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It was July, and I was exhausted. About five years after I started my leadership business, I was busy with clients and traveling locally and nationally for speaking events. By that summer, I was feeling overworked, and craved rest and rejuvenation. I looked at my calendar to book a week-long vacation for that fall and realized that there was not one week I didn’t have something on my schedule. A week-long vacation was not possible, and I ended that year feeling more exhausted and burnt out than I ever had before.
I made a promise to myself that I would never let that happen again.
Not only would I book my vacations before the next year started, I would choose a location and pay for it so that it was locked on my calendar. That year was a huge lesson for me in ensuring that I schedule important things on my calendar before the year begins rather than trying to fit them into a packed schedule later.
That year, I started a practice I call Priority Planning.
One Powerful Tool for a Purposeful Year: Priority Planning
Before the start of each year, when I'm planning for the new year I input important events, appointments, and meetings into my calendar before it gets filled with everything else. This has had a huge impact on my energy, my business, and my life. In the past nine years of implementing this practice, I have been more productive, more purposeful, and my business has been more profitable.
As leaders, we can often busy ourselves with low-value activities rather than focus on high-impact results. Priority Planning helps you to be purposeful about your time and energy and ensures the most valuable elements of your life are prioritized.
Before you begin the process of Priority Planning, it’s helpful to ask yourself these two clarifying questions:
1. What do I value most in my personal life that I want to make a priority in the coming year? Some examples may include:
- Having dinner with my family every night
- Taking at least two, week-long vacations with my family
- Volunteering at my son’s school once a month
- Booking a weekend away with friends
2. What do I value in my professional life that I want to make a priority in the coming year? Some examples may include:
- Developing my high potential employees
- Attending a conference to expand my skills
- Attending a roundtable of industry experts to develop relationships and gain ideas
- Reading business magazines and blogs to keep abreast of industry trends
- More planning time to focus on strategic projects
Your answers will be personal to you. One leader may want to prioritize volunteering for an industry committee, while another leader may want to focus on business development.
Here are examples of things you may want to Priority Plan into your calendar as you plan for the new year:
- Vacations
- Strategic planning meetings (if you are a department manager, a half day each quarter focusing on strategic topics can lead your team to faster results)
- Strategy and planning time (for you)
- Kids’ activities, including concerts, Halloween parties, the last day of school picnic, or anything you want to attend
- Conferences and professional events
- Doctor appointments (ever call the doctor and have to wait six months for your checkup? Schedule everything the year before)
- Recurring coaching sessions and meetings with each of your employees
- Department teambuilding (lunches, end of year events, etc.)
- Exercise
- Studying or reading industry trends
- A yearly meeting with your financial planner
I just completed this practice last week, and here is what I personally Priority Planned into my calendar for 2023:
➡️ Team meetings
➡️ Two personal retreats (three days each) to work on strategic projects for the company.
➡️ My annual doctor appointments (I made the mistake last year of waiting to schedule my annual physical until when it was due, and had to wait six months for an appointment. Now I will schedule all my appointments the year before and try to keep them for the same time of year to making tracking easier)
➡️ A month-long vacation to Italy with my family (this has been a dream for many years, and will finally become a reality in 2023)
➡️ Three hours on most Fridays to work on editing my book
➡️ My children’s school concerts and major events
➡️ Each of my children’s birthdays so I don’t schedule travel on those days
➡️ My birthday (I take this day off every year!)
➡️ Dinner with a close friend six times during the year
➡️ Dates with my husband
➡️ A weekend away with college friends (Go Syracuse!)The highest performing leaders are purposeful with their focus and energy. Although simple leadership practices may not seem very impactful, it’s the consistent, fundamental practices we implement that can make a huge difference in how we spend (and preserve) our energy and time.
Exceptional leaders know that fundamental practices like prioritizing and planning are essential for performing at their best. Taking time to Priority Plan your year will ensure you spend time on the most important areas that enhance your leadership and your life.
Will you use Priority Planning as you plan for the new year? Set aside time now to answer questions 1 and 2 above and then start planning for YOUR priorities!
** Wednesday, January 25, 2023 we'll be leading a Leadership Detox virtual workshop to help you get your leadership practices off to a healthy start this year. Learn more here and register!
** Monday, January 30, 2023 Laurie will be facilitating a one-hour workshop with Julie Ferguson in her Business Development Now series for the credit union industry. Learn more and register for BD Now: Thrive here. An information flyer is also available here.
Whenever I have a work project that I keep putting off - I think about delegating that project to someone else - which accomplishes 2 things- it gets the project done and frees us my brain space thinking about it.
