person who just lets things happen to them. One will be focused and productive, and the other will most likely be very busy.

Albert Gray said it best, "The common denominator of success - the secret of success of every person who has been successful - lies in the fact that they formed the habit of doing things that failures don't like to do."

About the Contributor

Terry's clients find themselves working on what is most fulfilling and what really matters in moving things forward rather than what they previously thought they "had to do." The things you hoped to get to someday become the things you work on today.

With over 30 years of business and entrepreneurial experience, Terry's unique technology has dramatically increased the productivity of Fortune 100 executives and entrepreneurs in a variety of industries. As a Keynote Speaker with the Tony Robbins Power Team, Washington, DC, Terry inspired audiences in our Nation’s capital to “Eliminate the Overwhelm!” To learn more about Time Triage™ check out Terry’s website at www.timetriage.com

Submit Questions for Terry to answer at TimeMatters@kickfannie.com