There are no two thoughts about the fact that goals are one of the most integral parts of our identity. They are the source of most of the meaning and purpose of our lives. But goals are not simply fulfilled while you lay on your back. They demand plans. The plan that is organized pushes you towards taking the required actions.
In the absence of an organized plan, there is a possibility that you will never be able to align your skills and actions in one particular direction. You will not have a clear idea of, how to get where you want to? What resources do you need to get there? How do you ensure that you are motivated all the way through the journey towards your goals? Without a plan, you are much likely to get sidetracked or distracted from your path. This is why most of the people fail to reach even the end of February with their “New Year’s Resolution”.
The following are the rules that can help you make effective plans and be better organized:
Fix your priorities
Learning to give due weight-age to each task that lies ahead of you is a big step forward. Categorize the items as per the priority. Putting the high priority task on top. This helps the person with some clarity in head and knowledge of what is to be done now, as opposed to what can wait.
It is equally important to constantly strike out the tasks which are completed. It gives you a sense of accomplishment and motivation to move further in your list. Also, it helps you keep away all the confusion. Another interesting hack is to divide your list into ranks with a set of letter or color codes.
Learn to delegate work
Delegating a piece of the task to someone does not mean that you are giving up control or running away. It could be your fellow teammate or subordinate. It is rather an important and healthy exercise that helps you distribute workloads to ensure the project is running smoothly. Therefore, it is pretty important to realize the capability of members and use them to your advantage.
Time Management
Everyone on this planet has 24 hours to get their work done on any day of their lifetime. What puts someone ahead or behind is how they utilize and manage the given time. Time management ensures that you get done with the delegated work within the stipulated time frame. Time management moves correspondingly with your priorities. Next time when you make a to-do list or set your priorities for the day try adding a set time frame within which you would like to finish it. The more you practice time management the better you get at it.
At the end of each day just assess whether things actually took more time than your estimate? or Does the time allotted add up more than the time you actually have? Answer to both the question is re-prioritize. You will know what can be moved up the list and what needs to be shrunk.
Align your resources
Resources are very important and necessary for the completion and execution of every plan. A lot of people think of money when the word resource comes up. It is not so, in most of the cases. It can be time, man-force, or money for that matter. It is always advised if you can anticipate the resources required before you dive in.
It is advisable to break big tasks into smaller parts and anticipate the resources required. Consider people and other resources required to complete the project. Look out for ways you can get the required resources and take action accordingly.
Have a system in place
Although we humans are not machines, in order to function with the least error it is best to have a system. Like when we command a machine to give a required output, we assume the work to be done. That is because it has a system in place. Most of us perform the same tasks over and over and still do errors. It is better if you write down things you are required to do or create a checklist. This way you create a guide and if required delegate the work to someone else.
