February Action: Plan Ahead
Last weekend, my husband and I took our three kids and one big dog to New Hampshire for three days. The stars and planets must've been aligned just so because, before we left, I completely outdid myself with planning ahead. I:
- Scheduled a blog post
- Turned on my email autoresponder letting people know I was away
- Planned the next week's dinners
- Had Peapod deliver my groceries on Friday morning before we left
- Washed, dried and set out Hope & Grace's uniforms
- Filled the van with gas
- Made a list of everything we needed to pack for the trip
- Packed everything we needed
We spent three whole days with family and friends, having a blast with the kids and some great laughs with the grownups. On Sunday, we packed everything up and headed home.When we arrived back in Rhode Island, the only thing we "had" to do was unload the car. Planning ahead had made reentry so effortless.Which started me thinking...how else could I plan ahead to make life easier?I came up with one major thing that would make life - and blogging - easier: creating a blog editorial calendar, something I've thought about for years but have never done.So yesterday, I spent about 30 minutes brainstorming blog topics and another 60 minutes creating my Editorial Calendar page here on the blog.Spending 90 minutes of my time planning ahead will save me countless hours all year long, scrambling for blog topics or worse, not writing any posts at all. (Which is where I was headed before I created this editorial calendar...)So...my February action is to plan ahead.Right now, I want you to take 10 minutes (c'mon, you can spare 10 minutes) to think about a few ways that you can plan ahead to save time, save money and make your life and business easier. Here are a few ideas to get you started:
- A monthly meal plan
- A yearly promotional calendar
- A weekly "uniform"
- A daily social media schedule
- An FAQ page for your website
When you've come up with a few ideas, I want to hear about them in the comments below. If you're stuck or not sure how to implement your ideas, let me know that too.