3 things that prevent people from building a daily planning habit.
Most people don't get the most out of their day because of 3 common challenges. Here's how to overcome them.
Target State
Last week we talked about 5 building blocks you can use to establish the planning habits that will help you achieve your goals in 2023. I hope you have had a chance to try them out and are starting to learn what works best for you, and what helps you get set for success each day and each week.
Here's what you want to be experiencing as you build your planning habits.
- It happens: you do it - in the cadence that you intend (daily, every other day, weekly etc).
- It's becoming a natural part of your life.
- You're seeing and feeling the benefits: You feel like the important things are getting done more consistently. You're not feeling as swamped. You feel like you have time for yourself, your family and your work.
This is what you want, and hopefully this is what you're starting to experience.
BUT if you're not, its ok. Its very normal to have some fits and starts in making this work.
Here are the common challenges people often face when they set out to establish regular planning habits, AND proven tips for overcoming these challenges.
Challenge 1: Can't find the time
This is a common one. Many people say or think something like this: "I'd LOVE to have a well-planned life, but if you just knew what my life was like, you'd know why I can't plan out my day." If that sounds familiar, here are 2 things to examine:
- Your core beliefs: Do you believe you're supposed to have a well-planned functional life, or do you think you don't deserve that? Sometimes change doesn't happen because we have deep-seated notions like "this is not in the cards for me" or "I'm just not the kind of person who can do this" or "I don't deserve it." When you surface these thoughts, it's easy to recognize how silly they are and replace them with more productive useful thinking. Left buried and unchecked, these kinds of thoughts can be surprisingly influential in sabotaging our success.
- Your scheduling: It's easy to fall into a cycle of going to bed too late, waking up too late and starting the day in a mad dash, where our highest purpose in life is to just not be late to the first meeting. To get ahead of this, try doing a short planning activity at the end of your work day, to get you set up for the next morning. Or try getting to bed early, and getting up early. Different things work for different people. Never start the day in reactive mode.
Think about your day: when in the day are you at your most alert, energized and clear-minded? That's probably your best time for good planning. And remember, this doesn't have be a long drawn-out process. Some days my planning process gets done in all of about 10 minutes. Other days it takes longer.
Challenge 2: Consistency for the first few days, then it fades
If you were doing it, but now finding it hard keep on doing it after the first few days, here are a couple of things to examine: