The to-do list for the year is a clear plan that will allow you to gradually implement each of the items, approaching your dream. Having spent a couple of hours of time thinking and compiling a to-do list, you can save a huge amount of time throughout the year.
Why make a to-do list for the year
Each of us has any dreams or desires for the realization of which there is not enough time and money. But the point here is not at all a lack of resources. The main problem is the inability to organize your time. A to-do list for the year will greatly facilitate your task and bring you closer to achieving goals.
Until you describe your dreams and plans on paper, they will remain abstract. You constantly think about them, but you do not dare to pull yourself together and begin active actions. And all because you do not have a sense of time frame, as well as a clear sequence of actions. A to-do list for the year helps you organize your time.
How to draw up an annual plan
In order to draw up a personal plan for the year ahead, first you need to analyze your needs and desires. First, you can describe in a chaotic manner everything that comes to your mind. At the next stage, you should filter out realistically achievable goals from abstract ones or those that, for objective reasons, will not succeed at the moment. Now you just have to rewrite the items in chronological order, which depends only on your preferences or capabilities.
For some, especially lazy people, even a routine of affairs with their own hand is not an incentive to action. Many postpone the implementation of the plan to the last moment, and as a result do not have time. Therefore, it will also be useful to divide your annual schedule into several periods. So, for example, make a list of tasks that need to be done before the summer, or set other time frames.
How it works
Each time, under the chiming clock, we draw up for ourselves some mental plan of what to do next year. But here comes the morning of the first of January, and we begin to postpone the realization of our desires until tomorrow, and then again until tomorrow. This happens endlessly, and most importantly, everyone finds thousands of excuses for himself. Maybe your dream is to buy a car? Have you ever wondered why it has not yet been implemented?
The main problem is that you have only an abstract dream, and not a clearly defined goal. Having described your ideas on paper, you make them a kind of commitment. So, gradually performing minor, and then increasingly serious tasks, you will come closer to the realization of what you have not been able to do for many years. Having developed a clear guide to action for yourself, in a year you can go on vacation, make repairs or even make a million.
When to plan
The best time to plan is the eve of the New Year. Analyze what you have done over the past 12 months and compare it with your dreams. Maybe you wanted to start making more money, but this did not happen? Then the end of December is the best time to think about what to do for a career next year. Describe in detail your desired job and start implementing the idea from January 1: look for information about vacancies on the Internet, or sign up for a training seminar. Then by the end of the year you will be able to proudly catch yourself thinking that you have accomplished everything that you planned for the chiming clock.
What you can include in your personal plan
In order for the technique to be effective, it is important to set real goals that you can objectively achieve. So, if you have been thinking about writing a book for a long time, then be sure to proceed with its implementation. Here, you will not need any material costs. Just make it a rule to devote a couple of hours each day to this activity. But if you set as your goal to earn a million, then to begin with, give a good assessment of your current situation. If your activity does not bring you much income, then set an intermediate task that will oblige you to find a higher paying job for yourself.
But your plan does not have to deal with such global goals. It may well be simple household things for which you simply could not find time and money before. So, if you want to transform your home, then focus on what to do at home. Dreaming of a vacation, determine its clear time, as well as the place where you want to go (naturally, one that will correspond to your current capabilities). You can also make a specific list of purchases or books that you want to read. This plan should be mandatory for you. And in order to facilitate your task, set a specific time frame for each of the items.
How to fulfill plans
In order to realize your personal plan, you will need concentration, willpower, a thirst for action, as well as some auxiliary items. So, for example, be sure to get a diary for a year. Have you noticed that all successful people go with big notebooks, where they write down all their important things? For such people, a global goal, such as buying a car, is achievable thanks to clear time planning and task structuring.
In your diary, you must pre-schedule each of the tasks in advance, indicating approximate dates for it, constantly specifying certain actions that will bring you closer to its implementation. In addition, in your folio you will have to note not only what you need to do, but also report to yourself what actions you took. This will give your plan an element of commitment, so it will not be so easy for you to shirk its implementation. Remember that you are the most important boss for yourself. In view of this, when you ignore the fulfillment of the annual schedule, you will deceive yourself, which is very unpleasant and, at least, stupid. But at the end of the year you will be able to reread all your notes with a sense of accomplishment, making sure how much you managed to do.
Goal tree
Sometimes a goal cannot be reached in one day or in one action. So, for example, buying a mobile phone is much easier than, for example, writing a book. This is a difficult task, for which you need to paint the individual steps and details. For this purpose, a method can be used, which in management is called the “Goal Tree”. This means that you break the global task into smaller ones, which ultimately should lead you to a positive result.
To draw up this simple scheme, you first need to decide what you want to get in the end. Next, begin to think through and paint the stages and actions that lead to the achievement of the desired result. Sometimes it happens that there are too many intermediate goals, and therefore the “tree” can serve as the annual plan for you. It is advisable that you have a similar scheme for any task, the implementation of which requires more than two stages. This will not only bring you closer to your dream, but also provide significant time savings.
