Take Control of Your Life Through Pre-Week Planning

Posted on November 22, 2020 by ILLENS Dort, One of Thousands of Business Coaches on Noomii.

Steve Shallenberger, a very seasoned leader and CEO of multiple businesses and bestselling author states in his book Becoming Your Best, “If I had to choose one thing out of all that we teach, this is probably the single most powerful tool—-to focus on HQ/HQ, a next-generation approach to time management.” HQ/HQ means high quality and high quantity.

I love HQ/HQ because you can’t have quality without quantity. To measure and improve quality you have to have a baseline—-a minimum quantity of XYZ.

Pre-week planning is a powerful tool that helps you focus “on scheduling your priorities rather than prioritizing your schedule” (Steve Shallenberger). Here are the five steps in pre-week planning to help you focus on what matters most each week.

Step 1. Review your vision and your annual goals. This helps you put your week and everything that you’re about to do in the proper perspective. As you plan your week, you can be thinking about what you should do this week to support the accomplishment of your goals.

Stet 2. Look ahead one to three months, or even further out, in your master calendar. Is there anything you need to do this week to prepare for something that’s still a couple of months away?

Step 3. Enter into your calendar all of the meetings and other scheduled events that you have planned for that week. Be sure to have plenty of space between commitments to provide for flexibility and those many unexpected things that may pop up.

Step 4. Identify what matters most that week in each role. This is the most powerful step, and the one that’s the game changer!! This is where you bring your priorities into the picture.

Step 5. Determine a time during the week when you’ll do each item you listed under each of the roles. This is the step where you assign a time to each task based on your role and priorities.

Once you are done with the pre-week planning, you need to sit back in a quiet place, and ask yourself: What have I forgotten? What can I do to be at peace and at my maximum effectiveness and efficiency? Is this week in harmony with my vision and goals? This last question is powerful. If your activities and priorities are not in harmony with your vision and goals, you will not have the energy you need to tackle the week.

Devote about 30 minutes each week for pre-week planning. As you do it more frequently, it will take you less time – about 15 to 20 minutes. The best time to do it is Sunday afternoon or evening. Saturday after might work too. But you don’t want to wait until Monday morning to focus on your pre-week planning.

Note: I would strongly encourage you to use a paper calendar in addition to an electronic calendar.

Reminder: Success is not about doing the things we like to do. It’s doing the things we don’t like to do, but we do them so we can accomplish our goals and live a life of significance. Most doctors did not enjoy the hard hours they have to put in during pre-med, med school and residency. They did it because they wanted to be in a position so they can serve you and me when we are sick. They enjoy to be a doctor. They don’t always enjoy all the other things that come with it.

Disclaimer: This content is a part of the book Becoming Your Best. Illens is a licensed speaker, trainer, and coach with Becoming Your Best Leadership program.

Illens Dort
CEO
Maximum Impact Council (Maximpactcouncil.com)
Helping Small Business Executives Accelerate Their Personal and Professional Growth
Certified Coach – Speaker – Trainer
Certified and Licensed with The John Maxwell Team
Certified and Licensed with Becoming Your Best
Qualified Vistage Speaker
Author: Thinking and Acting with a Compassionate Heart