Planning to plan?
February 2, 2010 by Mary Ellen
JD planned during his corporate years. Once he began his consulting practice however, he was too busy to plan. Rushing from project to project, he juggled deadlines and appointments. Frequently, “marketing” appointments for his business went by the wayside in order to make more time for “cash customers.”
“Is there a better way?” nagged at him from time to time, but it was hard to argue with success. Sales seemed fine.
He continued to work on strategic themes for customers: website focus, messaging consistency, increased visibility.
And when it came to his business, the planning continued to wait. He struggled to find the time to do anything but work.
Had JD recognized the power of planning and commitment, he might have enjoyed aggressive growth sooner.
When he finally got around to planning , JD simplified his day-to-day tasks, thus adding time to his schedule.
For every 15 minutes spent in planning, you can reap 90 minutes of production time according to Brian Tracy in his book Time Power. Fifteen minutes a day may not sound like much if this is your framework: “What can I accomplish in just a quarter of an hour?”
Fifteen minutes a day totals 5,475 minutes or 91.25 hours in one year.
In real world terms, you might think of it as adding one day per quarter to your calendar. Now that kind of time found makes planning worthwhile.
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Good point – and couldn’t we all use one more day?
What about if I spend 15 minutes doing absolutely nothing?
Seriously, we also need some reset time, particularly when we are supposed to think for a living. Busy isn’t the same as productive.
I love that reminder, Mary. Think of how the world would change if everyone of us slowed down and considered carefully our next step?