Small Business And Home Based Business Owners - Why Should You Plan Daily And That Too On Paper?

Personal time in my opinion is a source of power that cannot be leveraged. I am writing this at 11 AM today. I will only get to experience another 11AM and that will be tomorrow I can never get back this same moment. If personal time is so precious, should not we do what ever it takes to use it to our best advantage?

As a small business owner or home based business owner, you must consider it very important to start planning your day on paper. When I say paper, it could be a physical note book or any electronic device like laptop, iPhone, iTouch etc. It may seem too obvious, simple or even boring to plan your day on paper. In my experience I have found this process very valuable. Why should you plan daily and that too on paper?

When you write your daily action plan on paper, your thoughts are transferred to the paper and appear crystal clear for you to take action.

Procrastination is the thief of time. Your ability to think, plan and decide is your most powerful tool for overcoming procrastination.

The act of Planning unfolds your mental power.

Planning helps trigger your creativity and increases your mental and physical energies.

Your ability to plan well in advance of taking an action is a measure of your overall competence.

Every minute spent in planning saves as many as 12 minutes in execution.

Action Exercises:

Here are two things you can consider doing:

For the next 5 days, before you begin your day, write down all the items you would like to accomplish that day and create a brief action plan. Don't spend too much time. Its OK even if you do not complete the tasks at the end of the day. Check off the items completed. On a scale of 1 to 10 (1-high and 10-low) write down your rating on procrastination, creative thinking, physical energy, emotions, self esteem and competence.

Again for the next 5 days repeat the same exercise, starting your day WITHOUT writing your action plan and then rate yourself. Do you NOW feel the difference? The key is, to be aware how precious is your personal time is and plan on paper every day to use it effectively.