Plan a Week?
WHAT?
You Kidding me?
I have heard of daily planning and that is all.
I am already done with it and It rarely works for me.
Do you want me to Plan My Week Now?
OK!
Most of us suck at having planned-great days.
It has become so rampant that having a great day is no longer a default stuff, but a rarity.
To ease the burden off, We find excuses and blame others.
Yes, They are to be blamed because While they were busy designing their great days – THEY FORGOT YOU.
Now What?
Stop whatever you are doing and Look at the Mathematics and Reason Together.
Mojo of Small Things presents
Why you should start planning your Week instead of a Day?
The REASON part first:
Planning requires decision making.
Decision making involves Fatigue (Decision fatigue).
What would you choose?
Planning 52 times a year or 365/366 times a year
PS: The Stuff you do is bound to be repetitive/periodic in all likelihood (that is how learning happens, systems works and collective value is unlocked in the current system).
SO it is just changing the Planning Unit?
Yes and NO.
Yes, This is about changing the Planning Unit.
But before that – This is about changing ‘How You look at your Work?’
Is this New?
NO.
Many people are doing it already.
It can be in form of Monday meetings (every Monday of course), Sunday hikes, 3 games/week, Leg Days (Chest days, Bicep-days and all for serious gym-enthusiasts) and in many more ways.
Executives, High-Performance Individuals, Athletes – anyone who seems to be in control are doing it in one way or the other.
So How does it helps?
1.
It brings in discipline as well as freedom, warding off guilt at the same time.
For instance: While working out every day can be tough if you are busy/ traveling/lazy, Planning to work 4 times a week can leave you with more flexibility in choosing your own schedule (it can be 4 consecutive days too).
2.
It enables you to use your FOCUS and RESOLVE muscle(s) smartly.
Your ability to focus and stick to something diminishes as the day passes.
Which means that they are not infinite reserves but finite (operating just like muscles).
Good News: Now you know it – you can use them well and also grow them like your physical muscles.
The weekly plan helps you guide where to use these muscles and When?
3.
Did we talk about Decision Fatigue?
Same clothes to the office every day – Same Breakfast and same timing to travel every day (Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, and many more).
Trivial decisions have a tendency to suck your energy without a single murmur.
Who wants to reach office tired?
Reaching at work fresh and charged up is a sure shot day-winning recipe.
4.
Separating To-DO(s) and MUST-DO(s).
Being able to make sense out of ‘I need to do it vs. I must do it’ can be a game changer for your personal and professional growth.
There is more likelihood of getting stuff done if you can sort out MUST- DO(s) from TO-DO(s).
MUST-DO
I must Eat the Right FOOD.
I must Prepare the PRESENTATION.
I must Work on my Public Speaking Skills.
To DO:
Eat healthy food.
Work on the Presentation
Learn to Speak well in Public.
PS: It also requires a change in self-narrative, but MUST-DO(s) is what brings you closer to the life you always wanted.
5.
Now you can see your life as ONE WHOLE.
So now when you sit to plan – You should and You Must Keep time aside for what matters.
Be it family Time, Self Time, and Community/Volunteering Time.
This is what makes you ONE WHOLE.
One part overdone exhausts you and makes you everything except a FULLER & HAPPIER you.
Just imagine being to your child’s first/annual game and relishing every moment of that.
6.
You can now choose slots of maximum efficiency and design your life around it.
Yes, We are talking about Mono-Tasking and DEEP Work.
Mono-Tasking?
Deep Work?
If these concepts seem alien to you or the opposite of what works nowadays.
You are right, with one exception – THESE concepts still work (and work well).
But who has the time?
Did someone say MATHEMATICS?
The Mathematics of How are you Spending Your Week:
Total Number of Hours in a Week: 168 Hours.
Sleep (7 hours/day): 49 Hours.
Work (8 hours/day): 48 Hours.
Self Care (1.5 hours/ day): 10.5 Hours.
Reading (1 hour/day): 7 Hours.
Getting Ready for Work and Travel: 20 Hours.
Socializing: 10 Hours.
Remaining: 23.5 Hours
[THIS IS FREAKING ONE WHOLE DAY].
The last thing:
When should I start planning?
Weekends preferred, BUT who is stopping you from starting it right now?
How Should I start?
Start your way and In the meantime, we are busy designing ‘The Week-Planner Template’ for you (coming soon).
You’ll be good to go.
Love
Hemant
Mojo of Small Things
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Why I keep my phone silent all day and How it has made me Productive?
Originally published at mojoofsmallthings.com