Of course, I’m not talking about planning out your daily schedule for the next year, or even your weekly schedule. Think bigger picture. Where do you want to be a year from now? What do you want to accomplish?

I don’t really plan out “resolutions” starting in January. Resolutions are usually sound bites that just set you up to fail. But they don’t have to be, if you use them as a starting point.

Now is a perfect time to dream a little. Or a lot. What’s your ideal year look like? What would you do if you had no limitations? Once you’re done dreaming a bit, capture your ideas on paper. Right now it doesn’t matter if they’re feasible. Just write them down.

Okay. Take a good look at those dreams. In it, you can probably find something you can base a goal on. Was your dream to make six figures? Seven? Great – now how are you going to do it? Does it seem too big right now? Whittle it down a tiny bit, make it a manageable goal, then plan it out. Go for it.

What’s the worst that can happen? You planned to increase your income by 30%, but you only hit 25%. Is that a failure? No. You’ll still see an increase over the previous year, right? That’s great, even if it’s not as high as you wanted.

Don’t set yourself up for failure by making vague resolutions about what you’ll do this year. I’m still working on mine, since we just got back from traveling during the holidays. I need to figure out what I want from this year, too.

So tell me, are you struggling to figure out what you want? Having trouble setting realistic goals? Do you use this time of year to assess where you are, or is there a time that works better for you?

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Post from: My Organized Biz

But if you work a M-F schedule (and while few entrepreneurs really do, your clients probably do, right?) then Mondays are hectic, aren’t they? Do you really feel like you have time to plan your week first thing Monday morning?

You usually have to hit the ground running. So you already need to have your plan before you start Monday morning. When you have time to think. To plan. To look ahead.

There are a couple of times that could be better, depending on your personality and preferences.

You could start Friday afternoon. Look back at your week on Friday afternoon and see what you accomplished. What you missed. And where you need to start back up next week. That gives you the advantage of reviewing things while your week is still fresh in your mind. But how much will you remember of that Monday morning? Will you still need time to get back up to speed if you take a couple of days and don’t look at your projects or tasks? (That’s something that will be different for everyone.)

On the other hand, you could plan things on Sunday night (or afternoon, even morning – the timing is what works best for your rhythms). Sunday nights are usually pretty mellow for most of us. It’s a good time to sit down, reflect, figure out what you need to do in the coming week. You can look at trouble spots and see if there’s a new tactic you should try. It’s a good time to be contemplative. No reacting to fires or emergencies. Just calm, easy review. Lots of thinking. Maybe even a little meditation.

The point is, find what works for you. If Monday’s too busy, if you feel too overwhelmed, you’re not going to plan. And you need to plan. So find another time that works for you. And use it instead. You need to do something instead of just hoping that things will get done and that things will work out. Control your time instead of letting it control you.

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Post from: My Organized Biz