Without a Plan, You Do What’s Passive and Easy
By: Thomas Oppong
Tags: Self Improvement, Self, Productivity, Work, Personal Development

You Need an Action Plan

The bitter truth is without an action plan, or working system, you will accomplish little in life and career.

A plan helps you commit yourself fully to everything you want to do.

Jim Rohn once said, “Don’t start the day until you have it finished. Don’t start the week until you have it finished. Don’t start the month until you have it finished. Plan your day.”

He is right. It’s the best way to make real progress in your life and career.

You can plan time to do high-value tasks every day, exercise, eat healthy, practice gratitude, read, learn a new skill, etc. It helps you stay focused and avoid the many distractions that come your way every day.

Simultaneously, you can plan for downtime to take a vacation, go for a walk, spend time with family, etc.

Just imagine what you could achieve if you actually made plans, commit to them and get them done — your life would take a quantum leap forward over the next weeks, months, and years.

When you think of things ahead of time, consider how to get them done, and make plans to do them on a specific day, week or month, you will put yourself in the best position to control your time and actions.

A feeling of control motivates us to act, according to research.

For a productive day, think in advance. It’s the best way to make sure that you don’t overlook anything important.

An action plan can help you know how much time you have in a given day and how much of it you’re going to need to complete your tasks. Once you have an understanding of what you need to do, you can focus on getting your high-priority tasks done.

Successful people schedule their days strategically and maximise their time and energy for peak performance. Planning your day beforehand means you can literally orchestrate a productive day.

Instead of depending on your mood and your circumstances to get you through the day, choose to be proactive and make mood and circumstances respond to your work.

“Either you run the day or the day runs you,” said Jim Rohn.

The alternative is a reactive day that is controlled by actions of others, or a distracted day with little to show for it.

Jocelyn K. Glei, founding editor of 99U, and author of Unsubscribe: How to Kill Email Anxiety, Avoid Distractions, and Get Real Work Done says, “Kicking off the day without a plan opens you up to the dangers of ‘reactive work,’ letting other people’s demands dictate what you do with your day.”

Most people can’t stick to a plan because they don’t take it seriously or have no clear directions. “Moving from “to do” to “in progress” is a big mental barrier, and poor planning can make it even bigger,” says Jason Lengstorf.

Clarity of purpose changes everything.

Instead of rushing to gather your thoughts every morning, aim to start your days with more clarity of purpose.

When you minimise your struggles in the morning, that overwhelmed feeling in the morning (and the rest of the day) will be a thing of the past. If you have an action plan every morning, your focus will change. Even how you respond to the demands of others on your time will be different.