26 Feb This one trick can help you reenergise, plan and set priorities
via Fast Company by Thomas Peng-Zapier
It is very, very easy to get lost in the day-to-day. There’s always some fire to put out, or some recurring task that needs doing, which makes it hard to focus on big-picture stuff.
This is what a Quarterly Think Day is all about. The idea is to take time and space to reflect, learn, and prioritize for the next three to six months. I learned about this concept from Jessie Link, VP of Engineering at Twitter, at a LeadDev Together conference session on personal development.
I decided to try it out. I found it a good way to prioritize, think strategically, and re-energize. I’m going to talk about what I learned, but first, let’s talk about how to plan your own Quarterly Think Day.
WHAT TO DO ON A QUARTERLY THINK DAY
The name kind of explains it: once a quarter, you take an entire day to think. What about? This time is for asking yourself some critical questions.
- What’s important to me?
- What are all the things I need to get done?
- Where do I want to be six months from now?
- What must I do?
- What should I do?
- What can I delegate?
- What do I want to do?
Don’t do anything other than think about these questions, and make sure you do that completely offline. Yes: computers are nice. You will have plenty of time to use them later. Today is about thinking, and computers have a tendency to distract you from that.
So use Post-its, Sharpies, and index cards. Draw on your window, if it helps. Just take the time to be alone with your thoughts.
A FEW STEPS FOR PLANNING AHEAD
You probably can’t just disappear from work without any planning, and you need to make sure this day is productive. Here are a few things you should do before your Quarterly Think Day so that everything goes smoothly…
… keep reading the full & original article HERE