What's the plan?

Recognizing some people are inherently better planners, those who aren’t can certainly improve. Planning does involve some work depending on the magnitude of the goal. This can be anything from a meal you will eat this week, a trip you will take in the future, preparing your home for sale or decluttering a space in your home. I have found that planning is a huge piece of good time management. Learning the skills will benefit your life in so many ways.

Before we can set up a plan, it is necessary to know the reason behind the need for this plan- the MOTIVATION. Once the motivation is known, the success rate goes up 50%. We can plan all we want, but without a motivation to trigger the action part of the plan to carry us through to the end goal, we only have a plan. Goal-motivation-plan are all connected. If this is your struggle, stay with me. You will feel better once it is broken down. I have used this in my work with children as well. If we teach them early, it sticks with them later on.

MOTIVATION - the most important piece! Have a heart to heart to get to the bottom of this because this will be the driving force when challenges arise and they most certainly will.

START HERE

Ask yourself, "Why do I want to ___________?" Do not move on until you can really answer this at it deepest level. “Because” is not an answer. Likewise, “because I was told to”, can be answer. Okay, now is also not the time to move on to something else. Stay here….

HOW TO STAY MOTIVATED

1. Support System - tell people what your goal is and why. Enlist help if needed. Keep them updated on your progress.
2. Frequently remind yourself of the reason behind your goal-check in (put in writing what your goal is, the timeline and action steps, keep it where you see it A LOT!)
3. Do not stay in the mud - if you are having an off day or three, do not stay here. Give yourself the space to take a short break, and get right back into it.
4. Be very specific with your goal because this helps you see progress better when there is something measurable and tangible to work towards. (Ex: instead of saying you want to lose weight, say how much weight you want to lose and why.)

5. Create milestone celebrations each time you meet the mark. It can be as small or as large as you need. (Ex: in preparing for the house to go on the market, each room that is decluttered gets you the next day off to do something fun outside the house)

Now, onto the planning…

"If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail." -  Benjamin Franklin

• Set the goal - big or small! (Ex: I want to declutter my entire house or I need to declutter the garage.)
• Give it a timeline - deadlines matter! If nothing else, they boost the dopamine levels in the brain when it’s crunch time. If you are a last minute person, the deadline is what fires you up.
• Start from the finish line, the goal, and work backwards to the beginning. This is reverse engineering.
• Using the example above, declutter the garage.
• GOAL: Park the car in the garage before the end of October because there could be bad weather.

Let’s work this backward…

5. Install shelving so the floor of the garage is free for the car. This can be DIY or you can pay for install. Decide which one and your budget.

4. Put back only what will live in the garage once the car is parked in there. ( Guesstimate 2-4 hours)

3. Remove all trash from the area( 1 hour). This may need extra time to go to the dump or have the trash company pick it up.

2. Get out the items that are not staying and are not trash-will they be for a garage sale or donation? (2 hours)

1. Empty the entire garage into the driveway. If you do not have space of time, work in sections of the garage ( 2 hours). You will still need to have space for what you are keeping, tossing and donating.

For each step, you have a time frame assigned to it, and I strongly encourage over-estimating the amount of time it will take. Most garages take Professional Organizers 4-8 hours with at least 1 assistant.

Basic Problem Solving Strategies:

1. Think it all the way through
2. Always overestimate the amount of time the project will take by 50%
3. Over-budget
4. Have alternative options ready
5. If this is a joint space, make sure all are on board with the project.

Okay, you now have what it takes to plan your project and complete it!

“The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining.” John F. Kennedy