Eight common planning mistakes that are hurting your productivity
Have you read all the books, tried all the apps and spent a small fortune on planners but still haven’t found a way to plan that works for more than a few days or weeks at a time?
I promise it’s not just you!
It might seem like everyone else has it sussed, but believe me – they don’t. There are many, many people just like you who are brilliant at what they do, but who find it hard to create plans they actually stick to.
And perhaps that doesn’t matter. As long as you’re showing up and doing your thing, it’s all good, right?
Well, it might be fine 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 flying by the seat of your pants.
So without further ado, here are eight common mistakes I see solo business owners make when it comes to planning (stick around to the end, where I tell you how to avoid them!)
1. Only planning when things feel particularly chaotic
We’ve all been there. Those moments where you’re juggling so many things - ideas, demands on your time, things to remember – your head starts to spin and you can’t think straight.
So you grab a fresh piece of paper – or a blank Trello or Asana board – and ‘get organised.’
Now everything is nice and tidy, you feel SO much better.
For a while.
But those feelings of overwhelm soon reappear, and you’re back to square one.
It looks a little something like this:
Remember: writing a new list to get you out of panic mode is not the same as creating a thoughtful plan that will help you stay out of overwhelm and actually get things done!
2. Not reflecting on the previous month/quarter/year
Have you noticed this too? We’re always in such a hurry, fixated on the things we haven’t done, that we rarely pause to look back and notice how far we’ve come.
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? To spot the limiting thoughts that were holding you back?
When you never give yourself time to reflect on what’s gone before, you miss all those valuable lessons, repeat the same mistakes, and your productivity suffers. If you want to get there faster, sometimes you have to slow down.
3. Not being clear about what you’re aiming for
Trying to plan for a day, week or month when you have no clue what you’re aiming to achieve is 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.
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 done well, planning helps you move closer to your vision and your goals by empowering you to prioritise the activities that will lead to the growth of your business.
When you don’t bring your vision and goals to the party, you risk creating a plan that keeps you stuck in busy work that won’t get you where you want to be.
4. Creating a plan without considering your capacity
If you’re making a plan for your day, week, month or year, you need to factor in how much capacity you have for getting stuff done during that time.
Obvious, right?
The trouble is, many people don’t actually know how much capacity they have. Or they think they know, but they’re not seeing the full picture.
For example, yhey might know they have a speaking gig later in the month, but have they also factored in the time they need to prep their talk, create a new lead magnet, and rest and recharge afterwards?
They might know they have a few call-free days, but have they also factored in their kids’ dentist appointments, the session they need to plan for their membership, and the email they need to write to their list?
They might know they have some space at the end of a packed week, but have they factored in what all that busy-ness means for their energy levels and headspace?
If you sit down to plan without first thinking all that through, you’re destined to make plans you can’t stick to. Not because there’s anything wrong with you, but because your plan wasn’t realistic, based on what’s going on in your life.
5. Not protecting time for what’s important
Once you know what you’re aiming for and have written a list of things you need to do to get you there, what do you do next?
Well, for many, their planning stops there and they launch straight back into ‘doing’ mode.
But if that’s your approach, there’s a good chance you won’t get round to taking action on the most impactful things on your list.
Why? Because your time will get taken from you.
A client will book themselves in for a session, you’ll say yes to a virtual cuppa with a networking pal, spend ages scrolling LinkedIn… all slap bang in the middle of an empty morning when you could have been writing your blog.
If you don’t protect time for what’s most important, something else will steal that time away from you. I can almost guarantee it!
6. Not actually LOOKING at the plan and using it to inform your days
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.
We don’t do that on purpose, obviously!
Creating the plan gives you a sense of achievement: You’ve wrangled your priorities into some sort of order, getting everything out of your head and onto paper.
But the truth of the matter is that you still haven’t done any of the things that need doing. The plan is just the starting point. Next, you need to USE it!
And that’s where a lot of people fall down. They don’t look at their plan often enough. And so they end up back in reactive mode, being pushed and pulled around by whatever’s shouting the loudest, which means all the exciting projects and ideas they want to be working on don’t get a look in.
7. Using your plan as an instrument of self-flaggelation
Do you plan out your day, week, month or even year and then give yourself a hard time when you look back and realise you didn’t do half the things you’d intended?
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 they’d hoped, they start to think there’s something wrong with them. They tell themselves they’re not working hard or fast enough. They feel like a failure.
Does any of that feel familiar?
If so, listen up. If you remember nothing else, I want you to remember this:
Your plans should guide and support you, allowing you to recalibrate if things go wonky. They should never make you feel less than, or like you’re failing.
You’re doing the best you can. Life happens, and we all get to the end of the month and find there are things we didn’t get done. I think that’s called being human.
8. Believing you can do it all yourself
Now, 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!
When you’re busy, having the discipline to stop and plan regularly is hard when you’re left to your own devices.
And when you do finally sit down to plan, there’s a temptation to rush it. Or you might get stuck in the planning phase and overcomplicate things because your perfectionism kicks in.
As you’re probably realising by now, there’s a lot to consider if you want to create plans that serve you, feel good, and actually translate into action. A planning process that works doesn’t have to be complicated, but it does take time, space and thoughtful questioning. Can you hold yourself through that on your own? And will you show up for yourself consistently?
If so, that’s great! 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 (I have some ideas for you below!).
How to avoid making these mistakes
Here are some suggestions you can weave into your planning to boost your chances of actually getting the important things done and making progress in your business (which is what this is all about, after all!):
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’s room for improvement
Always have your calendar in front of you when you’re planning
Remember your capacity is not just about time. It’s also about energy and headspace.
Experiment with protecting time in your calendar for what’s most important
Be kind. Replace self-judgement with curiosity and self-compassion
Join Make It Happen Club, where I’ll hold space for you to do all of that and more 😉
Can I help?
What if planning didn’t have to be so goshdarn complicated?
What if planning wasn’t a form of crisis-management, but a form of self-care that helps you stay in action and out of overwhelm?
There’s nothing I love more than guiding solo business owners to make plans they actually follow!
So if you’d like to join a group of people just like you – coaches, consultants and community-builders who are brilliant at what they do but struggle making plans they actually follow - Make It Happen Club could be just the ticket!
Take a look at this blog to find out how it could help you be more productive.
Here’s to getting the important stuff done with less kerfuffle and more ease!