Finish 2024 Strong

It is like turning on a light switch when the September days of autumn arrive in Northern New Mexico. The days are pleasant, calm, not too hot, and fading in length. The inviting aroma of green chili roasting is in the air. Balloons, football, and other unique events of the fall season are engaging. They serve as a reminder that the final months of 2024 have arrived. A period of winding-up the year of personal and professional activities before 2025 arrives.??

My preoccupation with planning, particularly on a quarterly timeline, is the experience of how quickly time passes and recognition that the weeks, months, or years ahead are assured to no one, but especially to those of us aging in life.??

With that premise, here are curated tools and resources to make the final months of 2024 one of progress and accomplishment for yourself and those of importance to you.??

As we begin our day, many of us have a daily to do list, which can be overwhelming with activities and tasks to complete. Michael Hyatt, using the Full Focus method for success to win at work and succeed at life, advocates for a less is better approach in our daily list. The approach is a Daily Big Three, that being the three most important items to do, whether work or personal, that need to take place for the day. By taking this approach, you are going piecemeal and not trying to eat the whole enterprise of your life at one time.??

Previously, instead of using the Big Three approach, I would list a multitude of activities on my daily list, with a mixed order of importance. While checking off a task produced a mild rush, how substantial it was to complete compared to other tasks on the list was an afterthought. The Daily Big Three prioritizes tasks and activities most important for the day. It aids you in framing and focusing on the work most aligned with success for the day. But of all the activities and things to do for a day, how do you select only three???

It is an understandably challenging question. It is related to the bigger frame of our week, the work to do, the many activities that will take place and the results we want to obtain. For many of us, the weekend is time to catch up and plan. A lazy Sunday afternoon or perhaps even Monday morning allows space to assess and plan for the week ahead and what needs to be carried out. By using a bigger frame of the entire week, it can provide a reference point to direct us to those daily big three items to complete. Perhaps you must finish a summary report on client use of your public portal. While it is due at the end of week, by planning for it on Sunday, presumably you will not wait until Friday to complete. By placing it on your Big Three listing, you will get to it earlier rather than procrastinate.??

Support to assess how well your week went comes from Ness Labs founder Anne-Laure Le Cunff, called the +Plus-Minus= Next tool.??

The pluses for the week are the results and accomplishments that took place. Whether it is the successful project(s) completed, new hires, parent -teacher meetings or gym workouts, it is reflection and acknowledgement of progress made.??

Next comes the Minus side. What did not happen, or was progress painfully slow? That stalled home repair project. That Amazon book received but still unopened in packaging. The family event you promised your kids all would attend but didn’t take place for whatever reason.? Whatever the minuses, there is also the reflection and acknowledgement of missed important opportunities.??

Now, what is Next? You know what did and did not work, but why? Did unintended events derail the missed opportunities or was it something on your part that prevented things from happening? Could you have reasonably planned or expected a better approach to the events that did or did not occur, or was it plain lack of discipline that led you existing results???

Le Cunff says in her use of Plus, Minus, Next, she does not take more than five minutes to complete it, and most of that time is spent on the “next” category to focus on what activities to carry out in the week ahead.?

Our weekly planning leads to the building the bigger picture, the remaining three months of the year. Many teams, organizations and individuals use the 12 Week Year model to approach the calendar year on a more incremental or piecemeal basis. Consultants also find, particularly at the end of the year, when project completion and other elements of life have more urgency to complete, that this model offers value, ROI and is easy to implement.??

So, using this approach, what Big Three goals must be completed by the end of your year? Where you must and absolutely want competition or results. A health issue, a family matter, a professional goal, or other element of your life. What are the big three that at the end if 2024 you can say you have accomplished or are ready for the next stage of the journey? Using the rituals of daily, weekly, and now quarterly planning, the prospect of success is more likely. Consider the illustration from the 12 Week Year web site.??

Here, a goal is identified around an organized life and home. A worthy objective. Now within the big goal are a series of tasks identified as contributing to an organized life and home. Some of the tasks or activities need to be done weekly, others done during a particular week, some beginning week 1 and others in the weeks ahead but all within the 12-week time frame, concluding in week 13. The process allows the identification of tasks needed to be completed for a goal within the quarterly time frame.?

Consider in three short months, we will be saying goodby to the old and welcome to the new.? In using a quarterly or 12 Week Year process, it provides different approach to getting the most important tasks and goals in our life done.??

What could you do and carry out in the three short months ahead? What is on your unfinished to do list or been on your mind and is now more pronounced with the end of the year approaching? Give the Big Three, plus, minus next weekly schedule model and 12 Week Year process effort and work. I bet you will see a positive difference by the end of the year.?

What is your experience in daily, weekly, and long-term planning? Drop me a note on the tools and resources you find of value in your planning and personal productivity.