Six Step Weekly Planning Process
(adapted from Stephen Covey's The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People and First Things First)

1. Review your mission/purpose statement

If you'd like a tool to help you begin drafting your mission, go to the Mission Statement Builder page at http://www.franklincovey.com/missionbuilder/. Your mission statement represents your values, vision, and purpose for your life.

w	Values - Be clear about what's most important to you -- what you value -- from the deepest place in your heart. Ask yourself, "Is my value what I really want, or is it what others think I "should" do?"
w	Vision - who you are being. We are human beings, not human doings!
w	Purpose - what you want to do as a result of who you are being...your life purpose. This is your road map to direct where you want your life to go. Your mission reflects the following: - What is most important to me? - What gives my life meaning? - What do I want to be? (Review vision statement above.) - What do I want to do?

Start with self, and then identify a maximum of seven roles of greatest importance to you.
I share my own personal roles below as an example, including sub-roles for my "business owner" role. 

3. Identify weekly goals/choices -- in writing

Think of two or three important results you want to accomplish during the coming week in each role you identified in step two. Write this week's goals/choices next to each role.

Goals can be focus areas (example: focus on using reflective listening skills with my daughter) or scheduled activities (example: work out at the gym three times for one hour each). Remind yourself of this truth: Every time I say "yes" to someone or something, I am saying "no" to someone or something else!

Your goals reflect the following elements:

Paauwer Question
What is the most important thing I can do in this role this week that will have the greatest positive impact?

Schedule a weekly one-hour appointment with yourself and follow this Six Step Planning Process as you plan each week. Look at the week ahead with your goals in mind and schedule time to take the action required to achieve them.

NOTE: Schedule some unscheduled time. If every minute of every day is already booked, you are setting yourself up for failure. Allow time for some unexpected but important activities when planning your week.

Tool Tip: Use a weekly planner rather than a daily or monthly planner. If you use a hand-held organizer, do your planning at a computer screen where you can see the whole week at once.
   

When making schedule adjustments, connect with your mission to stay on track. If something more important comes up, reschedule the planned activity for another time. Decisions are based on your priorities. Be a gatekeeper - say no to activities or responsibilities which will derail you from living your mission. Don't play the victim; it's your life and you are in control! 

"If you keep doing what you're doing, you'll keep getting what you're getting! One definition of insanity is to keep doing the same things and expecting different results." (Stephen Covey) 

Evaluate weekly - learn from what didn't work the week before - and try something different in the coming week.