Break your goals down into bite-sized pieces with weekly planning
Weekly goal planning - keeping on track
Weekly goal planning is a valuable practice for setting and achieving your objectives efficiently. It seems like a simple exercise - look at the week and plan your activities. But ranking projects, to-dos, and personal and health goals is not as simple as it sounds. The week can become a moving target as unexpected events and meetings pop up. There will always be fires to put out, but being on top of your schedule will help you focus on the most valuable and high-return areas.
The weekly planning approach is effective when done on a Sunday evening, prior to the start of your workweek. Find a place free of distractions. this exercise should take anywhere from ten - thirty minutes.
A structured approach to weekly planning
The following is a simply structured approach to weekly planning:
1. Review Long-term Goals: Start by reviewing your long-term or overarching goals. These should be related to career, projects, personal development, health, and any other areas of importance.
2. Prioritize: Determine which weekly goals are the most crucial or urgent. Focus on the tasks that will have the most significant impact on your long-term objectives.
3. Set a Realistic Timeframe: Estimating the hours in each area is important to ensure you do not overload your week. You can’t do everything all in one week.
4. Plan Tasks: Break down each area into daily tasks. Assign specific tasks to specific days of the week, considering your schedule and energy levels.
5. Time Blocking: Allocate time blocks dedicated to working on these tasks. The most effective use of time-blocking is to block your entire day with activities. Save blocks for unexpected events, but there should be a block for each hour of your day. Have several blocks dedicated to recharging time.
6. Review and Adjust: At the end of each week, review your accomplishments. Celebrate successes and analyze any uncompleted tasks. Determine if they should be carried over to the next week or if they are no longer relevant.
7. Stay Motivated: Keep long-term goals in mind as motivation. Visualizing the bigger picture can help the committment to meeting weekly objectives.
Remember that the purpose of weekly goal planning is not only to achieve tasks but also to maintain focus on the long-view. Do not think short-term losses, but long-term gains.
You will be pleasantly surprised how the weekly planning exercise will help you manage your schedule and expectations, while maximizing your productivity.
Review goals daily
About Russ Hissom - Article Author
Russ Hissom, CPA is a principal of Utility Accounting & Rates Specialists a firm that provides power utilities rate, expert witness, and consulting services, and online/on-demand courses on accounting, rates, FERC/RUS construction accounting, financial analysis, and business process improvement services. Russ was a partner in a national accounting and consulting firm for 20 years. He works with electric investor-owned and public power utilities, electric cooperatives, broadband providers, and gas, water, and wastewater utilities. His goal is to share industry best practices to help your business perform effectively and efficiently and meet the challenges of the changing power and utilities industry.
Find out more about Utility Accounting & Rates Specialists here, or you can reach Russ at russ.hissom@utilityeducation.com.
The material in this article is for informational purposes only and should not be taken as legal or accounting advice provided by Utility Accounting & Rates Specialists. You should seek formal advice on this topic from your accounting or legal advisor.