Planning is a difficult task at times, and last-minute planning is seldom the most beneficial or responsible way to do it. I am not and never have claimed to be the best at planning, so often my plans are last minute and although they work, it would have been better if I would have given the planning the detail and attention it truly deserved. I spent many years in the fire service, EMS, and as an Emergency Manager where I was required to make split second decisions and that I felt that thinking on my feet was a good tact to tact with all of my life’s plans. That worked well until my wife came along, she tends to like a little more warning about things than just “EVACUATE NOW!” So, with that being said, I want to proclaim myself an expert at the art of poor planning. As this self-proclaimed expert status allows me to do, I want to share with you some of the ideas that I have tried and have used over time to help me improve my abilities in the area of planning.

I have read a wonderful book written by David Allen, “The Art of Getting Things Done.” This bool has been around for several years and is in its second edition. I find the ideas and suggestions that Mr. Allen provides to be very useful. I have been using his method for roughly six years now with a noticeable improvement in my scheduling abilities and organization skills. I highly recommend that you pick up a copy and see if you can put it to use in your life.

So, what does this have to do with planning with a calendar? Being disorganized is probably one of the biggest hurdles that I have had to face in my being able to plan. Once I have things out of my mind and on a piece of paper or calendar, I can then kind of forget about it and leave the system of planning to be my reminder mechanism. The further our things get planned, the more time you will have to get into the details at a level that would be most conducive to the task. Once something is written down on my calendar, I can see that it is on the horizon and it doesn’t catch me off guard. Mr. Allen’s program of Getting Things Done (GTD) provides many useful means of helping you plan and plan well. My go to planning method was introduced to me by may personal coach a number of years ago, it is called a “Planner Pad® Organizer.” It has both a monthly calendar and daily planning pages to help me stay organized and on task. It is my trusted depository for me to exercise my brain dump to keep me from forgetting things. I have a terminal case of a neurological disorder called CRFC (can’t remember for crap), and without my planner pad I would be lost. You should see me panic when I CRFC where I left my planner pad.

I challenge you to look at how you keep track of your schedule and see if there is an improvement on the horizon so that you don’t develop CRFC.