Planning touts many benefits. In addition to having more control over your day, planning helps you focus on your priorities—the activities that drive your business—so you can delegate the smaller tasks to someone else.
Planning is preparation. In order to achieve success, it’s essential to prepare for both the triumphs and challenges you may face in the year ahead. Many agents hate planning, feeling like it infringes on their freedom or it’s just not their “style.” However, planning doesn’t have to be drudgery. Here are three ways to embrace planning.
- Change your perspective. If you see planning as a bore or chore, rethink how you see it. You don’t have to plan every second of your day for the next year. Instead, outline your year so you know what priorities to focus on each week. Remember, it’s a guide for your year, not a set-in-stone plan.
- Build freedom into your schedule. If you avoid planning because it doesn’t jive with your need for “free time,” build it into your schedule. Choose a few tentative dates for vacations or long weekends. Instead of working 24/7, choose a day of the week to take off. When you have free time to look forward to, you’re more likely to complete your tasks.
- Remember, a plan helps you prioritize. What are the tasks you have to complete this year in order to reach your goals and take your business to the next level? Planning allows you to put these tasks at the top of the list so you can be sure they get done, without getting distracted. Once you’re reassured the priorities will be given their due attention, you can focus on other things.
Now is the perfect time to start planning for the year ahead. Don’t view planning as a chore to get through; see it as a way to build more freedom into your year, become more productive, and work more efficiently.
For more information, please visit www.buffiniandcompany.com. 
