Planning Ahead

Getting ahead is all about planning ahead. We know you have a lot of responsibilities and a lot going on, which makes staying organized and thinking ahead difficult. When there are too many things happening all at once, it’s easy to stay stuck living in the moment without being able to plan for the future. 

The thing is, at work, you need to plan ahead to make sure you’re on time and have good attendance. Keeping track of everything can be overwhelming, and if you don’t plan ahead, you can miss your obligations and fall short of your goals. That’s why tools that help you plan ahead for all of the things going on in your life are so important. Here are some examples: 

  • Keep track of events: Have you ever missed a doctor’s appointment or forgotten to pay an important bill on time? Forgetting about an event can cause problems that could have been avoided if you had only had a way to organize the events in your life ahead of time. To keep track of events, try using a calendar. Every time you know you have an event, add it to a calendar on your smartphone or write it down on a physical calendar. Once you get in the habit of writing your events down, get in the habit of looking at your calendar at the beginning of the week so you can plan ahead for success. 
  • Keep track of time: Being late can make or break your success, especially at work. Being able to organize your time so that you can show up is a key part of your success. Organizing time isn’t easy, but tools like alarm clocks, phone alarms and timers can all help you keep track of time. Consider setting up alarms to go off at crucial points during your day — like a wake-up alarm, an alarm that goes off for when you need to start your commute, and an alarm to help you go to bed on time. 
  • Keep track of things you need to do: You have a lot of things to keep track of, from daily chores to future goals. When you just keep a list in your head, it’s easy to forget about important details. To remember all the things you need to do now and want to do in the future, create a list. You can keep your list on your smartphone, in a notebook, or even create a voice memo to refer back to. Consider keeping a list of things to accomplish every week and refer back to your list when you’re not sure what you should be doing. 

Questions

  1. Do you currently plan your week ahead of time, or do you live life in the moment?
  2. If you live life in the moment, how could staying organized and planning ahead help you?  
  3. What role do you think staying organized has in planning ahead? 

Resource

https://www.oninstaffing.com/put-it-on-the-calendar/