How A Productivity Planner Can Keep You From Failing Miserably

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You’ve got BIG DREAMS, and are embarking on a journey to make those dreams come true. But even when you follow a proven system, you quickly discover it’s an uphill battle to success. You need a helping hand or a guide to make sure you stick to ‘the well-trodden path'. You need a productivity planner.

It’s down to you to make those dreams a reality. Because one thing that’s as certain as death and taxes is, no-one else is going to make your dreams happen for you!

The problem with making your dreams a reality is . . . it’s tricky to stay focused in the face-paced world we live in. Everything is disposable in this day and age, so we want everything instantly, and don’t expect we should have to wait!

However. . . SUCCESS TAKES TIME.

So, taking one step at a time, shutting out distractions, and persevering till you’re successful is more difficult than most people think!

Which is exactly why we put together a 3 Step Productivity Planning Process to help you build your dreams  – successfully.

There’s 3 simple steps to follow, which are:

[1]          PLAN

[2]          PLOT

[3]          ACT

So let's talk you through each step in turn:

[1]          PLAN EACH DAY

‘Rome wasn’t built in a day’?

Same goes for any long term project/activity/business you tackle. You must plan each day carefully to ensure you continue to move steadily closer towards your long term goal.

Have a timetable or a schedule of tasks you'll work on each day, each week, each month – and STICK TO IT.

>> DOWNLOAD THE DAILY SCHEDULE TEMPLATE WE US OURSELVES TO STAY ON TRACK, GROW OUR BUSINESS, AND GET SHIT DONE <<

We humans ALL struggle with unproductivity, procrastination, and lack of focus all the time. The trouble is, you can read articles about the causes till the cows come home, but your behaviour won’t change until you download and/or print off our daily schedule to help you.

When building an online business, it’s way too easy to be a busy fool and not focus on the money producing tasks each day which will move your business forward – so you must work smart – which requires a plan.

This is hugely important for several reasons:

• to help you stay focused
• to help you realise when you’re being distracted
• to provide a visual guide for your family's benefit which confirm you’re serious about your success – so they think twice before interrupting your productivity

How To Use The Daily Schedule Template

Use our template as a guide. Your schedule doesn’t have to be an Excel spreadsheet, it can just be a simple table, but it does have to have hourly time slots.

First, block out all the time you’re not available to work on your project/activity/business. That might be when you’re at work, family time, meal times, exercise time, and when you’re in bed.

Next, plan the remaining hours very wisely, focusing first on the money producing tasks if it’s an online business plan. Use the tasks in our template as a guide.

When following your daily schedule, use a desktop timer like this one: http://www.online-stopwatch.com/ or simply use the countdown timer on your mobile phone.

Set your timer for 50 minutes only, and have it go off like a klaxon when the time is up.

In the remaining 10 minutes of your scheduled hour, be sure to MOVE, stretch, drink water, meditate, surf the web – whatever – give your mind and body a much needed break from concentration.

Important: be REALISTIC in how long it takes you to do things properly. For example, if you’re task is to write a well-crafted, informative blog post (article or report) and you know you’ve never written one in under an hour before, then don’t sell yourself short of time – schedule a REALISTIC amount of time to complete each task.

Never give yourself any excuse whatsoever to be able to be disappointed with yourself for not finishing a job in time.

[2]          PLOT EACH NIGHT

‘Parkinson’s Law: Work expands to fill the time available for its completion.’

The plotting part is all about setting yourself up for success . . . EVERY SINGLE EVENING.

Planning your days the night before makes you a lot more productive because you have a plan to follow from the minute you wake up – so nothing is left to guess work, or weakness of character, or laziness, or tiredness! Get the picture?

It also allows you to empty your head of ‘to do' stuff, and eliminate brainfarts, before you ‘hit the hay'. The goal here is to leave your mind completely free to sleep.

Now if you’re someone who wakes up in the middle of the night buzzing with little pearls of wisdom – the solution is simple – keep a notepad by your bed and scribble down the idea in the dark (yes, you will be able to decipher the message in the morning). Again, it empties your head to focus on sleep. The whole idea is to have systems in place to overcome an overactive mind.

Determine The MOST IMPORTANT Tasks to Tackle Tomorrow

Consider the tasks, projects, assignments you’re working on at present and list the top three activities which simply MUST be completed tomorrow – or else . . . one of your nearest and dearest will die (that’s how dramatic it has to be to force you to act!)

[1] Download our Priorities Plotter Here to help you do this every evening.

[2] Once you finish this each night, copy and paste the MUST DO tasks into the 50 minute time slots in your daily schedule.

[3] Then get a good night sleep.

[3]          ACT ON YOUR PLAN

‘Actions speak louder than words’

Follow your daily timetable to the ‘T’.

Action generates results. Results generate progress. Progress generates success.

DO’s

• APPOINTMENTS – treat each task in your daily schedule like you would a physical appointment. Imagine you’re meeting Richard Branson for coffee at a specific time, and he has another appointment 50 minutes after you – you’d turn up on time wouldn’t you?
• DEADLINES – stick to them. If you don't finish a scheduled task in the planned time frame, then slot it into an ‘emergency hour’ later in the day, or list it in your Priorities Plotter to be finished off tomorrow. This avoids you ‘trying to remember to do it tomorrow’!
• ACKNOWLEDGE YOURSELF – Make time to acknowledge yourself for what you do complete. This reduces overwhelm, gives credit where credit is due, and subconsciously encourages better productivity the next day.
• BE AWARE OF DISTRACTIONS – pay attention to the times of day your attention is prone to wander or you’re less creative, and schedule more appropriate tasks for those times. The objective is to hit distractions squarely on the head – things like Facebook, telly, phones, food in the fridge . . .
• SUPPORT IN THE HOME – get buy-in from your nearest and dearest with regards what you want to achieve so they know you’re serious about achieving it. Maybe even get them to hold you accountable – which is why printing off your daily schedule is a good idea as it’s a visible, physical record of your intentions.
• PARETO PRINCIPLE – Remember to spend 20% of your time learning and 80% of your time doing, implementing and taking action. When you learn something new, implement it straight away. Conversely, don’t waste time learning something if you know you’re not going to implement it straight away.

DONT's

• NEVER CHECK EMAIL – until after you complete your top three tasks plotted the night before. Why, because checking your email inbox could cause you to be reactive, could upset your creative mood or energy, and could lead you to be a victim of other people’s timetables. The tasks you identify to do each day are FAR MORE IMPORTANT than your email. Think about it – nothing is usually so urgent that it can’t wait.
• DON’T MULTI-TASK – attempting to do two things at once may seem like a great idea to get loads done and save time, but it actually DECREASES your ability to remain focussed. Staying laser focused on one task at a time is a simpler process and ensures completion of the task at hand.
• NEVER COMPARE YOURSELF TO OTHERS – don’t worry what others are doing around you, just focus on one thing and see it through to completion. There’s always going to be people who know more than you, have better products than you, and have more customers than you. You are unique and have different skills, experience and knowledge than others – so why would you compare your progress to them?

So get ready, and get set to Plan, Plot, Act.

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