What Keeps Me Super-Organized
After my mother’s death in 2016, I spent most of 2017 living in Denmark with my father. We needed the time to grieve, but I also needed to figure out the in’s and out’s of the household (and the Danish healthcare system) so I could return to Los Angeles, resume my freelancing life, and manage his affairs from 9,000 miles away.
To help me, I enrolled in Michael Hyatt’s Best Year Ever program, and I must say it was one of the best investments in personal development I had ever made. Consisting of pre-recorded lessons and Facebook coaching, Michael had us envision the year ahead in broad strokes and asks ourselves, where did we want to be by the end of it?
As I created the vision of where I wanted to be by December 31st of 2018, I began tying those goals to the program’s specific categories: Familial, Financial, Vocational, Avocational, etc. From there, I began chunking down what needed to occur in what quarter to make things happen, to keep my eyes on the bigger picture while managing the day-to-day details.
As soon as Michael Hyatt announced that he had created a Full Focus Planner to help track these goals, I immediately purchased one.
What an absolute game-changer.
I wrote my annual goals on the first page of the planner (so cool). In the first few pages, there are pages for Goal Details wherein you can write down the Goal, the Key Motivations, the Next Steps, etc. You can also identify what area of life this goal exists, determine (in his parlance) if it’s a Habit or Achievement goal; if it’s a habit goal, there’s a streak tracker.
The ‘meat’ of each planner is that it captures the quarter with unlined blank daily calendar pages (you fill in the dates and details). On the top of each day, there are three lines where you capture your Daily Big 3, or the three actions you're taking that day towards your bigger goals. You then a space to record your schedule for that day, and a space for miscellaneous tasks.
As for the day itself, you may wonder, why use a manual planner at all if you have a digital one? I’ve integrated my Full Focus Planner with my Google Calendar in that whatever appointments are made on my digital one, I transcribe them manually the night before (or on the morning of the day). Doing this has caused me to rarely miss or forget appointments. Different spaces for my Daily Big 3 as well as miscellaneous tasks help me
stay focused on the big picture while not forgetting smaller tasks. Finally, there's a Weekly Preview at the end of every week wherein you can recap the progress you've made on the bigger goals, plan for the next week, and stay on top of it.
Mainly because of this book, I achieved my goal of organizing my Dad’s logistics. When I came back to the U.S. my half-brother and I were so grateful to never have to rush back to Denmark for an emergency. Everything was set, and the ample spaces for taking notes gave me records to look back on.
Other goals I've accomplished with this planner include:
(Re)write two scripts
Get staffed on a cable show
Build emergency fund
Lose weight
Finish #75Hard
Start a business
Develop and maintain a meditation practice
Manage all of the details of my father's funeral and selling his house
Manage a busy freelancing life
I absolutely love this planner, and I carry it with me (almost) wherever I go. I would have to say that most of my goal-setting philosophy comes from a lot of the mechanics that I’ve learned while using these planners.
If you struggle with overwhelm or need a system to keep everything managed, you should definitely check out The Full Focus Planner.
And if you'd like help in achieving your goals, feel free to...
PS - If you decide to purchase the book, here's the required disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.