PLANNING 2: Making your plans actionable.

Can you relate with this?

Turns left, turns right,
Opens his/her eyes, checks the time on his phone,
Yawns, mutters some words of prayer
Put on Mobile Date ( If its not on already),
Checks whatsapp messages, checks BBM, Checks instagram
Checks Facebook Notifications, wish happy birthdays, Drop a post, like and comment on post..
Go for family devotion (Where it still holds)
Continues with Social media brief stops while doing some house chores,
Takes breakfast alongside checking notifications,
Have his/her shower, dress up for the day,
Set out of the days activities while mobile data is on
.
.
.
.
Comes back at night,
Social media + Dinner
Continues Social media after dinner (while Charging the device).
Stops and ponders! "What have I achieved today? 1,2,3... Urhhh not much ooo... I spent much time on online today oooi.. Well tomorrow will be a better day, I will do that project tomorrow"
Probably sleeps online or turns off data when sleep beckons so fast..
Wakes up!
Continues the routine!


Am pretty sure most of us felt amazed about how so true that routine describes your everyday life and action. This routine has affected the life of so many young people and has caused them to waste youthful and useful times in pursuing trivialities.
The reason why your daily schedule will always revolve around that is because you have not planned how you want the day to be spent. In the last post, I ended with a hint on how best to plan your day and make your plan actionable. Let's explore them briefly.

HAVE A TO-DO LIST
This has been a very useful compass in my daily life and a big secret to my spending my day successfully.  It involves having a list of everything you want to do starting from your quiet time (very necessary) to sleeping at night. It entails your plans to chat, read a book ( be specific, it helps a lot) , calls you need to make, places you need to visit, mails you need to send, and every single thing you need to do that day. The interesting part of having this daily to-do-list is when you have written only 5things and your mind questions your will if those are the only thing you need to do. At that point you find yourself thinking of other necessary personal development plans that you need to incorporate into that day. Less I forget, you must include time for leisure and rest (very necessary).
Personally, I don't always attach time to these items, but I apply discipline to ensure I follow them regularly(its just me). You may need to ensure time is appended to your list... Its very effective and works exceptionally great. Remember the power of timed decision is incomparable.

FOLLOW IT TO THE BEST OF YOUR ABILITY
But even with those lists, the challenge, as always, is execution. How can you stick to a plan when so many things threaten to derail it? How can you focus on a few important things when so many things require your attention?

We need a trick.

Jack LaLanne, the fitness guru, knows all about tricks; he’s famous for handcuffing himself and then swimming a mile or more while towing large boats filled with people. But he’s more than just a showman. He invented several exercise machines including the ones with pulleys and weight selectors in health clubs throughout the world. And his show, The Jack LaLanne Show, was the longest running television fitness program, on the air for 34 years.

But none of that is what impresses me. He has one trick that I believe is his real secret power.

Ritual.

At the age of 94, he still spends the first two hours of his day exercising. Ninety minutes lifting weights and 30 minutes swimming or walking. Every morning. He needs to do so to achieve his goals: on his 95th birthday he plans to swim from the coast of California to Santa Catalina Island, a distance of 20 miles. Also, as he is fond of saying, “I cannot afford to die. It will ruin my image.”

So he works, consistently and deliberately, toward his goals. He does the same things day in and day out. He cares about his fitness and he’s built it into his schedule.

Managing our time needs to become a ritual too. Not simply a list or a vague sense of our priorities. That’s not consistent or deliberate. It needs to be an ongoing process we follow no matter what to keep us focused on our priorities throughout the day.
One of the best ways to maintain this focus is to form the habit of ticking each activity you've done, mark an X to those you couldn't. You can do this 6hourly or 12hourly as much as you can. There is need for conscious consistency if we must make our day count.

REVIEW, AND LEARN!
This is best done before you sleep at the end of the day.
Its about checking your daily list and asking yourself the question, what have I achieved today?
What couldn't I achieve and why?
What can I push till tomorrow and how best do I make sure it is achieved?
Its this time you learn from your inconsistencies, take decisions that motivates you and restrategize for tomorrow.

You can if you think you can...
Let's make 2017 count!

Join me tomorrow for Part 3 of PLANNING Series!