5 Easy Steps For Planning Your Week

Have checklists related to what you want to achieve.


What are some tips for planning and organizing your week, and when should you deviate? originally appeared on Quora, the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world.

There are a number of things that you can do to plan and organize your week and this type of organization is critical for your success in business whether you’re an entrepreneur or an intrapreneur. You can get started on this balancing act by taking the following actions:

1. Set Goals. You should break your goals down into daily, monthly and yearly milestones and benchmarks. Make sure that you are able to measure and track these goals, that they are realistic, and that you build in some flexibility in case something unforeseen occurs (and it happens often).

2. Create Action Plans. Action plans are documents that help you list the steps that it will take to make your goals a reality. On them, include information related to your objectives, timelines, microsteps for achievement, and success criteria.

3. Schedule and Review. Ensure that you are setting deadlines and holding yourself accountable. Work in chunks and minimize distractions while scheduling absolutely everything.

4. Plan for it all. Have checklists related to what you want to achieve. Review your checklists in the morning and then again in the evening (and also give them an overview at the start and end of each week). Whatever you don’t finish in a day, come back to the next.

5. Maintain perspective. Learn to look at the big picture as well as the day-to-day. Reward yourself when you accomplish tasks (both large and small). And always celebrate your productivity and accomplishments because that will train your brain to get better with productivity and time management.

Generally speaking, you should stick with your scheduled tasks, but allow yourself to deviate when pressing issues arise, your time is better spent elsewhere, and when your mood and focus are better suited for alternate tasks. You can get more planning and scheduling tips in my book Launch Your Inner Entrepreneur.

This question originally appeared on Quora.

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