“Year planning” framework
The first day of a year I was overwhelmed with the amount of everything I wish I could achieve in 2018. It was a pure rain from ideas that didn’t let me sleep for a half of the night. In the morning when I woke up I was determined: I need to pour this rain out of me and sort it out in a way that it’s not only left in the jungle of my mind but also turns into something actionable and motivating.
Just like this the yearly plan was initiated
I have to say it was a natural process and I didn’t rely on any source of planing. I just went smoothly according to the questions that were arisen in my mind with every new stage and I was trying to answer them using the tools that were at my disposal. So here are the stages and tools I went through:
1. A-3 blank paper (for brainstorming)
2. Sketchbook (for clustering and sorting)
3. Google Calendar (for creating a schedule according to my biorhythms)
4. Trello (for productivity tracking.)
Let’s go through one by one
1. Brainstorming
As I’ve mentioned before: I had so many ideas in my mind that I simply started to write them on paper one by one, using the same method I use for brainstorming in my work:
Topic_subtopic_action
For example:
Sport_Cardio_2/week.
Writing_Design_2/month
Work_Startup_30h/week
After I finally released my mind, I needed to figure out where should I focus (as the time is always limited, unfortunately). I used “Priority & Time color voting” method. I guess I used it once during the Design sprint when you have to vote for the best ideas, whereas in our case I was just voting for priorities and indicate the amount of time they take.
How:
Orange marker lines: indicate the amount of time this action takes (3 lines— long completion; 1line — a real quick action)
Violet marker lines: indicate my top priorities (3 lines — top priority, while 1 line — I can sacrifice this action sometimes)
This step gave me a clear ability to understand what are the life sectors I really want to focus on and how much time realistically they would take me to accomplish.
2. Clustering and sorting
As soon as I’ve realized the areas I should be digging deeper in 2018, I wrote them down in an organized way and repeated the same “priorities lines” next to each activity. This step I could actually skip, but I found that it’s pretty helpful to organize your mess and thus see a better picture.
This table helped to easily translate actions into a weekly calendar draft.
Why?
Because I remember from a childhood that the only way to force yourself to do something persistently — is to have it scheduled. Every week I have to know in advance what I do at this time and this day. It doesn’t mean that there are no exceptions, but it’s very important to stick to a schedule and turn it into a habit (no excuses).
How?
So my weekly schedule decisions were made the next way:
I take the action (from the previous table) and it if it has 3 lines I’d do it almost every day of the week.
If the action has only 1 line, I’d do it only once a week taking the amount of time I’ve indicated in the brainstorming paper.
Apart from that, I’ve borrowed an idea from a YouTube vlogger (which is one of my most favorite youtube channels Charlie Mari and decided to give each month a purpose (or a goal). Let’s say I know already that I’ll be traveling a lot with my startup project in February as we need to build relationships with the potential investors. Thus I gave a February a goal: Focus on pitching and traveling.
3. Google Calendar
Finally, after drafting my week schedule it was time to put my hands on some software. I love the new google calendar design, so the choice was obvious. I created slots for each category (adding color coding) in every particular day of the week and selected “Repeat every _weekday_ checkmark.
Just like that each week turned into something per-programed. Now I’ll be always reminded that every Tuesday I have to draft a new Medium article and every Wednesday I’ll shoot and edit a new YouTube video for my channel. No excuses ;)
Anyway, I realize that I’m a human being and I don’t always do everything as programmed. So, I don’t intend to use it as a heavy obligation. The purpose of the calendar is to be my cheat-list and always have a reminder of what I’m supposed to do now if I wish to achieve some results with my goals.
Should I also print and stick to the wall in front of me a huge poster with 2018 goals? 🤔
4. Productivity tracking
Taking into account that I’m not always going to be a steel lady and switch tasks with google notifications, I need a track of my progress.
Last year I did a super simplified version of goals tracking, where I’ve only created cards in Trello with the lists to complete, but this method ended up being abandoned and I checked it in only once by the end of 2017.
This year I had to be more systematic.
So, all the I’ve added to the method from last year — is weekly checklists.
Why?
First of all, it makes me happy to see green completed bars every week. I love the feeling of completing and purpose. Secondly, I find it pretty cool to be able to look back later and analyze your monthly productivity.
How?
New board > Cards for 12 months > 4 Inner cards for each week
Every card week should have sectors that I’ve defined in the sorting part. And every sector would have a list with the checkmarks to complete weekly. Just to make it less stressful, I’ve created an average plan for a week that I’m pretty sure I’d be able to complete on a normal productive week.
Concluding
All this process may sound pretty useless or self-implied for the people who have worked out previously a productive management routine. But I want to specify that for a freelancing creative person, without any boss or a manager — it’s extremely challenging to convenience yourself doing things you always wanted to (but never had the time or whatever to complete them). It’s challenging to not follow the drift, but to lead your way. And it’s truly challenging to be responsible for your own path when you can sleep all the day long when no-one is controlling you.
I know very well that most of the freelancing creatives struggle with planning and working frameworks, so do I. That’s why I needed to create one for myself this year. I hope this approach may give you some ideas to plan your own system. If fits you too, feel free to repeat the process, I’ll be really happy to know it helps someone.
Thank you for reading. Hope your holidays wend cheerful and I’m wishing you a happy and productive year ahead!
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