How Planning Can Bring the Future Into the Present

We love to dream. And there is nothing wrong with a dream in fact they’re encouraged.

Dreams are what give us hope and allow us to leave the present for a preferred future.

I’m not talking about the day dreamer whose mind is just not in the present and nowhere close to the future.

I’m also not talking about a pipe dream. You know, winning the lottery. Becoming a professional athlete. Landing a position you can’t even really spell the title. Getting a date with a 9 when you’re a, well…

I’m talking about a real dream. Something that has been well thought-out and if it happened would be a game-changer in your life.

The problem comes is when we leave the dream into the future. It never makes its way into the present and therefore remains only a dream.

But what if we could borrow from the phrase “making dreams come true?” Cheesy but I wouldn’t mind adding THAT cheese to my dream sandwich.

I came across a quote by Alan Lakein that struck me due to its simplicity yet wisdom. You have to read it twice to get your money’s worth out of its meaning.

Let’s break that quote down…

Planning Is Bringing the Future Into the Present

What brings the future into the present? Planning. Who knew, huh?

And here we thought planning is a waste of time. Why not just start your day and actually get something done?

But what if we looked at planning differently? What if we viewed planning as a way to bring our future hopes and dreams into a reality?

Love me some here and now!

As my four year old son says when my wife tries to sneak some dark chocolate, “I want some!” This should be us with bringing the future into the present. I want some! Do you?

So That YOU Can Do Something

Who? You. Not someone else. You. We want things not only quickly, we want someone else to do it.

If that describes you, how’s THAT working out for you?

So that you can DO which means action. And do something. Anything. Action is required.

And that’s what a plan does for you. It lets you know what you should do.

What if we took time each day to do something to accomplish our dream?

This is the power of the book, The Miracle Morning, which challenges people to take time before your “real day begins” to take time for yourself to work on your dream.

And it’s exactly what I’ve been doing in my own life. And I absolutely love this time because everyday something happens to move my dream, my preferred future into the present.

I’ve been intentional about making changes in my day to bring my future forward. Has it been difficult? Absolutely. But SO worth it in the long run.

About It Now

I love the word now. It’s immediate. Instant gratification. Most things in my life tell me I have to wait. Hurry up and wait.

Not this quote.

It means there something I can do to make my future happen sooner by action on MY part and NOW.

Nobody can take this away from me.

I choose to get up early to work on my stuff. Now. I can move things forward. I can make my preferred future into the present.

I don’t have to wait on someone else. I can take the time to think through my own dream to actually make it happen.

It may change along the way but it’s my dream and it’s something I can work on now.

Are you with me?

Closing Challenge…

So what does this quote do for you? Does it give you hope that you can actually take a dream and make it a reality?

Does the quote challenge you to plan? You realize that you can take your future and bring it into the present by something you do?

Planning is bringing the future into the present so that you can do something about it now. – Alan Lakein

Motivated, busy professionals like to have control of their schedule. We also like to see forward motion.

What if we took this quote to heart then to action and actually began to plan to bring the future into the present?

I know it’s possible because I’m doing it every morning. And I love it.

I’m no longer only dreaming. It’s becoming real.

I’m also not relying on someone else. Or blaming someone else. It’s on me and right where I want it to be.

I challenge you to own this quote like I have and see what will happen. Bring it on.

Closing Quote…

What are you going to do today to bring your future into the present?

How to Increase Productivity With These Four Decision Categories

Scott begins most of his work days the exact same way. He just starts. He sits down at his desk, opens up his email and lets the day take him where it goes.

Yet Scott’s biggest complaint is he doesn’t feel like he gets anything done. He’s also frustrated because he feels like he does “everything” but doesn’t know another way.

Planning is one of those activities we know we should do but when it comes down to it few people really do it.

I would compare planning to eating vegetables. Everyone knows they should eat them but when it comes right down to eating them, it often doesn’t happen.

Scott represents most busy professionals but a few minutes of planning would dramatically change the course and the results of his day.

Time management simply comes down to choice management. How we choose to use our time is ultimately how our lives turn out.

Planning your day is bigger than what appointments, meetings, or conference calls you have within your day.

Part of planning is learning what to do and what not to do within your day. It’s making decisions ahead of time on each element that comes your way. How?

I came across a book called The Secret to Peak Productivity by Tamara Myles. It was “chucked full” (technical term) of practical advice specifically on personal organization. She deserves credit for the four concepts below.

There are four decision categories when planning our day:

1. CHOOSE – Identify What is Important and Essential For You to Do

You get to choose by looking at your day or week ahead where you should spend your time.

What may feel like a waste of a few minutes to sit down and plan, ultimately saves you time in the long run and allows you to get the right things done at the end of the day.

You should know what is the most important. But if you don’t taking the time to plan even for a few minutes will allow you to know and determine what is important.

Choose is pro-active when many spend their day reacting. This requires intention and thought which happens ahead of time. Take control of your day by choosing.

You could apply “choosing” with every email. Should I look through every junk email? This alone could save you time within your day.

