Chapter One

Mastering the "P" in Productive

PREPARATION


PREPARATION RELATES TO HOW WELL you've planned and laid the foundation for your daily activities. Most people don't have well-articulated goals. Perhaps you don't know how to set them. Perhaps writing goals down seems like too much effort, or you simply haven't taken the time to write them. Perhaps your goals seem out of reach. It's worth the work to create goals, because the goals you set will provide direction for your life and focus your activities.

An established direction, outlined with purposeful thought, ensures your life won't be governed by whim. In Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Alice stops at the crossroads to ask the Cheshire Cat which road to take. He asks her where she wants to go. When she tells him she doesn't "much care where," he replies, "Then it doesn't much matter which way you walk." And so Alice wanders somewhat aimlessly. In contrast, productive people devote a great deal of thought and time to planning their life goals.

The toughest part of setting goals is translating the lofty, long-term goals into actionable tasks you can work on today. The process itself looks like this:



VISION (personal mission statement)

LONG-TERM GOALS (dreams with a deadline)

SHORT-TERM GOALS and objectives (projects)

MONTHLY PLANS (action steps)

DAILY TASK LIST (specific activities)



When you start with your personal mission statement in front of you as a guide, create personal and professional long-term goals, break them down into short-term objectives, create monthly plans, and then daily activities, you have direc