If you have been around here at all you know that I am a bit of a planner nerd. I have an amazing ARC planner from Staples that I love and which is full of my very own planner pages!
But none of that matters if I never use them… sigh. So today, the same way I try to do at least once a week, I had an off site meeting with myself. I dropped the kids off at the bus and headed over to Starbucks and slinked over to my very favorite table in the back corner where I could spread out and get some work done.
So here are my top tips for having an offsite planner meeting with yourself starting with the very basic and heading on over to the advanced!
Have a goal. Today my goal was to start using my blogging planner worksheets to test them out and see if they would work. I always use my planners before launching them to the public so it was good to try them out…in fact I found one of the pages that needed a bit of work so I am going back to the drawing board on that one.
Bring supplies. I generally bring my planner (of course) but also a pen or two, colored highlighters and even a whiteout roller. Seriously, one time I had to stop just because I had written something in the wrong place and couldn't carry on. The easier you make this on yourself the more likely you are to actually do work.
Achieve a state of zen. I don't really try to jump right in after having gotten the kids out the door, driving to the Starbucks and getting my drink. At that point I am still all wound up and need a couple of minutes to get a focus so I generally post an Instagram photo. If you are not a grammer then text a friend or just sit there for a couple of minutes gathering yourself.
Have something to work on. If your are just sitting there waiting for inspiration to strike you are probably going to be very disappointed in your results. Have a little agenda written down or in your head of what you hope to accomplish. Today I wanted to get a idea of my upcoming blog posts. Now, I did have to head home to do the keyword research, etc. but I had a list of todos instead of a big blob of nothing.
Have a planner. Okay, you might not have a formal planner like I do, but you need to know where all your notes are and keep your “stuff” in order. Before I had my big planner I used to use bullet journals, notebooks and all kinds of different things to write on. That worked okay, but I was always trying to chase something down. Now I just have one big notebook where I always know what is going on and where it is at!
Last but not least… get your butt to an offsite meeting at least once a week!
I know it seems like I am shouting (because I am!) As we get busier and busier with more balls in the air, it can seem like taking time to plan is a complete waste, but it is not. Running on the hamster wheel day after day may make us feel busy but rarely accomplishes anything worth while.
It is only when we stop and consider what will really help our business that we can make major steps forward.
So go now, head on over to your packed calendar and figure out when you can spend an hour at Starbucks, getting your head on straight and your priorities in order, your business will thank you for it!!!