You get to choose what is important and essential for you every single day. It could be in as short as five minutes. Read THIS.

2. REMOVE – You Can Take Things Off Your List by Saying “NO.”

You can decide not to do some things. Crazy, right?

Do you realize you don’t have to do absolutely everything that comes your way?

And do you realize most people apply this principle very easily TO YOU consciously or unconsciously all of the time?

There are some emails, meetings, conference calls that are simply not the best use of your time. In fact they take away from your time.

Having good boundaries within your day is critical to being productive and successful. And this is done by saying no and removing unnecessary items within your day.

It’s difficult at first to say no and set boundaries but so freeing when applied. And it’s amazing how much time can be freed up when you remove the unneeded within your day.

3. WAIT – You Can Push Back Doing Tasks or Activities Until the Next Day, Week, or Month

You’ve heard the phrase in life, “timing is everything” and this can be applied in planning as well.

Something may be important but needs time to either develop or just not important right now.

You can choose to wait and come back to it when the timing is right. Just make sure you know how to find it when you need to do it otherwise you’re wasting valuable time just looking for it.

One of the best ways to work through what can wait and be able to track it later is with the Master List. Read about it HERE.

Determine what really needs to be done right now. Everything else can wait.

4. DELEGATE – You Can Give It to Someone Else Better Suited for the Task

Do you want to know something freeing? There is someone out there who actually enjoys doing what you don’t like or even detest doing? Crazy! I know, right?!

Depending upon your level of responsibility or role in a team or organization, part of your planning needs to be delegating “something to someone” else.

If you’re self-employed, this could mean outsourcing. There are certain tasks that are important, just not important for YOU TO DO.

It would be worth the small amount of money to give to someone else to you can choose to invest your time in things only you can do and produce greater long term results.

Delegating is saying the task is important, just not for you to do it. This takes discernment and possible follow-up but worth it in the long run.

Closing Challenge…

These four decision categories are not brand new ideas, just not often applied.

Could you just imagine how differently your day could look at the end?

Motivated, busy professionals need to apply these ideas to become more productive and ultimately more effective. Try applying this concept today and see what happens.

Closing Question…

What is at least one of  these four decision categories you could implement today?

Be PROFESSIONALLY BETTER – Planning

What Is The ONE THING You Must Do To Make Today Successful?

Three Steps to Find and Implement the One Thing

If I were to ask you what your plan is to plan your day, what would you say?

Most, I’ve found, have a few ideas rolling around in their head like loose rocks. (size of rocks is not the issue right now;)

Some may even scratch a couple things down on a scratch sheet of paper for the game plan for the day.

Yet ironically, a high majority of people cannot tell me the answer to this very important question.

What is the ONE THING I Must Accomplish For Today To Be A Success?

It’s amazing what could happen if you focused on one main thing that you not only hope to accomplish but plan and make happen that will make your day a success!

How can this become a reality? 

Here are Three Steps to Find and Implement the One Thing

Step 1 – THINK AHEAD

You should know before you begin your day, what your ONE THING is for the day ahead.

Ultimately, you want to make this decision the day before to maximize your results but at a minimum, you should know before you begin the first thing in your work day.

You may be excited about your ONE THING and cannot wait to start it.

Your ONE THING may not be the thing you necessarily even want to do but may need to do.

And your ONE THING may not even be something that you will complete today but is critical you begin today.

The point is you pre-decide what is going to make you feel like today was a success.

One way to Think Ahead is to implement Think Space. Read Here.

Step 2 – SCHEDULE IT

Once you’ve decided and are convinced of your ONE THING, now it’s time to schedule it within your day ahead.

It will not magically appear just because you had this epiphany or great idea. It must be scheduled.

Michael Hyatt is often quoted, “What gets scheduled, gets done.” I live by that quote whether I try to or not.

Absolutely nothing will be gained if you try to squeeze the most important thing you need to do into the cracks of your day.

You must schedule when you will knock out your ONE THING then how long you think it will take to accomplish it or make enough headway for you to feel today was productive and successful.

If you don’t schedule enough time, you’re further ahead than when you started but may not be able to say “today was a success” with the amount of your ONE THING you completed.

Make a point after you decide what your ONE THING is to put it on your calendar.

Step 3 – PRIORITIZE IT

Not everyone has the ability to control “what you do when” within your day. But many of us do.

What if you scheduled your ONE THING the first possible chance you have within your day? Why?

You’re the freshest and most determined in the morning. And this is key if you’re working on a task that doesn’t bring you energy and something you don’t enjoy doing.

Another reason is the sooner you begin, the more of your day you will have to complete your ONE THING. It it’s not started until after lunch, you’re putting a lot of pressure on yourself to complete it.

It also gives you time to circle back on the ONE THING if an unavoidable distraction comes up and takes you off course.

Sometimes your schedule doesn’t always cooperate but make that the exception not the rule and prioritize your ONE THING for the day.

If it truly is the ONE THING, then you want to make it a top priority within your day and let everything else drop in priority.

