So much reactivity could be prevented and turned into proactivity with a little advanced planning.
I see stressed-out, overworked, crazy busy people almost every day who would be working in a calmer, more proactive environment if they took a few minutes each day and week to look ahead and do a little advanced planning.
David Allen refers to this as the Weekly Review in Getting Things Done. The Franklin Covey company includes time for daily and weekly Q2 planning in their Five Choices to Extraordinary Productivity. In the construction world (and others) it’s the “two-week look ahead”.
Whatever we call it, if we’re not doing it, we’re putting ourselves at the mercy of reacting to the latest and loudest fires and emergencies. When we do that repeatedly, we’re unnecessarily increasing our stress and decreasing our effectiveness in a self-imposed way.
The solution is simple: schedule time each day and each week to get caught up and to look ahead.
Manage your calendar effectively. Look at what’s coming and take the 3-5 minutes for back-of-the-napkin planning to make sure you know what needs to be done, ready, and communicated in advance of what’s coming.
We can’t eliminate unexpected emergencies and issues that require us to respond (note, not “react”), but we can minimize and be ready for them by being proactive in our approach to the things we know are coming.
Some much of life could be so much better and more enjoyable with a little more planning ahead. Trust me!
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