The 10% Secret

In order to truly reduce the number of fires you’re fighting, you have to change how you spend your time and shift your focus to achieving your goals.

The secret to doing this to spend 10% of your time defining your goals, developing your plan and making sure on a quarterly, monthly, weekly, and daily basis you’re focused on the actions you defined to achieve your goals.

Scheduling Time for Planning with the 10% Secret

Here’s how to implement the 10% Secret and take back your time –

– 16 Hours Annually: Develop your plan, review analytics and priorities. Partner with leadership, prioritize areas of focus and gain buy-in. Schedule time with your team to define your goals, develop your plan and assign responsibilities. Get approval of the plan from leadership and share the plan throughout the organization.

– 3 Hours Quarterly: Review the progress you have made, carefully re-evaluate your plans for the next two quarters, reprioritize strategies and add any new initiatives that will help you accomplish your goals. Also, utilize this time to identify areas that aren’t on target and develop a strategy to get them back on track.

– 2 Hours Monthly: Look back on your accomplishments last month. This is important and we get it—you’re caught up in the chaos and it can be very difficult to toot your own horn. But it will truly benefit you in the long run to take a few minutes to reflect on the month. Additionally, plan for the month ahead by defining what needs to be done and schedule it.

– 1 Hour Weekly: Define your priorities for the week and schedule time to work on your goals. Review your monthly and weekly work plans in your department meeting. Identify any obstacles to success and help clear the way. Carefully evaluate your schedule and say “no” to as much non-essential work/meetings as possible to free up time to achieve your goals.

– 15 Minutes Daily: Check your schedule and create a list of the top three actions you need to accomplish today to achieve your goals. Block out time on your schedule and make sure those items are being completed – even if you have to fight a few fires along the way.

Schedule it Now to Ensure You Protect Your Time

Take 15 minutes right now to schedule recurring appointments on your calendar to get these planning sessions locked in. 

Committing to this 10% to pull back to that 10,000 ft view and strategize as a leader will make the rest of your 90% so much more effective and help you feel like you’ve taken back control.

Check out page three of your Planner for a print out of the 10% Secret guidelines.