Bonjour. In this video I want to share a simple but important principle of planning.
I love the expression: ‘The road to Hell is paved with good intentions.”
So true in the business world. I often see people protecting time in their diary for ‘me time’ or ‘focus time’ or ‘thinking time’. This is great. I highly encourage you to protect time with yourself.
The problem? When you get to the ‘me time’ you have protected in your calendar, you are not really sure what to do. You have a list longer than your arm of To-Dos. You have so many urgent things that have fallen on your shoulders. Not to mention the hundreds of un-answered emails.
Where do I start?
Then before you know it, you are checking your inbox trying to get on top of things or spending time on a crisis that was not even on your To-Do list.
The issue here is that you are trying to be the General and the Soldier at the same time. What do I mean by this?
The General is the planner. The Soldier is the executer.
Every quarter be the General. Set aside an hour to determine what your top priorities are.
Every week be the General. Set aside 20 minutes to plan your time for the following week. Protect time for a very specific task. Don’t set aside ‘me time’ or ‘thinking time’ but instead ‘review the plan for the marketing strategy’.
Then every day just be the Soldier. Check your calendar and just execute what the General has planned for you. It’s Wednesday 10am and you see ‘review the plan for the marketing strategy’. And you say, ‘Sir yes sir’ and just do it.
This is this week’s Work Smarter Live Better tip. A really important step in this process is to be the General once a week and plan your following week. For those interested go to www.wslb.com. I am sharing a simple process to do the weekly plan. I’ve changed it recently to make it really simple, a 15-20 minute process to take control of your week.
If you take control of your time, you are taking control of your life.
Have a great day.
A bientôt,
Cyril
