Planning, Made Easy, Quick, and Simple

I know I'm not the first one to suggest that success is made much easier and quicker by planning your business and personal goals and following the plan. Duh, right? It's a straighter line to get to a destination you've thought about and decided on, one that has a set of criteria and measurable results, as well as some kind of process or method for taking action. You're more likely to reach your destination, and you're more likely to get there more directly, with less effort, time, or struggle.

Planning sounds like such a great idea, right? So why do so few us do it? See if any of these reasons sound familiar:

• We think that the planning process is complex, cumbersome, and time-consuming, and we're too busy running our departments or businesses to bother.
  
• We've planned before and found it painful and depressing when we didn't accomplish the goal.
  
• We doubt our abilities and worry we won't be able to achieve our goals, and it's a lot more comfortable; to avoid or ignore a plan than do it and "fail".
  
• We get caught up in daily details and forget, then get frustrated with ourselves and give up the idea of planning on a regular, daily basis because we haven't yet gotten into the habit.

But there's a simple, low-effort fix for every one of these reasons. Let me assure you than planning truly does not have to be time-consuming or complex - those characteristics are actually what make it hard to follow through with! With minimal practice it can take as little as an average of 5 to 7 minutes a day - and garner you 50 to 300% higher productivity as well as much more satisfactory results. Isn't 5 to 7 minutes a day worth that kind of return?

While it's best to tailor a set of no-fuss planning strategies to each person individually, based on their inclinations, preferences, and strengths, here are some basic planning suggestions:

Put a daily planning reminder in your computer calendar or PDA; choose only 1 task that will definitely put you closer to each of 4-6 of your plan's longer-term objectives (so no more than 4-6 plan-oriented tasks per day); schedule that task in your calendar for a specific date and time slot, no more than 90 minutes per task (preferably 30-60), and leave 5-10 minutes at the end of each hour for recharging your physical and mental energies so you stay in the flow.