Meggin’s Current Articles

4 Components Your Planner Must Have If You Intend to Be Productive

13th March, 2010 - Posted by Meggin - No Comments

Without a planner…you are letting others spend your life instead of recognizing the wisdom of Carl Sandburg when he said, “Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have and only you can determine how it’s spent.”

Of course, just “having” a planner isn’t enough. You have to use it and you’ll be better able to do so if it includes these four components (regardless of whether it is paper or electronic):

Daily calendar. You need to be able to see and plan your day if you have any hope of purposely placing “pockets” (i.e., the difference between calm and crazed) in your daily life.

Monthly (and possibly weekly) calendar. We all need a bigger picture view of what is happening. Sometimes the reason our days become “pocketless” is because our months and weeks are so incredibly jammed. If you don’t look at your month – you won’t be able to make some of the decisions you need to. The way I think about the monthly calendar is like a storyboard. When someone is creating a commercial, a movie, the plot line for a novel, they often put together a storyboard so that they can SEE what is happening, when it’s happening, and the sequence of events. You need to do the same thing with your life, that is, be able to see what is happening, when it’s happening, and the sequence. Related to our pocket concept, the monthly calendar let’s you see when you have too many things happening within an uncomfortably close proximity.

“To-do” list. I am a firm believer in the need to stop carting things in our cranium where we can’t actually sift, sort, and select. Instead, we need to empty out our brain of all of the projects and assorted to-do’s so that we have them someplace where we can really do the thinking that is necessary. You need a to-do list as part of your planner so that you have a place for capturing all the big and small items that you want to accomplish. In nearly every case, when you get everything out of your head and onto paper (or into an electronic document), you will have the rapid realization that you have much more to do than can actually get done within the time constraints you have allotted. “Getting” this is the first step to controlling it. You can’t build in pockets of time without knowing what you’re expecting yourself (and others) to do. Note: You really need a current and a future to-do list. There is no need for cramming your cranium with “Oh, I need to remember this,” or “Hmmm…I think someday I might like to do that.”

A place for notes, ideas, and thoughts. Part of a planner system needs to be a place where you can capture thoughts you have, interesting ideas you hear, notes from meetings or classes you’re taking, directions for how to get somewhere, and the like. Be sure to designate a place in your planner for this component.

So, how did you do? Do you need to go shopping or are you set? And remember, if you don’t USE these different components then you might as well not have them. Be smart. Plan your time, i.e., your life.

And to access more tips that you can use to increase your own (and your team’s) productivity, you’re invited to join others (worldwide) who receive Meggin’s weekly emails (and see what is available for download at no cost at the following websites):

**Top Ten Productivity Tips ( http://www.TopTenProductivityTips.com )

**Keys to Keeping Chaos at Bay ( http://www.KeepingChaosatBay.com )

(c) 2010 by Meggin McIntosh, Ph.D., “The Ph.D. of Productivity”(tm).