Planning Your Day

By Craig Ballantyne

In all my conversations with ETR readers, there often seems to be just a few major obstacles in the way of your success. Two that go hand-in-hand with one another are overcoming procrastination and getting a handle on your time management.

The good news is that we conquer both with one solution. And that's simply by planning your day. 

So let's allay your fears and stresses about the seemingly complex task at hand. Planning makes success simple. Don't get me wrong, it doesn't make success easy, but it makes it simple. There is a big difference between the two. Easy means little effort. And we both know that success takes hard work. Simple means that the path to success has already been tread, and we just need to follow that path. But, of course, there's a path that has been tread to the top of Mount Everest, too, and we know that isn't easy.

All paths to success take planning. In our recent discussions about "Operation 2X", our plan to help you achieve twice the results over the rest of the year, ETR Publisher our Matt Smith said, "You cannot have a 2X day when you don't plan. That includes planning kids/family activities. 2X happens only when you lead. It only happens when you're proactive and are actually pushing things forward. 2X only happens when there is intention." 

So what does that mean?

You need to:

• Plan your day/schedule
• Block out your time for specific tasks
• Get ONE big thing done first thing in the morning for momentum
• Prioritize your to-do list
• Make a commitment to contacting the right people (including
•   at least one affiliate partner per day)
• Eliminate unnecessary communication
• Avoid getting sucked into emails
• Set daily deadlines
• Stick to your schedule (this is where things often go wrong)
• Set up your environment for maximum productivity.
• Institute a strict sleeping schedule
• Surround yourself with competent people who can do the grunt work for you.

Or you can say, "Oh, I don't want to be that rigid. I want a flexible, spontaneous lifestyle." 

And that's fine, but the fact is you'll fail at almost everything you want to do in life. PERIOD.

Your choice.

You must have total control over your working conditions and those that can interrupt it. It must be made known that your work time is do not disturb time. 

This will disappoint others but it will protect your time and is essential to your success. Make this decision. Separate work from play. Commit. Stay focused. 

Remember...you get freedom from structure.

You don't get freedom from a 4-hour work week. That's false freedom, or as your parents described it, "Laziness".

So listen...

If you're struggling with your schedule, go back and do a "time journal". Then ruthlessly plan your work day. 

The more work you can get done during work hours, the less time you'll have to steal from your family, friends, fitness, and fun hobbies by working when it's not "work time". 

That's what is meant by getting more freedom from structure.

You can work hard a good many hours and still have a life. Most people don't have a balance problem, they have a time wasting problem. 

You must find your magic time to get more done in less time. 

You must also set an end to your day. Do a brain dump and then shut your working mind down. Go spend time with your family. Don't answer email at all hours of the day. Set limits. Know what you should be doing at all times, and do it.

The more structure you have in your work day, the more you plan, the more you will accomplish - and the closer you will get to achieving a 2X day - and life.

Remember these words of wisdom from Dave Kekich:

"Cherish time, your most valuable resource. You can never make up the time you lose. It's the most important value for any productive happy individual and is the only limitation to all accomplishment. To waste time is to waste your life. The most important choices you'll ever make are how you use your time." 

So always be prepared. Plan ahead. If you don't, that will not only slow your 2X progress, but it will cause you a lot of stress and anxiety in every area of life.

Why?

Because...

"Anxiety is usually caused by lack of control, organization, preparation, and action." - Kekich Credo #97

And that can be easily fixed with a plan.