Why, and How, You Should Be Doing A Weekly Planning Session

This week it’s all about why, and how, you need to be ding a weekly planning session.   You can subscribe to this podcast on: Podbean | Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Spotify | TUNEIN   Links: Email Me | Twitter | Facebook | Website | Linkedin   Get the FREE Annual Planning Sheet Get the Evernote Annual Planning Sheet   Create Your Own Apple Productivity System Carl’s Time Sector System Blog Post The FREE Beginners Guide To Building Your Own COD System Carl Pullein Learning Centre Carl’s YouTube Channel Carl Pullein Coaching Programmes The Working With… Podcast Previous episodes page   Script Episode 159 Hello and welcome to episode 159 of the Working With Podcast. A podcast to answer all your questions about productivity, time management, self-development and goal planning. My name is Carl Pullein and I am your host for this show. So, do you do a weekly planning session every week? If not, have you asked yourself why? I ask that question because as I review the questions I get through my YouTube channel, my online courses and some of the issues I see in my coaching clients, most of these are related to the weekly planning session. You see, if you are not consistently doing a planning session each week, you are leaving yourself at the mercy of the events around you.  This week’s question goes to the heart of that problem and so hopefully you will learn why these sessions are important and what you need to look at so you create a plan for the week that is manageable, motivating and more importantly doable. Ooh, before we start, I am being asked about this years Create Your Own Apple productivity course update. Yes, it’s coming. I am almost finished with the update and all being well it will be available from next weekend. So, if you are already enrolled in the course, go to your learning centre dashboard next weekend and it should be there for you. And don’t worry, as always this will be a free update for any already enrolled in the course.  And, of course, if you are not enrolled and want to create your own productivity system using only Apple’s fantastic productivity apps, then you can enrol at any time and will receive updates every year. Okay, it’s time for me now to hand you over to the Mystery Podcast voice for the week’s question. This week’s question comes from Jack. Jack asks, Hi Carl, I hear you talk about the importance of the weekly and daily review. I’ve never been able to find time to do these and was wondering if they really are all that important. Could you explain why you think they are necessary? Hi Jack, thanks for this question It is true, I have spoken a lot about the importance of the daily and weekly planning sessions. You see the reality is if you don’t have a plan for the week, then you will end up working on someone else’s plan and that is not likely to be a great plan for you.  But aside from that, one of the reasons we feel stressed out and overwhelmed is because our brains are not really our best friends when it comes to the things we have to do. If you do not have any idea where all your projects are, then your brain will take over and start telling you are behind, tasks are overdue and all sorts of horrors are just waiting for you around the corner.  Spending a few minutes going through your project notes gives you a reassurance you are on top of things and you will clearly see what needs to happen next. Once you know that, the only decision you need make is when you will do whatever it is you need to do next. And that does not take a lot of time. These days, I do my weekly planning on a Saturday afternoon. That process of going through my project notes allows me time to decide which projects I will work on next week.  At any one time I have around ten to twelve active projects, but I cannot work on them all in one week. So, I need to decide which ones I will work on next week. Sometimes that decision is easy because the deadline for a particular project is approaching. Other times it can