Personal Example

This is how it plays out for me. I schedule my ONE THING the day before. Why? I almost always know what it is by the end of the workday.

So, I get organized the day before with my ONE THING so I can hit the ground running the next morning. I think ahead of what I’ll need, write some notes, and set myself up for success the moment I begin my ONE THING.

Next, I schedule my first time block (dedicated period of time) to work on my ONE THING for the day. I’ll work for a solid 90 minutes then take a break. If that surprises you, read THIS.

If my ONE THING takes more than my first time block, I resume my ONE THING after my break. I’m usually feeling revived from my break and often have fresh eyes to dive back into my ONE THING.

If I’m unable to resume my ONE THING due to another commitment, I schedule when I can get back to my ONE THING so the day doesn’t get away from me.

I’m notorious for thinking any given task will be completed sooner than it actually does so I must repeat the cycle and Think Ahead of when I Schedule IT for another time within my day that is a PRIORITY so I can monitor it to end in a productive, successful day.

This is completely doable Oh Productive Fans!

Closing Challenge…

Motivated, busy professionals are often highly productive. But what if we could be more productive and effective by making small changes to the way we approach our day?

This is the whole reason behind implementing the ONE THING into your day.

I challenge you to try it for one week working through this method of…

Think Ahead

Schedule It

Prioritize It

I believe you will see tangible and powerful results when (not if) you implement the ONE THING into your work day.

Closing Question…

What do you need to do to implement the ONE THING tomorrow?

Change the Direction of Your Day By Doing This…

One of the easiest parts of my day is usually the thing I either forget, put off, or just simply don’t do.

I want to plan. I intend to plan. I actually enjoy planning. But it simply has not always happened in the past.

No one really needs to be sold on the value of planning your day. Then why doesn’t it happen consistently?

I’ve struggled in the past in this area big time. I had the best of intentions and my mornings would just get away from me. Over and over. I became Bill Murray in the old movie, Groundhogs Day.

Different day. Same predictable result.

Then I talked to a friend who knew how I was wired.

He listened to me “justify” all of my excuses, I mean reasons why I wasn’t planning consistently.

I argued my case like I was arguing a defense in court fighting for my life. Finally I finished.

He responded humorously: “Does the defense rest?”

He went on to say, “I’ve been there. I know. But I knew something had to change. I could not be productive if I didn’t plan my day.”

He said: “Give me Five”

I was confused. Did he want me to do a Puddy formerly from Seinfeld High Five?

He simply told me to do this which could change the direction of my day:

Give Me Five minutes to plan my day.

I walked away with three specific insights to apply these three simple words:

1. Schedule my FIVE PLANNING MINUTES Ahead of Time

What gets scheduled, gets done.

When I try to and just “fit it in”, no High Five. It just doesn’t magically appear on my calendar. And my day pays a price as a result of it.

When I’m home, I schedule it at a consistent time every single day. And it’s always done before I do my first time block and major task for the day.
When I’m traveling, I need to make sure it’s done before my 1st meeting or get on with my day.

The reality is you can schedule anywhere. It just simply needs to get on the books (aka: the calendar for the non-slang readers) before your day officially begins.

Chose not to hijack your day (see post) and plan ahead.

2. Don’t Feel Like You Have to Plan EVERY SINGLE DETAIL Now

It could feel paralyzing if we look at this as a massive under-taking to schedule every moment and everything within your day ahead especially if you’re not planning consistently.

That is for the advanced users and can be a growing process. You’ll get there.

The purpose right now is to put as much in as you can in the FIVE MINUTES.

For example, I have certain weekly meetings, conference calls, etc. which I know ahead of time that can get scheduled. This should only take a minute or two.

Remember, this is a place to start and take away the overwhelm of feeling like EVERYTHING needs to be in there at this stage.

The more you do it, the more detail you can include.

3. Put in the THREE MOST IMPORTANT TASKS of the Day

If you did nothing else in the five minutes, list your top three priorities that if you accomplished, would ultimately make the day a success.

This will force you to think ahead at what will allow you to look back on your day as productive and successful. How good would THAT feel?!

This is the minimum I will do each day and you would be amazed at what listing my three most important tasks of the day will do for me when I take these critical five minutes.

In the End…

Just know your day will want to fight you and will scream at you early to “just begin.” Resist that temptation and know your success lies in the “Give Me Five” planning time.

Ironically, when I implemented these three specific insights, my day was SO much more productive and fulfilling. Isn’t that the point?

How could just FIVE MINUTES have such a HUGE affect on your day?

Focus. You’ll walk out of the five minutes knowing if all else fails, your day would be a success if you completed the three most important tasks of your day. Everything else was bonus.

Now, I love a good plan. But in the end, do you know what’s better? Executing it.

Closing Challenge…

So, motivated, busy professionals who claim to be a planner and do it in your head, I challenge you to the following:

5 Minutes for 5 Days

Take 5 minutes for your next five work days. See what happens. Apply the above three steps and see what happens. You may be reaching to High Five me WHEN this works for you…

Closing Question…

Will you take the 5 Minute for 5 Days Planning Challenge?