It seems everyone has a method of planning their business these days. In my life I have had more planners than I’ve had professional years, and most of them are completely empty beyond March.
They are complicated. They are overwhelming.
Someone whom I trust and who is a really successful entrepreneur recommended a set of planning pages, and as soon as I saw what they included I knew that I would never use them. They have the Cheesecake Factory effect on me: absolutely too much information. This is why I always end up with the same meal. Scampi with Pasta and Oreo Cheesecake for dessert is fine.
This is why when my friend Izolda came out with her planning and journaling book, I was somewhat skeptical. But she actually tested it with a focus group, and based it on the method that she has used to get her stuff done. And boy does this woman get stuff done. So I bought a copy.
So far, I am impressed and definitely not overwhelmed with boxes and requests for information. It starts with a page for your professional and personal vision to meet over the following three months, with a place to imagine your reward for finishing. Each day has a place for gratitude, wins, state of mind, and check-in. Most importantly to me, each day limits you to three projects and three action items per project to complete and check off.
Why is this important to me? Because left unchecked, my brain will try to work on fifteen projects and unlimited action items per project. Or, given the business version of the Cheesecake Factory menu, I will completely freeze and work on the one thing I know I enjoy doing and forget about all of the things that really need attention. Keeping me to a total of nine action items will, I hope, keep me focused and allow me to work on just the things that I need to do that day to make my projects happen.
It’s almost a take on the One Thing from Gary Keller. When you can focus, you can discover the One Thing that you need to do to keep your business moving forward.
As for Izolda’s book, Get Your Stuff Done! has a check-in at the end of each week as well, for key realizations and accomplishments. Journaling is a big part of every day. You’d think that as a writer I wouldn’t have trouble journaling, but as they say, “It takes much brain to make the words go.” I could be better about personal reflection.
If you’d like to buy a copy of the book, follow my link (Amazon Affiliate link): Get Your Stuff Done! by Izolda Trakhtenberg