Quotes About Planning

Appropriately used, checklists can be a tremendous asset in enhancing personal productivity and relieving mental pressure.

Thinking in a concentrated manner to define desired outcomes and requisite next actions is something few people feel they have to do (until they have to). But in truth, it is the most effective means available for making wishes a reality.

You don't actually do a project; you can only do action steps related to it. When enough of the right action steps have been taken, some situation will have been created that matches your initial picture of the outcome closely enough that you can call it 'done.

I have discovered that one of the major reasons many people haven't had a lot of success with "getting organized" is simply that they have tried to do all five phases at one time.

Open loops can include everything from really big to-do items like "End world hunger" to the more modest "Hire new assistant" to the tiniest task such as "Replace porch lightbulb.

You've got to think about the big things while you're doing small things, so that all the small things go in the right direction.

Write all your notes and quotes on separate three-by-five-inch cards. Then, when you get ready to organize your thinking, just spread them all out on the floor, see the natural structure that emerges, and figure out what's missing.

Trying to keep a list on the calendar, which must then be reentered on another day if items don't get done, is demoralizing and a waste of time.

Your mind goes through five steps to accomplish virtually any task: 1 | Defining purpose and principles 2 | Outcome visioning 3 | Brainstorming 4 | Organizing 5 | Identifying next actions

Your principles created the boundaries of your plan. You probably didn't consciously think about your principles regarding going out to dinner, but you thought within them: standards of food and service, affordability, convenience, and comfort all may have played a part. In any case, your purpose and principles were the defining impetus and boundaries of your planning.

The substantive issue is how to make appropriate choices about what to do at any point in time. The real work is to manage our actions. That

Things rarely get stuck because of lack of time. They get stuck because what "doing" would look like, and where it happens, hasn't been decided. In

Clarifying things on the front end, when they first appear on the radar, rather than on the back end, after trouble has developed, allows people to reap the benefits of managing action. Getting

your vision, what did your mind naturally begin doing? What did it start to think about? "What time should we go?" "Is it open tonight?" "Will it be crowded?" "What's the weather like?" "Should we change clothes?" "Is there gas in the car?" "How hungry are we?" That was brainstorming.

Finally (assuming that you're really committed to the project—in this case, going out to dinner), you focus on the next action that you need to take to make the first component actually happen. "Call Café Rouge to see if it's open, and make the reservation.

Klara Sztucinski, and Elliott Kellman. The administrative

Not being aware of all you have to do is much like having a credit card for which you don't know the balance or the limit - it's a lot easier to be irresponsible.

Similarly, when you are away at a conference, an off-site meeting, or on vacation, you need to expect that it will require one hour to get caught up for each day you are out of the office!

Think carefully about where and when and under what circumstances you can do which actions, and organize your lists accordingly.

next actions. Those ideas fall into the broad category of "project support materials," and may be anything from a notion about something you might want to do on your next vacation

Instead, the key to managing all of your stuff is managing your actions.

The ability to leverage that thinking with good collection devices that are always at hand is key to increased productivity.

have discovered that one of the major reasons many people haven't had a lot of success with getting organized is simply that they have tried to do all five steps at one time.

In knowledge work … the task is not given; it has to be determined. 'What are the expected results from this work?' is