Calming the Storm
It’s been over a week since my last post, my apologies. Can you guess what I’ve been up to? Planning of course. I’ve been working on multiple projects that all require a lot of my time, and naturally I’ve also been planning and working my plans for these projects. Now that I’m back, let’s talk a little more about the storm.
You’ve got a million thoughts, at least, running through your head about some or all of the things you would like to accomplish. Let’s pause for a moment to talk about these things. What warrants a well thought out plan? It's based on what you need to get done. And, almost every endeavor may require some sort of plan. Plans can be short- or long term. They can have simple steps or they can be very intricate. The amount of planning depends on how much you need to get done, and how much time you have from planning to action.
The best way to calm the storm of thoughts in your mind is to find an outlet to channel those thoughts. You already know that I am a fan of writing things down, but there are other devices that work just as well. If you’re working on a company project, for example, computer planning tools and software can help channel your thoughts into a macro-level view of an entire project. If you just want to get some simple tasks done in one day, the least you may need is a pen and paper.
Other devices beyond a pen and paper can facilitate your plans, such as software programs in the Microsoft Office Suite, i.e. Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. I’ve used these programs many times to expedite my documentation. (I type much faster than I write.)
No matter what you choose, you’ll see that the long-term benefit of planning is productivity; however, planning can be productive and not productive. What makes it productive is staying focused on the task or tasks and being dedicated to seeing the project until the very end, which at times, can be difficult. Practice getting those thoughts down on paper first (or some other device), before committing to action and save yourself some time, while increasing your productivity.