IS PLANNING WORTH IT?
WHAT IS THE PAYOFF FOR MY TIME SPENT PLANNING?
These are just notes, but I think the point is pretty clear. I'll add some material later and refine the wording but you should be convinced of the value. Contact me if you are not.
Planning is often shoved aside because it is not driven by necessity or urgency. As a result, we give up much of the time saving effects and much of the value of our lives.
Somehow, we need to convince ourselves of the value of it and schedule it "mandatorily" into our day at a particular time, with an alarm, and the time block is set aside on the calendar.
VALUE
Save ten minutes for every minute of planning, per research.
Lowers stress.
You get more done and you reap the benefits, feel better about yourself and your life.
You choose and do things of higher value to you.
More time for what is of higher value to you, such as family time.
ANALOGY
Say I want to go from Dublin to Cork and I have never been to Cork before and I decide to just set off without a map or directions – where do you think I’ll end up and how much extra time will I take?
Although harder to "get" (understand), if we are trying to reach a desired result and we do not do it systematically, with a "map", we are likely to wander around a bit and lose some time. Many of us think if we spend time planning we will somehow push out some time where we get pleasure, have fun, etc. But the opposite is true. If we lose time on getting to a desired result, that time can no longer be used for pleasure, fun, etc. The effect of planning is not to take up time, but to free up and save time - and it does this massively over time, freeing up extra years of life. Sure it takes some time, but it always frees up more time than it takes, so the net time investment is zero. When we spend zero on something and get some extra benefits that amounts to an infinite return.
A ROAD MAP FOR PLANNING MAKES IT EASIER
Of course, one of the necessary tricks we need to implement this in our lives is to make it easy to plan, so we set up formats, so you can just follow the format and not have to think up one or have a lousy one.
Also, if you're constantly redesigning or forgetting what to do, you will be confused and less likely to do it and probably discouraged from using less effective formats and from doing it the hard way.
KEY EXCERPTS (LAURA STACK)
"Research shows that for every 1 minute you spend in planning, you will gain 10 in execution. 1 minute = 10 minutes. 10 minutes = 1 hour and 40 minutes! This may seem amazing because you may feel like you are already doing all you can each day! If you could just gain an extra half-hour a day through effective time management, you would have 22 more days available to you per year.
Abraham Lincoln reportedly once said, “If I had 60 minutes to cut down a tree, I would spend 40 minutes sharpening the ax and 20 minutes cutting it down.
Thus, Steven Covey calls planning “sharpening the ax.” You have to take time to make time. Planning is the difference between being REACTIVE and PROACTIVE. When you don’t plan, you end up responding to the day’s events as they occur.
What does a reactive day look like? You arrive at work in the morning with no clear idea about the day’s activities. Things begin to happen—the mail arrives, the phone rings, people drop by. With a flurry of activity, you respond to these various demands. You put forth considerable effort, but at the end of the day, you haven’t accomplished anything significant. This approach is often referred to as FIREFIGHTING or operating by the seat of your pants. If you don’t determine what you want to achieve, you will experience frequent changes in your plans. You will experience a decision dilemma—”What do I do next?” If you don’t determine what you want to achieve, others will be perfectly happy to fill your time for you."
