The trap of annual thinking: how not to fall into it and plan time correctly

The publishing house "MIF" published the book "12 weeks a year". In it, business coaches and consultants Brian Moran and Michael Lennington share how to make better use of your time. We publish an excerpt about why the annual plan does not work and what you can replace it with to achieve better results.

Most people (and companies, too) are never short of new ideas. Take, for example, marketing, sales, cost reduction or service improvement. There are more ideas everywhere than can be effectively implemented. All difficulties do not come from a lack of knowledge, but from their incorrect application.

One of the obstacles for people and companies that want to achieve good results is the preparation of annual plans. Surprisingly, annual goals and plans often prove to be a barrier to effective action. This does not mean that annual planning does not have positive aspects. They are. It is better to work with an annual plan than without any guidelines. However, the process of its implementation itself limits the effectiveness.

After working with clients for many years, we discovered an interesting relationship. Most of them believed, consciously or not, that their success or failure was determined by their accomplishments during the year. Our clients set annual goals, made annual plans, and often broke them down into quarterly, monthly, sometimes daily. They then measured success based on the past year. And they fell into the trap we call annual thinking.

Give up yearly thinking

At the heart of such thinking there is an unspoken principle: there is still a whole year ahead, enough time to do what was planned. In January it seems that December is very far away!

We start the year with big goals, but by the end of January we usually realize that we are a little behind schedule. We don't really like it, of course, but it doesn't bother us too much. Why would? We still have 11 months ahead of us, and we can meet the deadlines, right? At the end of March, we are also a little behind, but again we are not too worried. Why? We again think that there is still enough time. And we get used to it. With such thoughts we live all year long.

We mistakenly believe that there is still a lot of time, and act accordingly. We do not have a sense of time, we do not think that every week, day or moment is important. In fact, effective activity should be daily and weekly!

Another misconception associated with annual thinking: we console ourselves with the thought that a little later we will dramatically improve the results. For example, at the end of September or October, a miracle will happen, and our performance will grow substantially. But if we ourselves cannot raise it within a week, how can we promise that we will achieve this within a year?

The truth is, every week counts! Every day! Every minute! We must clearly realize that we work every day and every week, and not once a month or quarter. Yearly thinking rather hinders effective work. To increase productivity, you need to stop planning a year ahead. Don't think in annual terms, focus on smaller time frames.

The annual cycle blinds people and does not make it clear one simple thing: reality is what is happening at the moment.

We live and achieve success right here and now! And annual thinking leads to the belief that it is possible to painlessly postpone important things until later. "We'll do it later." "Later we will achieve what was planned."

Here you can argue: they say, almost all organizations work on the basis of an annual plan and they succeed. Rest assured, following the plan does not mean that these companies achieve everything they are really capable of.

We've had clients—successful companies—who increased productivity by 50% in just 12 weeks. Here is an example: we helped a big broker with a billion-dollar turnover, double sales in six months. This cannot be done on the basis of an annual plan! No matter how well people or companies perform, they will be more efficient if they give up annual planning.

Give up this way of thinking and see for yourself what will happen next.

Miracles happen at the end of the year

You've probably seen ads or heard "best deals" announcements at the end of the year. Such aggressive promotion of goods and services is paying off, and therefore is typical for many industries.

If you've ever experienced a New Year's Eve race, you know how quickly everyone tries to finish projects and complete important things. What awaits you: success or failure? The answer to this question is determined by the last two months. But most often, a sharp burst of activity gradually fades by the end of the year.

In other words, only approaching the deadline increases motivation.

This happens all the time in insurance and financial industries. For many companies and their employees, December is traditionally the best month of the year, and the fourth quarter often gives 30-40% of annual sales. What miracles happen when people have a goal and soon the end of the year!

In many industries, the end of the year is the time to come out of hibernation. Activity increases, and employees are focused on their tasks. With no time to waste anticipating annual bonuses, they focus on important projects and market opportunities. They forget about everything that is not directly related to the immediate important goals.

At this wonderful time, everyone is only discussing efficiency. Company leaders think about achieving results and hold meetings where they do their best to motivate subordinates to achieve results.

What's happened the end of the year? Why do people behave differently in November-December than in summer? due to the end of the reporting period. In most cases, it ends on December 31st.

The end of the year is a benchmark for measuring success or failure. This is a conditional finish line, to which everyone wants to come in order to be no worse than others. And this is what gives a sense of the need for timely action.