Good morning. I loved this read. Thank you so much for sharing. Sincerely, Melissa :)
Thank you for this blog Laurie. I liked most part and specially "As organizations have become more complex, there is a tendency to require employees to do more with less. This is a slippery slope, and often can result in employees feeling overwhelmed and burnt out. One of the biggest contributors to this is not evaluating resources during the strategic planning process." I will use this practice "A best practice is to do what I call Priority Planning—putting important practices on your calendar ahead of time so they become a priority in your day. Examples of activities to Priority Plan include scheduling recurring coaching sessions with each team member, time for strategic thinking and planning, vacations, doctor appointments, important children’s events, and blocks of time for focused work on projects." To be more effective, I will get a good rest so I can have enough energy in the morning. I will read the blog again along with the other links on employee evaluation. Thank you so much Laurie. Best wishes to you and your family.
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I love the feedback on the more than 50 hours of work. AND filling time. So true. Unfortunately, showing that you work longer hours is still seen as being a "hard worker" - not sure how to change that though.
I enjoyed the read. I concur that transitioning from technical skills to delegating results was a task within itself. I did not realize I was almost trying to do the same thing from my previous position, and it was not working. However, I am seeing the results of how delegating daily tasks makes my job and workload easier. Thank you, Laurie.
Thank you for sharing information about your trip Laurie! All 3 things resonate with me - probably #1 being the biggest. I know when I'm gone for a week, I'm still thinking about work and need a vacation when I get back because I did not relax enough. I think your idea of a longer vacation is definitely in my future!!
Hey Laurie, My take on your list - 1 - everyone has a story - listen 2- social media causes interpersonal problems 5- generational differences create hurdles / earn it you aren't entitled / we should help them get there not give it to them 6 AMEN some leaders I would have followed thru Hell, some I wish - well, you know 7- true BUT be as good as your word and 14- Hopefully we leave some good from our efforts, I know the good leaders I have had have. Seen a lot in my career but it really comes down to treat others the way you want to be treated, fair, honest, and straight forward. Good read. Take care
I love this so much and thank you so much for sharing! I really just love realizing that enjoying the simple things sometimes is the best! Also recognizing that what is important and fun to you may not be everyone else's fun on the on the trip. “Do we get to keep these toiletries?” was my favorite!!!! :):) Glad you had a great time and got to spend it with your family!
I very much resonate with lesson no 3! Thank you Laurie
I think the part that you might have missed in their top 5 things, some of which were not "Italian" or even different from home, all of them happened with you, both of you. And i think that is what they will remember too. And you've got tons of photos that will remind them of what the Sistine Chapel looked like - then they might remember what it sounded like or smelled like. Oh- and i agree with you 100% about sleep!
LOTS of great take-aways from this post! Thank you for posting! I especially love "slow down to speed up". That's a keeper!
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the not getting enough rest to be at my best. definitely need to get more quality sleep and make that a priority
It really is hard to narrow down the 3 lessons into one because they are all so interconnected. You need to give your mind and body THE TIME to relax SO THAT you can enjoy the SIMPLE THINGS, including REST. I enjoyed that lesson as a whole. I will take that lesson with me on my next vacation (or staycation). As always, thank you Laurie for your candor and for sharing your own lessons with others so that we too can benefit.
Great information and reminders
Laurie, Thank you for sharing your trip and these nuggets. The lessons that resonate most with me are it does take time to relax and getting proper rest. When you devote 15 plus hours of your day for work, taking care of home and others; the 6-7 hours you lay down does not cut it! For me during this time I'm trying to unwind and find myself thinking fighting not to think about what I have to do tomorrow. Even after I create a to do list for the next day...I find things I need to add. Taking a day off here and there doesn't cut it as well because of all the plans you have for that day. I try to make sure my Mental Health Days remains just that.... time for me to laugh, cry, scream.... whatever I need to release the cares and stress!
Really enjoyed the article... and all very true!
Since I was already well aware of #1 (I'm in the same boat with taking a long time to relax), I think I'm resonating most with #3. I'm learning to prioritize sleep / rest and it's been wonderful. Love that you said "I love sleep.". :)
Welcome back from vacation. Well deserve! Action is the key to success. Shoulder to shoulder, coaching and delegating task to help other employees grow are very important. It is a sacrifice that one must do. Forget about yourself and be with your team day in and out to help them grow, is not always easy. On the long run, your team is stronger, and you can depend on them for the success of the organization. Thank you so much!
So many great tips here, thank you!
I am so impressed you're able to disconnect and these are great tips I'll be sure to try on my next trip!
Such a great post - so inspiring!