Bonjour,
In this video, I want to show you a planning process which is both very simple yet really powerful.
Most of the leaders we work with, agree that planning is a very important strategy. I like the saying ‘if you are failing to plan you are planning to fail’. However, agreeing and doing are not the same thing. We all know, hell is paved with good intentions.
During the Work Smarter: Live Better journey we take our clients through a process called ‘Think Quarterly, Plan Weekly, Act Daily.’ Today I want to have a quick discussion on the second step : ‘Plan Weekly.’
I must admit I am a little bit of a perfectionist. I like going into details. Therefore, when it comes to doing my weekly plan, I use an excel spreadsheet and try to include everything I need to do for the following week. When I explain this detailed way to my clients, one third love it, one third accept it and one third think I am crazy.
So instead of trying to get everyone to adopt the ‘Cyril way’ of doing a weekly plan, I suggest a very simple process:
Step 1 – every quarter choose three priorities.
Step 2 – every week, look at each priority and ask yourself ‘what do I need to do next week to progress in this priority?’ Make a list of the few things you need to achieve next week and how long each one will take.
Step 3 – book these in your dairy as meetings with yourself. Protect your time for these.
This might sound simple, and it is, but it is also very powerful. Every week thinking about your top three priorities, asking yourself what you need to do to progress in each one of these and then protecting time in your calendar to focus on them.
This will take you 10 to 15 minutes per week. No more. Consequently, it will have a massive impact on your performance.
My suggestion. Never, ever, ever miss this planning session. Make sure that at the end of every week you dedicate 10 to 15 minutes to this planning process. If you are failing to do this planning, you are definitely planning to fail.
This is this week’s Work Smarter: Live Better tip. I hope you enjoy it. Just practice this one straightaway. Weekly planning is such an important process.
A bientôt
Cyril