Both for freelance artists and for hired workers, November and December are a busy time. You can't waste time. Realizing that it is leaving, people begin to solve the most difficult and unpleasant tasks that have been put on the back burner for the whole year.

These days, people have a "sense of time", and they do not hesitate. They try to complete all projects and deliver them by the end of the year. They must cross the finish line before "time runs out".

In addition, everyone gets excited due to anticipation new Year. Regardless of how you have performed this year, you hope next year will be much better. If the year was hard, you can start over. If you have done a good job, then new professional heights await you. In any case, the new year brings a lot of hope and bright expectations.

The end of the year is an exciting and productive time. The last 5-6 weeks of the outgoing year are probably the most wonderful time. All employees are overwhelmed with enthusiasm, they try to do everything possible to achieve excellent results. But the problem is that all this “productive work” lasts for several weeks. And it would be great if energy, focus on achieving goals and all the positive changes accompanied us every week, throughout the year. And it's possible! Our book and the method of dividing time into periods will help you with this.

periodization

The method of dividing time into periods first appeared in sports, and its goal was to improve results. Its principle is focusing on one action or practicing individual movements. In sports, periodization is the pattern of each workout over a set time period, typically 4–6 weeks. After this period, the athlete moves on to the next training session. This is how the highest results are achieved in each individual discipline. This technique was first used by Eastern European athletes in preparation for the Olympics in the 1970s. The division into periods is still widespread in sports today.

Having appreciated the usefulness of the periodization technique and its beneficial effect on our clients, we have turned it into a tool for achieving success in business and life. We have developed a 12-week system that allows you to focus on the important factors that affect the improvement income and ordering personal life. This book tells you what is important to do today in order to achieve long-term goals.

It uses a structured approach that completely changes the way you think and act. It is important to understand that the results you get are a direct result of your actions. And your actions reflect the thinking behind them. That is what determines the result. In other words, your thinking helps you put your knowledge into practice.

As a result, your actions always coincide with the way you think. When you focus on changing your actions, you improve your results, but if the way you think changes, everything else changes. Your actions are directly dependent on the newly acquired thought patterns. This results in a dramatic improvement in results. Breakthrough does not start with actions, it is created in thoughts. […]

12 weeks = 1 year

Forget about the concept of "year", because you already know about the errors associated with "year thinking". Let's rethink the meaning of the word "year": now it will last not 12 months, but only 12 weeks. Yes exactly. There are no more than four seasons - this concept is outdated. Now your year consists of 12 weeks, followed by a new 12-week year, and so on ad infinitum. Each such period is independent - this is your year.

Think about the true meaning of the 12-week year. excitement, energy, concentration - everything that you feel in December will now be with you constantly. The New Year's race is observed not once every 12 months, but constantly. Remember why people behave differently in November and December? They know that on December 31 they will sum up the results of the outgoing year - evaluate their own successes or failures. As we said above, this is a conditional date, but since it marks the end of the calendar year, it is a good idea to take stock on this day. There is nothing magical about this date - we ourselves endow it with special properties. For some of our clients, the financial year ends on June 30th and their employees are working hard through June to close the year on a strong footing. Actually the date is not that important: there is just some point in time when the game ends and we declare success or defeat.

The 12-Week Year Method sets a new end game date for you to experience your success (or failure). The great thing here is that the end date is always clear and you won't lose sight of it.

A short year gives enough time to complete everything planned, but you will always feel the need to act and maintain your tone.

This is human nature: we start to behave differently when the deadline approaches. We do not waste time, do not do unnecessary things and focus only on the main thing.

A 12-week year makes it clear right away that you are doing nothing. After all, how many bad weeks does it have to have in order for it to be successful in the end? You can't afford more than 1-2 bad weeks and every day automatically becomes more important.

A 12-week year allows you to focus on the week, moreover, on each day - it is within the framework of the day that the action takes place. Postpone important things for later, thinking that the end of the year is still far away - an unaffordable luxury. Effective work is not done monthly, quarterly, or semiannually; it is done daily and even hourly. The 12-week year will give you the opportunity to feel the importance of each day.

