Planning is one of the most important things you can do for becoming organized.  It can be difficult to do, and it can be difficult to carry out your plans once they’re made.  We can fix that…

The better and more carefully made your plans are, the easier it is to carry them out. 

What is it that prevents you from carrying out plans you’ve made?  I find it’s usually a feeling of indecision; not being completely sure that it’s the right plan, not enough detail about how or when or what steps are required in carrying out the plan, basically a plan that hasn’t been properly thought through.

Planning is a skill.  It’s something you get better at the more you practice it.  And it’s not something that’s ever finished.  As you get on with your life, there are always new plans to be made, whether it’s your grocery list for the week or what you want to achieve in your life this year.

So, it needs to be done regularly.  If you incorporate regular planning sessions into your life, that is, make it part of your routine, whether it’s daily or weekly or both, you will form a very useful lifetime habit and develop a skill which will help you stay organized and achieve what you want in your life.

An obvious place to start is to look at what you want to get done for the week ahead.  If you have a To Do list or a task list, make sure you’re choosing the most important items to get done first, and be realistic about how much time you will need to get the items done.

Spend your planning time, not just noting down in your planner, diary or calendar what tasks you want to do this week, or tomorrow, but thinking about how you will do them, how long they will take, what resources you need and so on.  Make sure they’re realistic, and that you’re setting yourself up to succeed.  If you’re not sure you can do it, set a smaller more manageable task.

It’s also valuable to spend some of your planning time reviewing your goals.  Imagine achieving them, what steps you will take to achieve them, enjoying those steps and feeling confident about them; enjoying both the process and the end result.  Identify as many specific, smaller tasks and steps you can complete which will take you towards your goal.  Think about why you want to achieve it.

Planning time is also the time to review your ever changing list of things to do and keep it organized.  Your list may need separating into categories, for example to ensure you are balancing the time you spend in different areas.

Your lists also need prioritizing.  You may think it’s pointless constantly re-writing lists, but actually, it’s a really good way of constantly re-evaluating which items are most important in relation to the others.  Number them in order of priority, and as you go to your list to choose the next item to attend to, you can go straight to number 1 instead of re-thinking the whole list again and worrying about it.

If you know you’re doing the most important things, that cuts out a whole lot of potential guilt and worry.

Planning is about decision making.  If you make decisions in an orderly and consistent way, it’s easier to actually make them instead of just ‘going with the flow’, and it’s easier to have confidence in your decisions.

Make planning time a regular part of your routine, with a set time limit on it of course, and your life will magically feel more organized.

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