I don’t know about you but I’ve tried everything I could think of to get more done and finally finish a big goal. Nothing ever worked. I would give up. Admit defeat. Feel guilty. Tell myself to get realistic about goals. Then I read something about planning out goals. When we make a plan to do something and write it in it’s little spot and picture getting it done… our brains actually act as though we’ve already done the task.
That means if there’s no outside pressure to actually go do the thing we planned there’s a good chance we’ll find an excuse to not do the work when we said we would. Our minds act as though our bodies have already done the work so when asked to do it again? No chance! So what’s a person with big dreams to do when checking things off a list isn’t enough motivation to follow through on goals? If you want to get the skinny on motivation try here!
Reverse planning for me means using my bullet journal in a particular way. It looks alot like block scheduling to begin. I have a weekly spread that shows the hours of 5am to 6pm each day. (I don’t always get up this early and certainly don’t have my day planned out straight through till 6pm, but I like to have this part of my day available to record) Hours are then color coded by what kind of work I plan to do. Then I keep a to-list with tasks needing attention.
By keeping my list away from my days it feels like opportunities. Instead of seeing a week planned out and being satisfied of how clever I am, I see a bunch of things I WANT to do and all the freetime (unmarked hours) I have to make them reality! That mindset has been crucial in changing what I get done in a day.
The twist that keeps us from thinking we’ve already done the job is that I fill in what I’ve done. Not that which I plan to do. I keep to-do lists by sections based off what type of work it is. Housework, kitchen prep or blog tasks. But there is no date attached to them. If something isn’t done by the end of the week it either moves to next week or gets dropped. You may not need to break up your to-dos as I do. Being accountable for your ‘working hours’ may be enough.
This way my brain won’t think I’ve already done the work until it’s actually done. The bonus is that I can evaluate where my time has gone and be honest about where I could be improving. Record your time even when it’s watched TV, slept in or talked to Grandma. Assess where your time is spent and adjust as necessary or desired.
Has anyone tried structuring their day this way? Let me know below!