From now on, you will expect a new year every 12 weeks. If earlier someone set an ambitious goal for themselves and by the third quarter it became clear that it was impossible to achieve it, failure did not allow them to work normally further. But it is not common for a person (or company) to lose heart if something does not work out until October. In the 12-week year, this attitude is excluded. Every 12 weeks you start all over again - celebrate the New Year! And if something didn’t work out for you last year, gather your strength and start again. And if the year was good, then you can fix the feeling success. In any case, every 12 weeks a new stage in life awaits you.

The 12-week year changes everything! Like at the end of the calendar year, every 12 weeks you take a break, celebrate your progress, and “reboot.” It can be a three-day weekend or a week-long vacation - it is important that you have time to relax, gather strength and gain energy. Successful people tend to look ahead, but they cannot always fully appreciate what has already been done. A 12-week year will give you at least four times the opportunity to notice and celebrate your successes and accomplishments.

In a 12-week year, you will not be able to jump above your head, and you will find that every week counts. […]

Throw away your annual plan

Once you have a clear picture of your desired future, you will need planto reach it. Imagine: you and your family are on vacation, driving across the country in a car - and you do not have a card. Do you agree that this is not the best situation?

A vision of the future without a plan for its implementation is like a castle in the sand.

A plan to achieve your personal and professional goals is even more important than having a map of the area in your car. Unfortunately, many people spend more time planning their travels than setting clear business priorities.

Actions according to the plan have three main advantages.

1. Reduced chance of errors.
2. Saving time.
3. Focus on the goal.

Planning allows you to think through all the steps in advance in order to move towards the goal. You evaluate possible mistakes on paper, which reduces the likelihood of their occurrence in life.

Studies have shown that planning significantly reduces the time and effort required. Sounds paradoxical, doesn't it? In fact, many have feeling of inactivityif they don't work all the time. The truth is that time spent on a plan is most productive.

Finally, planning, like a good map, helps you focus on the goal. This is very important, because otherwise you will constantly be distracted and thrown off course. The plan will return you to strategically important matters.

12-week planning

We don't know a better approach than 12-week planning, which is superior to the yearly model in many ways. We will not mention quarterly planning as a derivative of annual planning. In the 12-week plan, each week is its own, and every 12 weeks you welcome a new year with an opportunity to improve your results.

12-week planning differs significantly from annual planning in three important ways. First, it is more predictable. The further you go into the future, the less you have the ability to predict anything. In long-term plans, the assumptions overlap. If you can predict future, give us a call and we'd love to talk to you about stocks that will someday make you a fortune!

The truth is that determining your daily actions for the next 11-12 months is almost impossible.

That is why annual plans most often imply a specific goal. The accuracy of predicting the outcome of the 12-week plan is much higher. With a high degree of certainty, you will be able to determine what actions need to be performed during each week - and so for all 12 weeks. Thus, the 12-week plan can be both numeric and action oriented. It allows you to maintain a close connection between your action today and the results in the future.

Second, the 12 week plan is very focused. Most annual plans include multitasking, so their implementation is questionable. The reason you multitask is because you're trying to fit everything you have planned for the next 365 days into them. And it's no wonder you get lost and off course. Often you just can't account for all the tasks!

There are always more opportunities than you can use. With 12-week planning, you can do several tasks well, and not be scattered in vain. In 12 weeks you will be able to finish three things, but they will be the most important for you and you will not be distracted by trifles. The plan will allow you to focus on a few major goals and give you enough energy and strength for timely action.

Third, the 12-week plan has a fundamentally different structure. Our experience is that most plans are written with the tacit goal of simply making a good plan. Often they are placed in a beautiful folder, and this is where their execution ends.

We define goals

The point of planning is to help you identify and accomplish those few important tasksneeded to achieve the ultimate goal. If planning doesn't help you perform better, then you don't need it. Unfortunately, most plans are written without taking into account their implementation. The ability to act effectively depends on the structure and content of the plan. In a good plan, there are not too many complex tasks and not too few specific details needed to solve them. It must begin with the definition of the end goal. She, in turn, will determine your success in the 12-week year. And it will already allow you to move forward to obtain the desired long-term result.

Once you have set yourself goals for 12 weeks, you need to choose a tactic of action. The easiest way is to break the 12-week goal into parts. For example, if you want to earn 10 thousand rubles during this period. dollars and lose weight per 5 kg, then you should separately determine the tactics of generating income and losing weight.

Tactics - daily actions leading to the goal. It should be specific, achievable, include due dates for tasks, and allocate responsibility. We'll talk more about how to write an effective plan later.

