*bounce, bounce, bounce* It’s November, and last week I bought my big wall calendars for 2016. Some of you may be rather astounded, but it’s about to be planning season here in my world. Planning day is one of my favorite days of the year. Each year there’s a day in November or December when I start envisioning the whole year, and I use my big dry erase wall calendar to help. Personally, I have three wall calendars that shape our lives. The large year-at-a-glance dry erase calendar, one standard monthly wall calendar that is on the wall behind my computer, and a monthly wall calendar that lives on our fridge.
Here’s the key… they are NOT my main calendar. That’s on Google, but when I just want to get a sense of what’s happening in the next couple weeks or how long I have before that next trip or vacation, then that’s where the wall calendars are hugely valuable. They are meant specifically for long-term planning rather than day-to-day schedules.
I know that some people try to run their lives from wall-calendars, but I generally discourage that approach because you can’t bring it with you to the dentist, doctor, or out with friends to schedule your next coffee date. It’s way too easy to forget to write it down when you get home or accidentally double-book yourself. That’s why you want a portable planner (paper or digital) for your main calendar.However, wall calendars are great for getting the longer view of the rhythm of your weeks, months, or year. They hold the big rocks of time around which everything else gets planned.
I thought I would share with you my long-term planning process to possibly inspire you to get more intentional about your planning for the upcoming year. So, here’s the story…
What’s my long-term planning process?
I start with my big dry erase wall calendar and put in vacations, conferences, and known travel dates(family graduations, weddings, holiday trips, etc). These are the big rocks of planning for the year. I remember once talking with a client who felt like he wasn’t getting enough time with his kids and wanted to fit in a vacation in the next few months. Then, as he looked at his work commitments he could imagine how he would fit it in. That’s why I plan such events for the whole year and work everything else around them. (And yes, he did get the vacation in, but it was a shorter, squeezed trip than he would have preferred.)
Next, I add in family birthdays, anniversaries, and holidays. Specifically dates for events where we might want to be planning a celebration or party. I have other methods to track all the people to whom I send cards.
THEN, I start adding in my major work-related events: speaking engagements, timelines for launches, batch video filming days, etc. This is where the rubber starts hitting the road because I start envisioning the pace and spacing of things. How long will I have to prepare for that presentation? What will be the major milestones to achieve that launch on schedule? How often will I need to film to create those vlog videos and how far in advance of the publication date will that need to happen?
Often, this is when I pull out my task management system (Asana) to begin capturing specific tasks related to these events with their relevant due dates. This includes everything from “Buy birthday present for Brian” to “Draft script for X Video.” While I likely won’t capture all of the tasks or do full project plans for the upcoming year’s launches, I will grab some barebones milestones and primarily identify by when I would need to have the more detailed planning started to achieve my goal.
After I’ve drafted out the vision on my year-at-a-glance calendar, then I transfer those items on to the monthly calendars for my office and the fridge, so everything matches generally. I also tend to add the dates the cleaners are coming and a few other minor activities to the monthly calendars that aren’t important to the year as a whole, but help us with weekly planning throughout the year.
Why is Long Term Planning Beneficial?
You can put what’s most important first – YOU and your loved ones. In other words, no last minute squeezed vacations because you didn’t get them “on the books” far enough in advance. I know that your fun and family time has been allocated, and you’ll fit your work life around it.
You get the LONG view of projects – Every presentation, major project, or launch has a lot of activities that lead up to it. I find that when I do my long-term planning I can almost mentally allocate weeks to focus on specific upcoming projects or big rocks, which makes it easier to see if a certain month is going to be overly intense long before it happens and consider if there are other options.
You avoid overcommitment – If you already know that you’re going to have a really intense fall, then you’ll be better prepared to say no to certain projects or set better expectations about what you can or can’t do during that period.
There’s always something to look forward to! – When I look up at that year-at-a-glance calendar I’m often look to see how long it’s going to be before my next break, vacation, or fun time. So, it helps me feel like there’s always something fun to anticipate. And, since we tend to go to my parents home for Christmas there’s always that fun week at the end of the year.
I’m sure I could think of several more reasons… but other than the fact that I simply enjoy doing it… these are the primary benefits that I’ve recognized with my clients.
Next Steps
Are you fired up about planning for next year now? Then, run down to your local office supply store and pick up a year-at-a-glance calendar and some dry erase markers and go to town. At-a-Glance has me figured out, and they send me reminders to buy my calendars each fall. Here’s a link to the one that’s coming in the mail for me! I prefer the tropical “pretty” ones to the boring office versions, but grab what works for you.
Then, pick a day in the next 8 weeks when you can set aside a few hours for your long-term planning. You might even include it as part of your annual retreat which I talk about a lot in my upcoming book, Inspired Action. So, while the book won’t be released until January, you might want to get on our waiting list… I might send out that sample chapter in advance! ;).
