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	Why is Planning Important?

	by Jeff Willis

Noted author Mark Twain hit it on the head when he said, "The secret of getting ahead is getting STARTED. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable ones –- then starting on the first one." So why is PLANNING so important to this process?

AN INVESTMENT

Planning is leveraged time. 20 minutes of planning per day can improve your productivity immensely -- and pay of in HOURS worth of saved time later. Affording yourself time to plan will pay off in the future. You’ll make sure that you are staying on track with your goals and you can ensure that you become more task oriented. By simply taking 10-20 minutes to go through what your objectives or outcomes are, you will be more likely to achieve them and not get SIDETRACKED, which is quite easy to do.

STRUCTURE

Planning provides the method for informed DECISION making. By planning what you are going to do you will be establishing a framework and will be able to make smarter and more PROACTIVE choices about how to use your time.

STOP PUTTING OUT FIRES

Planning reduces CRISIS management. If you plan effectively there is less likelihood of any critical issues coming up. However, it is important to be prepared for unforeseen situations occurring -- but having a plan makes it easier to deal with the unexpected. Instead of starting from scratch, you merely have to "tweak" your existing plan.

FOCUSING YOUR EFFORTS

Planning allows for personal energy direction. As you can appreciate, by establishing a focus through planning you will be able to CHANNEL your energy positively into reaching your desired outcome. Having a course of direction will assist you in accomplishing your tasks in a more timely and EFFICIENT manner.

CLEANING HOUSE

Planning helps to eliminate bad HABITS and fear of failure. If you stick to a plan you are more likely to break some bad habits you might have (ie surfing around the net without really accomplishing anything). And by establishing a plan and sticking to it you are less likely to FAIL.

DIRECTION

Planning allows you to set PRIORITIES and focus on what is important. Even within your plan you can prioritise your tasks so that items you think are more important than others can be actioned accordingly. You need to discover what is IMPORTANT to you and sometimes go through a few boring tasks in order to get to the exciting end result.

A MAJOR DIFFERENCE

Effective planning will have a HUGE impact on breaking bad habits you might have and should lead to successful task management. Give it a go for the next week's projects and responsibilities. Write out what you want your objectives and outcomes to be. Get a to-do list happening!

Jeff Willis has been using computers for nearly 20 years. He is a sales and marketing manager and hosts a newsletter at www.waysofwinning.com.

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