At the end of every year, I look back and enjoy the clarity of my achieved results and my future plans. I enjoy the peace that’s not the result of antidepressants but the result of my hard and consistent work on all the “not urgent but important” tasks throughout the year. It’s a real joy to feel the results of a good plan and move in the desired direction due to smart planning.

But then I remember how there’s still a great number of you who not only don’t enjoy planing but are afraid of it and avoid it constantly. I wonder why… Why have you given up on your plans or have never even tried to make them? Why do you keep sabotaging yourselves?

Do you really think planing is a complication one should avoid? Or do you maybe believe it’s a talent one is blessed with or not? Do you really still think that? In spite of all the free knowledge out there and all the books and blogs and success stories of organized and highly effective people?

STOP ORGANIZING THE WRONG THINGS

Too many failed plans would do that to a person, but let me share with you this thought of mine I use often, to remind you of the greatest truth in organizing :

“Organizing skills are worthless if you organize the wrong things.”

Stephen Covey said it in a very interesting way so let me quote him – “Live your life by a compass, not a clock.” The clock represents living day by day, week by week. Compass, on the other hand, represents living according to the clear vision or as I like to call it – the big picture. If you don’t have your own big picture in your head and also in writing, you’ll inevitably be organizing the wrong things in your life.

By avoiding planning, you accept living without a compass and all of your daily and weekly organizational efforts will not bring the expected results. At the same time, those results will most likely be perfect for those around you whose things you were organizing without being aware of it. Does this sound familiar?

Do you really expect your to-do lists and weekly schedules to bring you better results without creating the big picture first – a plan? Please think again!

This planning kit might help you create your big picture and make some really good plans for yourself.

Once your plans are made you can start focusing on weekly and daily time management to execute all the tasks related to those plans.  “Time blocking” will still be the most important scheduling method though, keep that in mind.