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Wendy Hearn
The Inspiring Catalyst

business coaching

business coaching

Balance Your Planning and Taking Action

As I'm getting back into the swing of working after the summer break, I spent part of yesterday doing some planning. As I was doing this planning, there was also the voice that said 'and you need to take action'. This voice as usual, was absolutely correct, and it got me thinking about the balance between planning and action.

I appreciate that getting this balance right is difficult for most people.

Some people don't do any planning at all so they're often jumping from one thing to the next. For other people they spend hours poring over their plans and never get themselves into any action. There needs to be the right mix between planning and action.

So, how do you find this mix?

Well as individuals, this will vary from person to person. The best way to discover this mix of planning and action yourself, is trial and error. You need to start somewhere with finding the balance and then regularly check in and see:

Whats working for you?

Whats not working for you?

What do you now need to do differently?

Its taken me a long time to find this balance and I thought it would be helpful to share with you what works for me as it could be a good starting place for you.

I could easily find myself laying down plans for days and I enjoyed the process, so I just carried on. Now, I take myself away from the pc (less distractions) and out of the office (change of scenery), and settle myself in a coffee shop. I allocate 1-2 hours, although usually 1 hour is sufficient even for large detailed plans. Once that time is up, I stop and that's the end of my planning for now.

This time slot usually means that about 80% of my plan is done, so more than enough to start taking some actions. At the end of the planning, I write down the action plan, probably for the next week. Now for those of you who are thinking that you wouldn't have completed your plans in this time, you've still got an opportunity to do more planning later.

Now is the time for action. Why? Because its when we take action that we learn the most. So, with an action plan for the week you need to begin taking the actions. Even if you hear the voice saying that you still need to do more planning, just ask it to be patient and you'll give him some more time soon.

As you continue working through your actions for the week, some ideas or changes will become obvious to you that you either need to add to your plan or change. I keep a notepad by me and only allow myself to make very short brief notes relevant for my plan.

Included in my action plan for the week is also some time scheduled and kept clear purely for working on my plan. Usually for me this is about 10-15 minutes per day. Now this is the time that I revisit my plan and add the new ideas or changes. Then, I'm back to taking the actions that were obvious and the right next steps based on my plans.

This is what I've found works for me and it may be a good starting place for you to discover the right balance between planning and action.

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