Planning? Why Bother?

JUNE 29, 2018

Continuing July’s theme of taking action, I want to share with you the importance of planning. We’ve all heard the saying “fail to plan and you plan to fail”, yet the majority of us are still trying to figure out how, why and where to get started.
Some people never plan, using the excuse ‘I work better under pressure’ or they just ‘don’t have enough time’. Some people will start to plan, but somewhere along the way they get distracted and will eventually find their half-written notes under a huge pile of books or other half-written plans six months later. Then there are the rare few, the ones we all envy, the ones that seemingly effortlessly whip out a plan for each project, completing each task in a timely and effective manner. Wishing you were one of these types of people?…
Planning may seem like a time-heavy task but in reality, as with most things, the more you do it the better and quicker you will get. Writing a plan can help you in a number of ways. By creating a structure and focusing your attention on achieving your aims and objectives, a good plan will make you prioritise your activities and use your time more effectively.
Although it may not seem like it initially, giving yourself a plan to follow can actually help you to be more flexible. By forecasting future events, you’re more likely to see a crisis before it occurs. So, you can be more flexible with how you react. this means you spend less time fire-fighting, and more time working on what you want to be doing.
Not only will a plan help increase productivity, but it usually increases motivation too. I could go on, except I think by now you’re getting the point… you need to plan!
Many people overcomplicate the planning process, you don’t need to detail every step of every task of every project. What’s most important is that your business plan represents you and fits with how you know you work best.
The key to getting good at planning is as follows:

Reflect:

Give yourself a few minutes each day, week and month to go over your plan. Try to establish what you have learnt, figure out what went well and what didn’t. Doing so will help you to better prepare for the future and makes full use of your past experience. Remember that your plan is not set in stone, it’s there to give you a guiding hand.

Set Goals:

Hundreds of thousands of plans have been abandoned because the person writing the plan set themselves unrealistic goals. It might briefly make you feel as though you have mastered the world of business by setting your goal to having £1,000,000 in the bank by the end of the year, but if this isn’t achievable for you then it’s likely to throw you off task.
Realistic, achievable goals give you direction and increase your chances of achieving things. To help motivate you even more, you can reward yourself once your goals have been achieved with a nice meal out or an afternoon of rest. After all, a goal without a plan is just a wish!

Take action:

The difference between those that succeed and those that don’t usually falls down to this. A plan alone won’t increase productivity, giving yourself a goal doesn’t automatically mean you have achieved it. If you really, seriously, want to succeed you need to get moving!