So you have your big goal, or quest, or north star. But today is just a regular day. While your adventure is well underway, today is more about maintenance. On every journey, you will still have to go to the market, or launder your clothing, or clean your lodging.
Maybe you have to do all those things AND you need to train your dragon because he keeps setting things on fire on accident. So how do you do just in time planning to make sure you get all the things done?
I’m stealing this from the setup in the Hero’s Journal. If this ends up resonating with you, I highly suggest you check them out.
Step One
Start with your driving focus. Remind yourself and check-in. What is your quest? Write that down at the top of your planning page. Our friend with the dragon has a quest to learn how to slay train his dragon. But today is market day. If he wants to get any of that fresh meat his dragon loves, he has to go today. We are going to pick three things that we MUST do today. They could be time-driven (the market happens once a week, today’s that day), necessity-driven (there’s not a clean dish to use or a clean outfit to wear), or even opportunity-driven (a traveling troupe is in town and the performance is tonight and only tonight). The important thing is that you know what you can realistically accomplish.
Step Two
The second thing you want to do is write down your schedule for the day. If you have any appointments or commitments, make a note of them so that you can see what you’re up against. Look over your schedule for the day. Make a note of anything you should not forget, and note what time if that’s important. The act of writing it out helps cement this in your brain. There’s some science behind this I’m sure. Trust me, it makes a difference.
Step Three
Now that you have that written out, you can see how much time you may have time to get anything else done. So think about those things that you MUST do today.
Hero’s tip: it is 100% okay to put something from your schedule as one of the items on your must-do list. It is also okay to put things like rest, self-care (but be specific), adventure, or fun. Do not forget that you don’t have to keep your nose to the grindstone. Once you have identified your three items, write them down.
Check-in, do any of these things counter your quest? You may want to think twice about them. Maybe you can’t find a way that they support your quest, but they don’t really counter it either. That’s okay. Sometimes when you’re on your journey, things that aren’t exciting, directly quest-related, or even remotely adventurous have to get done. This is where you tap into your different archetype hats to make it a little more adventurous.
You’re doing the laundry today?
How would a maverick or warrior do laundry? The maverick, as an innovator might try new ways to get laundry done better or faster. For some reason, I’m picturing a Rube Goldberg machine here. The warrior might be more interested in challenging herself to do it faster by timing everything. How could you approach things differently to bring in a little adventure and make it align with your quest?
If you really want to level up your planning, give yourself a place to record your gratitude. Find three things each day to be grateful for and write them down. Again, there’s magic in the writing it down. Whatever your personal gratitude practice is, use this as another way to reinforce that positive outlook.