Annual Plan Implementation Process
Start implementing your plan immediately as soon as the first day of the new year arrives. The main rule is to constantly act, moving towards your goal, because apart from you, it is not subject to anyone. You should clearly understand that the most important duty in your life is a duty to yourself. Then you can confidently move forward to achieve your desires and goals.
First, your plan must be visualized. This is not just some small note written on a crumpled scrap of paper. The plan should be framed clearly, readably and beautifully, besides it should be constantly in front of your eyes. Provide special cells in which you will put a check mark on the implementation of a particular item. With each goal realized, even the most insignificant, your self-esteem will increase significantly, and your personality will grow in the eyes of others.
An additional incentive will be for you to visualize your desires. So, for example, you can hang on the walls photos of the resort where you want to go, buy a frame for a diploma or certificate in advance, purchase a beautiful cover for the phone you want to buy, start collecting your suitcase for your planned trip. All this will not allow you to forget about your desires. This will constantly urge you to further actions and will certainly lead to the desired success.
Encourage yourself
What can stimulate a person to an activity better than a promise of encouragement? Yes, sometimes I don’t even want to do work for my own benefit without anticipation of a pleasant surprise or a long-awaited reward. Therefore, you should make it a rule to give yourself a certain prize in the event that you have completed one of the mandatory points of your annual plan.
You can come up with a wide variety of rewards. It can be some kind of sweets, small or large purchases, a trip to a cafe or a visit to a beauty salon. Everyone chooses for himself precisely those things that can serve as an incentive for him to take decisive actions. And in order for the reward to be close, you need to write down this moment in your plan, which you draw up before the New Year. In addition, this will significantly save your time, because you do not have to come up with something at the last moment. You will know in advance what you will get from yourself for achieving a positive result.
Please note that the remuneration you provide must be commensurate in value with one or another item in the plan. So, if you read some heavy book, you can reward yourself, for example, with a chocolate bar. And if your goal was to learn a language or take some training courses, then at the end of classes you can have a holiday in a cafe or please yourself with another new thing. This will give you not only an incentive to work, but also the moral satisfaction that absolutely everyone needs.
Annual Plan Example
Many people begin to get confused and lost, because they can’t immediately figure out which items should be included in the to-do list for a year. An example of such a list will help you navigate in the preparation of your personal schedule. So, it might look like this:
- to learn any one foreign language (or several);
- start playing sports, enroll in a trendy gym, and if necessary, lose weight (you can also specify the purchase of special clothes and shoes for this as an intermediate goal);
- you can set a goal to revise your diet in favor of proper nutrition or a complete rejection of animal food;
- if you are not comfortable with your current job, then try to find a more interesting occupation that will bring a much greater income;
- if you think that you do not have enough knowledge acquired during training, try to get a second education or at least take specialized courses;
- set a goal to change your character and behavior for the better;
- perfect your appearance - change your hairstyle, hair color, you can even get a piercing or tattoo;
- Think about what famous books you have not read so far and will certainly include them in your plan;
- plan travel and vacation for the summer; pay attention to your near and dear ones - help them with work, study or household;
- if you have any creative addictions that you have long abandoned (drawing, music, dancing, and so on), then continue to develop them, trying to achieve perfection;
- reduce the level of your Internet dependence (for example, you can set a time limit that determines the maximum period spent on the network);
- do something socially useful - arrange a community work day, feed homeless animals, plant flowers in the yard or do charity work;
- make it a rule to keep your home in order by regular cleaning;
- audit at home and discard everything old and unnecessary;
- start saving money for a major purchase or even your own business;
- make it a rule to pay as much attention as possible to personal care;
- learn something new (for example, play musical instruments);
- plan some expensive purchases (it can be clothes, household appliances, or maybe even a car or real estate;
- take control of your expenses - set up a special notebook where you will record all income or expenses related to your personal or family budget;
- perhaps you have long dreamed of visiting some distant country - now is the time for this;
- get a pet or plant several plants;
- make it a rule to start every morning with exercise, and end the day with a walk in the fresh air;
- make it a rule to give friends gifts made by yourself; Connect with old friends you haven’t chatted with for a long time. refuse to drink alcohol, as well as quit smoking (if these bad habits have a place to be);
- draw up a daily routine for yourself and clearly follow it;
- help others; try to protect yourself from problems; watch a specific list of films;
- change attitudes towards people.
Does it bring results
Everyone who ever undertook to draw up a plan of affairs for next year noted the fact that the task is rather troublesome, but it brings quite pleasant results. You will no longer depart from the goal, and all your actions and movements will occur only in a certain predetermined direction. All great people once started with a simple plan. Perhaps this will help you in the future. I wish you success in your endeavors!