Episode 98: SUMMER REWIND - Eight common planning mistakes that are hurting your productivity

00:45 Welcome to Unfrazzle, I'm your host Louise Miller and one of the ways in which i'm creating space to enjoy my summer is by having a break from recording new podcast episodes for a while. Instead I'm doing an Unfrazzle Summer Rewind sharing some of my favourite episodes from the last year so if you're hearing them for the first time I hope you find them helpful and if you've heard them before perhaps should take something different from them the second time around! So have an amazing summer and I'll be back in your ears with new episodes soon If you've read all the books, tried all the apps and spent a small fortune on planners but you still haven't found a way to plan that works for more than a few days or weeks at a time. You are not alone and it might seem like everyone else has it sussed but believe me they don't! There are many people just like you who are brilliant at what they do but who find it hard to create plans that they actually stick to And you might say that doesn't matter right? As long as your showing up doing your thing then its all good

01:44 Well, it might be fine for you to carry on as you are if you're happy to stay where you are. But if you want to grow and make a bigger impact that's going to be tricky if you're always feeling like you're flying by the seat of your pants! So today I want to share with you the common mistakes I see business owners make when it comes to planning And the first mistake is only planning when things feel particularly chaotic. So we've all been there, those moments where you're juggling so many things so many ideas demands on your time things you need to remember that your head starts to spin and you can't think straight. So you grab a fresh piece of paper or a blank trello or a sauna board or something like that and you get organised! When everything is nice and tidy you feel so much better at least for a while

02:30 But those feelings of overwhelm soon reappear and you're back to square one, stuck in this cycle of doom where you feel really busy and overwhelmed. You decide you're going to make a list, new list to make yourself feel better...and it does feel better for a bit but still you're not getting things done and then you just keep going around in that circle And what I want you to remember here is that writing a new list to get you out of panic mode, is not the same as creating a thoughtful plan that's actually going to help you stay out of overwhelm. And the second mistake is not reflecting on the previous month, previous quarter, previous year

03:09 So I don't know if you've noticed this too, right? We're always in such a hurry and so fixated on the things we haven't done that we rarely pause to look back and notice how far we've come. So what if you could use the time you set aside for planning as an opportunity to look back as well as forward – to celebrate your achievements and reflect on what's been going well And wouldn't it be helpful to acknowledge the things that didn't go so well too? To notice where you let yourself off the hook with important but uncomfortable tasks and to spot the limiting thoughts that could be holding you back. And when you never give yourself time to reflect on those things, to reflect on what's gone before. You miss all those valuable lessons and then you are so much more likely to keep repeating the same mistakes and your productivity will suffer. So if you want to get there faster sometimes you have to slow down and that means taking the pause to reflect and kind of notice those lessons

04:04 And the third mistake that I see a lot of people make is not being clear about what they're aiming for. Trying to plan whether it's for a day, a week or a month When you've got absolutely no clue what you're aiming to achieve, it's like jumping in the car and starting to drive with no idea where you're going but still expecting to get there in time for tea. So if you don't know what you're aiming for how do you know what tasks will get you there? Planning shouldn't just be about managing your day-to-day workload when it's done properly and done well planning helps you move closer to your vision and your goals by empowering you to prioritise the activities that will actually lead to the growth of your business

04:41 So when you don't bring your vision and your goals to the party, when you don't have real clarity about that bigger picture and what you're aiming for. You risk creating a plan that's just going to keep you stuck in the busy work that isn't going to get you where you want to be And the fourth mistake I see so many business owners make is creating a plan that doesn't actually allow for their capacity. If you're making a plan whether it's for your day or week month or even year You need to factor in how much capacity you have for getting stuff done during that time. So I know that sounds really obvious, but the trouble is many people don't actually know how much capacity they have or they think they know but they're not actually seeing the full picture so for example they might know they have a speaking gig later in the month

05:27 But have they also factored in the time that's needed to prep the talk? Maybe they want to create a new lead magnet and also, the time that they might need to rest and recharge afterwards. Particularly if you're an introvert and that kind of thing really drained your energy! You know, they might know that they've got a few call-free days coming up in their diary but have they also factored in their kids' dentist appointments or the session they need to plan for their membership and the email they need to write to their list So they might know they've got some space at the end of a packed week but have they factored in what all that busyness at the start of the week is going to mean for their energy levels and headspace? If you sit down to plan without first thinking all that through, your destined to make plans you can't stick too. Not because there's anything wrong with you but because your plan wasn't realistic based on what was going on in your life

