What I've Learned Tip #6

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Plan According to To Your Personality


There are basically one thing that stops me from getting done what needs to get done, and that is not knowing what to do next.

No matter how I slice the cake, whether it be confusion, losing interest in a project, or getting distracted on the internet, it all relates to not having any direction.

For any fellow procrastinators out there, this tip is for you.

I find that I work much better with a plan. Even if you're not a planner, you need to find a way to plan according to your personality. There are several ways to create plans to guarantee success. Here are a few that I implement, with names I've invented for them.


Strict Broad Planning With Loose Precise Planning

What this is, is create a broad framework of what you want to accomplish within a period of time. For example, I want to have a functioning website that I can link articles to and start blogging on by the end of the month.

Within this framework, you list, in any order, the precise things that need to be done. You then move through the list in any order, and ramp up your efforts or pare them down according to your progress on the list.

This gives you the structure of a goal, but the freedom of choosing your tasks. I do this one a lot because it allows for my short attention span to shift from different areas of a larger project.


Forget The Big Picture

Is a project too big and you're getting frustrated because it seem like no matter how much work you do in a day, you can't get any closer to your ultimate goal?

Make a list of things you need to get done, in the order you think they should get done, and a time schedule how you think they should get done.

Then forget the larger idea of the project, and focus on the small tasks you have in front of you. Do it according to plan. Do not do more, do not do less. Do not deviate from the schedule.

This plays on your sense of accomplishment. By completing the tasks you've set for the day, you will feel as if you've completed something, rather than feel you've failed to get any closer to your ultimate goal. When the list is complete, you may have to tweak a few things according the larger picture (which you can now look at), but all the individual parts will be ready for you arrange as needed.


List separation & consolidation

I have a lot of projects going, not just with internet marketing. I'm taking some classes, reading some books, and have my own personal interests. But I can't fit it all in a day.

So I separate all goals onto lists in various places. Some are in Evernote, some are on paper, some are on my whiteboard. I write down all I want to do, say, or think about, and cross things off as they get done or taken care of. I usually choose which list to work on by my general mood or level of interest.

Then, as I whittle down each separate list, I then consolidate them into a single list of things I need to finish.

This gives me structure to organize my thoughts and tasks, but the freedom to work on what I want to, without losing track of other things I need to get done.


I hope you enjoyed this tip and found it useful. Do you have any advice for planning? Feel free to share you scheduling process below.

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Recent Comments

23

Lists are very important for reaching goals. I make a weekly list and it's full. I sometimes add to it through the week. This helps me to not deviate from my task as well, finding all those others things that interest me adding them to my list to do's and returning to them later.

Yes, making lists is good, but sometimes you need to change them along the way. I do this quite a bit.

great tip!

Great Stuff thanks, I recently switched from paper to a smartphone started with Colornote, and now since I have Office 2010 switch to OneNote and once I got used to it the separate lists really work great. take care. see you around

Good tips on note taking tools. I'll have to check those out.

I am an unplanner, so this goes well with me. Thanks. :)

I follow very similar methods to you especially the loose/broad plan. I always felt this was a bad thing and I should be more organized/focused ! But you've made me realize that as long as I get stuff done it will be fine

One thing I've come to realize is that everyone has a different working style, and you've got to exploit whatever merits you have. Have you heard about people having different 'productivity time zones'? Some people are more productive in the morning, others later in the day.

If you find that you have a real hard time getting up and getting started in the morning, or right after work, or whenever, try moving the time when you sit down to work and see how it goes.

I know I get the most done between 9:00pm and 2:00am!

This is good, just what I need. Thanks for the whiteboard idea. It will go on the wall next to my my work desk so I won"t get distracted by other things. Thanks. JerryMc

Whiteboards are great. I have two. One is a month schedule, and one is a week schedule.

Actually, I would like a giant wall-sized white board if I could!

Great post! The "freedom to work on what I want::...great advice. That's the purpose of goals and writing them down. It almost seems too structured but it does give that sense of accomplishment.

I started by giving myself a strict schedule, and as I've posted before, I found that I always avoided the work that needed to be done the most. At least this way, I keep track of what I'm ACTUALLY doing. It's easy to get busy with non-important tasks. When you have a list, you can do all the non-important stuff you like, and eventually you need to say to yourself, "Alright, I've taken it easy for quite some time, now it's time to get some real work done."

Good advice, thanks

This article has to be written for me, procrastinator, planner, list maker, etc. My problem is thinking I can do more than I actually can in a day, and getting backed up, until I get frustrated, make a new list, and start over again. I haven't started training yet, because I'm planning for it, Monday is the day, but I've gotten comfortable here at WA in the meantime, and know where to start, and where to ask questions, etc., so it wasn't a waste. I'm going to try an hour by hour schedule, and see if I can make myself stick to it, tweak it, or whatever, to get things done. I love this article though, it tells me that I'm not the only one who thinks like this.

Lol. Yes, it sounds like you plan things like me. That's the great thing about blogging; you find people like yourself and can trade ideas & support each other.

I kind of skimmed your other tips, love #4, I had a crush on Bruce Lee when I was in my 20s, saw all his movies, and wallpapered my dorm room with his posters, anyway, they all sound good, so I'll be reading them all, I may even print them out. I see #2 thru 6, is there a tip #1? Anyway, again, love everything I've seen so far.

There is a #1, but it's super secret. You have to buy my guide for $47 dollars which is only available for the next 2 hours. Lol.

Actually, good question. I see that I've got 71 blog posts total, but I don't know how to see older posts. Even in the full blog view, you can't "see older posts"....I'll have to investigate.

Too bad, I missed the deadline, now I'll never know. Ha! For $47, I'm sure I could have made $10,247.63 by next week, and won a Ferrari and a boat, while I plan my trip to the Bahamas, oh well, that's what I get for not jumping on it. Now that all sounds familiar. But really, if you do run across tip #1, let me know, and I guess I should print the rest before they drop off the radar too. Good stuff.

Thanks for this post, you are so right about planning and sticking to your goals.

I am a huge procrastinator and taking the time to write down each day what I want to accomplish really does help.

Just a little chunk done each day and crossing off the items on a list makes me feel like I'm accomplishing something and getting closer to those goals that seem so far away.

It's easy to get sidetracked but you just have to focus on the job at hand.
Thanks again this really is helpful =)

I'm glad you found it useful. Much of my planning strategies do not come natural to me. I learned them from various places these past years and have morphed them into my own. Planning for procrastinators takes practice!

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