Looking at the goal with all the steps it takes to achieve could be overwhelming. It feels like there are so many things need to be done. Many of them are not clear yet. Time when we can work on those steps are not clear yet. How about not worrying about those details until it’s time to execute?
I believe in iterative approach. Meaning that at each horizon we need different level of details. The closer you are to actually doing the work the more details are needed.
Those details include what, when, and how thing will be done. So at the year horizon it’s enough to have just intentions, at quarter horizon we’re stepping down to goals and projects, and at week horizon it’s all about actions.
Sketch a quarter
Planning a quarter is actually sketching it. A quarter is too long distance to have a solid plan for it. Life changes all the time and few weeks later detailed plan for a quarter will be obsolete anyway. Then it needs to be reviewed and updated just to have the same situation few weeks later again.
So as for me at a quarter level, having a sketch for each goal is enough. With a sketch I mean defining projects and steps for them. There is nothing actionable yet. It’s just a roadmap for further actions.
Taking it one step further there is no need to sketch goals for second part of the quarter. As I wrote in The Challenge of Dealing with Multiple Goals starting too much at the same time is not a good idea anyway.
Plan a week
It’s in the weeks where real work happens. I prefer moving one week at a time. So I plan actions for one week ahead. Yes, I may have a feeling what actions should I expect next week and week after that. I just don’t worry about that for now. I focus on one week.
This allows me to keep narrow focus on doing while quarter sketch gives me broad picture.
How to connect them? Weekly planning is the answer. I decide which steps from which project I’m taking into the week. Then each step gets their actionable tasks and place in week days.
Review quarter state
Reviewing quarter state each week is the way to keep control over goals progress and regroup when needed. As for me it is as simple as clearly see two things.
First of all whether goal is already started, not started, or completed. This one is super easy and obvious.
Second things is goal health for started goals: on track, at risk, off track. I simply use gut feeling. I don’t see a need for complicated approach. A goal is on track is obviously when everything goods good and I expect to accomplish the goal on time. A goal being off track is when I believe there is either no way to achieve the goal without sacrificing any other goal or putting in a lot of extra time creating more stress for myself. “At risk” is somewhere in between, meaning it doesn’t go smooth and yet I can easily get back on track. Usually this means that more discipline/focus can help and there is no need to put in extra time.
Don’t get caught into planning when it’s not needed. The higher you are in a horizons of planning the less details you actually need. Still keeping an eye on each horizon and clearly see the state is vital to overall success.