The 12-week plan must be structured in such a way that tactical actions, completed on time, mean the achievement of goals. But you need to remember that in order not to lose sight of long-term goals, you need to align your 12-week plan with them.

The 12 week plan is a powerful tool. It allows you to focus on what is needed here and now. Do not forget that it is not part of the annual plan - this is already "annual thinking", it left in the past.

12 weeks is long enough to get things done, but short enough to leave a sense of the need for timely action. For those who know how to work, the 12-week plan is a step-by-step instruction that is not misleading, does not allow for delay and requires instant action.

One week - one task

Long-term results are achieved through everyday actions. According to Sir William Osler, founder of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, his success is simply that he gets everything on time. He says, “We plan ahead, but we act every day.” To be successful, daily actions must be aligned with long-term plans, strategy and tactics. As a result, you will get much more control over your actions, which is much more important than control over the result. Results are the result of your actions. That is why it is so important to make plans that take into account not only quantitative indicators, but also concrete actions.

Your daily actions are the best tool for predicting the future.

Nothing comes easy, no matter how strong and passionate your dreams. Only actions rule the world. As we have already said, the vision of the future determines the final goal and the general direction of movement towards it. It gives motivation, but by itself, without action, it is just a dream. And the right actions turn the dream into reality.

And here we often fail. Yes, many people dream of improvements in their lives. But this is not enough. And no matter what you want: make more money, find a new job, meet friends, lose some weight. pounds, fall in love, become a good golfer, be a good parent, or just be nice to talk to man.

It is not enough to just want to change. You need to work on it, and constantly and consistently. As the ancient Roman once said philosopher Titus Lucretius Car, "water wears away a stone." Consistently solving the important tasks necessary to achieve the goal is the key to getting what you want.

Your actions today create your future. Do you want to look into it? Study your actions, they will predict it. Do you want to know about your future health? See what you eat and how fit you are. Do you want to predict future family life? Look at your relationship with your spouse. Want to predict career or future income? There is nothing easier - analyze what you do every working day. Your actions will tell everything!

week plan

The Weekly Plan is a powerful tool that turns a 12-week plan into daily and weekly activities. It organizes the tasks that need to be completed during the week and helps you focus on the tasks ahead of you. It's like a game that needs to be completed in a week. It helps not to go astray and not to miss the important. A weekly plan helps you organize your activities so that you controlled both short-term goals and long-term goals that are important to you. It ensures focus on productive work every minute and does not allow distraction.

A weekly plan is more than just a to-do list. It includes important strategic actions from the 12-week plan that must be completed this week in order for you to achieve your final goals.

The starting point for an effective weekly plan is the 12-week plan. It contains a description of all tactical actions, the implementation of which will lead to the successful achievement of goals for 12 weeks. One week is allotted for each tactical action, and this helps to clearly follow the plan, breaking it down into simple daily actions. The weekly plan is a derivative of the total 12-week plan, in fact, its 1/12.

To work productively with a plan, you need to spend the first 15-20 minutes at the beginning of each week assessing what was done in the previous one and creating an action plan for the current one. And in the first 5 minutes of each day, it is worth reviewing the weekly plan to determine what you will be doing today.

The 12-week year helps you feel the value of each week and thus maintains the proper level of focus. A year is now 12 weeks, a month is a week, and a week is a day. Now the importance and impact of each day is clear! weekly plan motivates you and gives you the opportunity to do several things very well, and not a lot at once, but with a loss of quality. This is a guarantee that you will be able to get the most out of your efforts.

A weekly plan helps you track your strategy, prioritize, track progress long-term goals and accomplishment of short-term tasks, as well as evaluate your actions tied to temporary framework. It allows you to focus on the details that will help you achieve your 12-week goals. And they, in turn, will provide an opportunity to get closer to your vision of the future. As a result, actions and goals coincide.

To benefit from this tool, you must always have it at hand and work with it daily. Every day should start with working on a weekly plan. Check with him several times a day. If you have planned some action for this particular day, do not leave work until it is completed. This approach ensures that all important tasks are completed weekly and that the tactics you develop are followed. […]

12 Weeks in a Year describes a methodology that allows you to work in short stages and manage to do four times more in a year than others. The book will be of interest to those who want to learn how to effectively plan things while maintaining motivation and determination.

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