Make a Plan to Move Ahead

Planning is bringing the future into the present so that you can do something about it now.

Alan Lakein

It’s the end of what feels like a productive day. You’ve moved lots of things from your “to do” list to your “ta done” list. As you look at everything you’ve accomplished, you are proud. And you should be. Then you realize that all those tasks you’ve checked off haven’t moved you any closer to your end goal. To move ahead you need to have a plan. You just aren’t sure how to get away from widget moving.

Sound familiar? Yeah, me, too. I found myself in that very spot more times than I really care to admit. Instead of focusing on things that move me forward, I’ve moved widgets all day. How do we stop moving widgets and start moving forward? It’s all about having a plan, man. That’s what we’re talking about today.

Why Have a Plan, Man?

Simply put planning keeps you focused on your intended result. As Shonda Taylor with awriterswriter.com says, “Always start with the end in mind.” The reason we keep finding ourselves in widget moving mode is a lack of planning. Oh, sure we all have a long list of things to get done every day. Ask yourself, how much of that list is in line with what you need to accomplish for your business?

Think of planning as writing a book. Long-term goals are the plot. Planning is the story. Goals are character and story development. Without any of those components, you don’t have anything.

Where Do I start, Art?

As a freelancer and/or entrepreneur you have a business plan. That’s an excellent place to start. Your business plan has your five-year and one-year goals right there.

Now, you want to take those goals and chart them out into easily measured, attainable, and time bound bite sized goals. Those bites may be as small as 30 days or as big as 90 days. Avoid anything longer than 90 days. Longer goals tend to lead to procrastination syndrome. Personally, I have a short attention span, I prefer 30-day planning.

Plan to Plan, Jan

Now that you know where to start, set aside a day for a planning session. Pull out your business plan, which you want to easily access any time, and really read it. Consider all facets of your business that need to be addressed (revenue, marketing, content creation etc.) and ask yourself these questions for every area:

• What do I need to accomplish to reach my one-year goal?
• What can I do in the next (30-90) days to get me closer to that goal?
• Can I foresee any major obstacles?
• How do I get through those obstacles?

Don’t just ask the questions, write down the answers. That’s your next jumping off point.

Think it Through, Drew

Take the answers to your questions and do some freewriting. Jot down anything you can think of that you can do in the next 30-90 days, which ever you’ve chosen.

Right now, it doesn’t matter if they are practical. If they are big projects or quick tasks. Get it out of your brain and onto paper (literal or digital). I tend to be old school with this process. I use sticky notes on a whiteboard. Don’t spend more than 30 minutes on this.

When you’re done, step back and look at all the marvelous ideas you came up with. Don’t let yourself get overwhelmed. There is no possible way you’ll be able to do or even use all of them. That’s okay. The next part of the process will take care of that. It will also make your next planning session easier.

Put it All Together, Heather

Pick the one or two areas that need the most urgent attention. Maybe you need to create a marketing campaign and generate some revenue. Now, look at the ideas for those two areas only. File everything else for your next planning session.

Is there anything you came up with you can knock out quick? These are things that take an hour or less to complete. Get those scheduled to take care of over the next couple of days.

With your quick hits taken care of, look at the more complex ideas. Pick 2-4 of them to focus on over your chosen timeframe. That is your big plan, Stan! Next thing to do is to break them down just a little bit more and get them scheduled.

Keep it SMART, Bart

From here create your actionable goals. Keep them simple but smart. What do I mean by smart?

• Specific: Use action words to state your goals.
• Measurable: Have a way to measure your progress.
• Achievable: Keep it realistic. What will you truly be able to accomplish in the timeframe?
• Relevant: Keep it on task. It must move your business forward.
• Time-bound: Set a specific date or timeframe when you will complete or reach your goal.

For example, my goal over the next 30 days is to create advance blog posts for A Writer’s Writer. I already have some topics. So, my SMART goal is to have 8 articles written and scheduled to post by June 30. I can do this by writing 2 articles a week over the next 4 weeks.

A little trivia for you, the SMART goals technique was developed by George Doran, Arthur Miller and James Cunningham in 1981.

Put it on your Calendar, McAllister

You’ve done all this work to create an action plan. Now it’s time to schedule time each day to work on your goals. It’s important to dedicate time to complete them. For example, I have six hours on Tuesdays that I dedicate to topic ideas and research.

Now that you have your next 30-90 days planned and scheduled, get to it, Pruitt!

Leave a comment if you have any questions. If you care to share, I’d love to hear how your planning session works for you. Wishing you much happiness in your unique journey.