06:17 And number five on my list of common mistakes that might be hurting your productivity is not protecting time for what's important. So once you know what you're aiming for and you've written a list of things you need to do, to get you there... What do you do next? For many people their planning stops there they've got their list and then they launch straight back into doing mode but if that's your approach too there's a good chance that you won't get round to taking action on the most impactful things on that list Because your time will get taken from you, right? A client will book themselves in for a session or you'll say yes to a virtual cuppa. You might spend way more longer than you'd intended scrolling LinkedIn and it could be doing all of that slap bang in the middle of an empty morning when you could have been writing your blog if you'd only protected the space for that so if you don't protect time for what's important if you don't put these things in your diary something else will steal that time away from you I can almost guarantee it

07:10 So the sixth mistake on my list is not actually looking at the plan and using it to inform your days. So, hands up if you've ever invested time and energy putting together a plan only to shove it in a drawer and forget about it? Now obviously we don't do that on purpose but what happens is that creating that plan gives you a sense of achievement So you've wrangled those priorities into some sort of order, you've got everything out of your head and onto paper. That feels really good right? But the truth of the matter is that you still haven't actually done any of the things that need doing because the plan you just created is just a starting point next you need to use it and again I know that sounds really obvious but this is actually where a lot of people fall down because they put this plan together and then they don't look at it often enough

07:53 And so they end up back in reactive mode, being pushed and pulled around by whatever's shouting the loudest. Which means all of their exciting projects and the ideas they want to be working on don't get a look-in! Mistake number seven is using your plan as an instrument of self flagellation So do you plan out your day? Your week? Your month or even your year? Then give yourself a really hard time when you look back and realise that you didn't do half the things you'd intended This is so common, so many people make a plan and then use it as a stick to beat themselves with. If things don't work out in the way that they'd hoped they start to think there's something wrong with them they tell themselves are not working hard enough or fast enough and they start to feel like a failure So does any of that feel familiar to you? if so listen up because if you remember nothing else I want you to remember this

08:41 Your plan should guide and support you, allowing you to recalibrate if things go wonky. Your plan should never make you feel less than or like your failing You're doing the best that you can right? Life happens and we all get to the end of the month and find there are things that didn't get done That's just being human I really would love it if you could adjust your relationship with planning so that it feels like something so supportive rather then something that you beat yourself up with And mistake number eight is believing you can do it all yourself. So don't get me wrong, some people can plan and then take action on their own but there are fewer of those people than you might think and when you're busy right having the discipline to stop and plan regularly is hard particularly when you're left to your own devices

09:26 And then if you do finally sit down to plan, if you're on your own there's a real temptation that you're going to rush it or that you might get stuck in the planning phase and overcomplicate things because your perfectionism starts to kick in. So as you are perhaps realizing by now there is a lot to consider if you want to create a plan that serves you, that feels good and actually translates into action. A planning process that works doesn't have to be complicated but it does take time, it takes space and it takes thoughtful questioning so Can you hold yourself through that on your own and will you show up for yourself consistently? If so, that is amazing but if you've been trying to do this on your own for a long time now and it's still not working maybe it's time to try something different. So I'm going to share some suggestions with you now that you can weave into your planning to boost your chances of actually getting the important things done so that you can make progress in your business because that is what this is all about right!

10:22 Make planning a regular part of the rhythm in your business. Look at your vision and goals every time you sit down to plan, factor in time to reflect on what's going well and where there is room for improvement, always have your calendar in front of you when you're planning Remember that your capacity isn't just about time it's also about energy & headspace And experiment with protecting time in your calendar for what's most important And crucially, Be Kind. Right? Replace self-judgement with curiosity and self compassion. And if you're starting to realise that you can't actually do this on your own please know there is nothing wrong with you and it is perfectly okay to ask for help whether that's from me or from somebody else the main thing is that you get the support that you need so that you can create plans that feel really supportive and that will actually help you get stuff done

11:56 Thank you for listening to Unfrazzle. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with a friend who needs a dose of calm productivity in their life and I'd love it if you could leave me a rating and review as that will help more people discover this podcast. If you would like to hear more from me to help stop faffing and take back control of your time, you'll find the link to join my mailing list in the show notes and I would really love for you to join us! So thanks so much for your support and I look forward to seeing you next time