HOW TO USE THE FOUNDHER PRODUCTIVITY PLANNER TO SET A NEW PACE
Have you been following our articles about productivity, high performance and connecting being and doing modes for sustainable success?
If so, you’re probably itching to get into creating your own sustainable success rhythm!
To help you get started on creating a new rhythm that energises you, gives you time to think and allows you to do more of your best work, we’re sharing the foundher Productivity Planner.
This handy tool is a great way to get clarity from your reality so you can stop re-affirming how busy you are, be more objective and find space to change some unhelpful habits.
It only takes a week, but we promise that what you’re about to discover is huge. The Productivity Planner will help you switch off autopilot, reclaim hours in your day and take conscious, intelligent steps to begin changing your productivity rhythm.
Getting started
Use the Productivity Planner template we’ve provided (print it out or type directly into the soft copy), use a notebook or create an Excel spreadsheet if you’re really feeling it! Although, we suggest keeping this process analog if you can.
Commit to yourself that you will capture what you’re doing each hour, without judgement, every day for seven days. Yes, even on the weekend! You can start on a Monday or begin mid-week – just make sure you complete a full week.
If you’re new to foundher, your Productivity Planner may look a little like this:
✺ 7am: Wake up, check emails, shower
✺ 8am: Coffee, emails, Facebook, brekkie
✺ 9am: Emails, calls, more coffee
✺ 10am: Check Instagram, remember something from yesterday, draft lengthy email
✺ 11.05am: Panic! Dial in late to a team meeting
You get the idea… We’re asking you to write down exactly what you’re doing every hour (not just what you think you should be doing). Being honest is crucial to success here.
You’ll begin to see how easy it is for your day to slip away from you in a flurry of emails and last-minute requests when you’re not looking. The Productivity Planner tends to shine a spotlight on how unproductive we end up being when we’re not intentionally curating our day.
Reclaim your time
By the end of the week, the planner will have revealed your daily habits, highlighted when you’re likely to procrastinate, and hopefully shown you what time of day you tend to do your best work.
You might get a sense of what’s showing up as you work through the week but to make the most of this tool, it’s a good idea to set aside time to properly review the data. So, at the end of the seven days (and not a minute before!), spend 30-60 minutes reflecting on what you’ve learned from your audit.
This is your opportunity to put your awareness skills into action. You now have the facts about how you spend your week, so ask yourself these questions:
1. What have I noticed about how I spend my time?
2. What did I previously believe about my time, and how have I been wrong?
3. What small steps could I take to begin to be more intentional with my time?
This task is a simple step that lays the groundwork for your new success rhythm.
Why it works
Whether we’re working with CEOs, start-up entrepreneurs or sole traders, in private partnerships or small group programs, our coaching always begins with the Productivity Planner (also known as the Doing Diary).
We do this because no matter what stage you’re at in your business, we can all fall into the trap of working on autopilot. The Productivity Planner neatly disrupts autopilot mode by making you aware of exactly where you’re spending your time.
You might discover, for example, that you always unconsciously open Instagram after a phone call, or perhaps you realise that your brain is more fresh in the morning, but you’re using that time to answer an avalanche of emails.
You can then use this awareness to begin planning your day, building in time for strategic or creative work when you’re alert in the morning (leaving emails till later) and scheduling in breaks to re-energise.
Here’s some of the insights and breakthroughs the Productivity Planner has unlocked for a few of our clients…
“The initial period of the Doing Diary was an eye-opener. Being honest is scary but it showed that while I thought I was spending ‘a bit’ of time on social media, it was more often. Once I saw my day on paper and could take a step back, it was, ‘Wow, I want to change’.”
– Jen, Pace participant
“The Productivity Planner is helping me get an awareness of my workload and how focused I am, and equally, how distracted I can be! It’s really useful to see what my habits are, while offering some reassurance that I am grappling with a high workload, so some mental health breaks are warranted.”
– Penny, Pace participant
“The planning tool was really useful with regard to productivity – having clarity around priorities, timeframes and what is impactful as opposed to what is just on the wish list.”
– Nicole, Private client
What will the Productivity Planner unlock for you?
Sign up for the free Productivity Planner to have it delivered straight to your inbox and get clarity on where your time is really going so you can put more time back in your week — without doing more or working longer hours.
Loving the Planner?
Sign up to the Productivity Masterclass to begin learning how to set a whole new rhythm for success. Bring along your findings from the Productivity Planner to learn how your productivity rhythm can affect your results.