Speaker 1: Good morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the New Corner Office,
Speaker 1: the podcast where we share strategies for thriving in the
Speaker 1: new world of work, where location and hours are more
Speaker 1: flexible than in the past. Today's tip is to find
Speaker 1: a planning system that makes sense for you in your
Speaker 1: new corner office. New times sometimes call for new methods.
Speaker 1: In any case, planning is so important to productivity and
Speaker 1: success that you want to make sure that how you
Speaker 1: plan supports your life rather than making you feel confused
Speaker 1: or sad. Many people's lifestyles and routines have changed dramatically
Speaker 1: in recent months. Perhaps you're working from home more often
Speaker 1: or for the first time. Your work hours may have
Speaker 1: shifted earlier or later so that you can balance childcare
Speaker 1: and homeschooling. The number of meetings you're required to attend
Speaker 1: in a week may have increased or decreased, or maybe
Speaker 1: you're finding that you have fewer work tasks to attend to.
Speaker 1: Whether you're a Google calendar devotee, a paper planner, planner,
Speaker 1: or somewhere in between, people generally choose their particular planning
Speaker 1: methods because they align with their lifestyles and preferences. Digital
Speaker 1: methods can be ideal if you want to share a
Speaker 1: calendar with your spouse or colleagues, and they're also great
Speaker 1: for people who frequently have meetings rescheduled. Paper methods, on
Speaker 1: the other hand, appeal to many who enjoy to do
Speaker 1: list making and the pleasure of putting pen to paper
Speaker 1: or decorating paper. Planners have the upside of letting us
Speaker 1: see future events physically, often in a more intuitive way
Speaker 1: than day to day electronic calendars. But when life changes,
Speaker 1: maybe a previous preference doesn't make sense. A friend of
Speaker 1: mine decided to buy a new short term planner because
Speaker 1: she felt so sad crossing off future fun events in
Speaker 1: her annual one. If you've decided to launch a freelance
Speaker 1: business from home that's based mostly on your individual creative talents,
Speaker 1: the electronic calendar you used for your corporate life might
Speaker 1: feel strange. I mean, you don't need to start sending
Speaker 1: yourself meeting invitations to block off the morning for deep work.
Speaker 1: One upside of change is that it prompts us to
Speaker 1: take stock of our current practices and consider whether they
Speaker 1: are still benefiting us. So take some time this week
Speaker 1: to ask if your planning system is still working for you.
Speaker 1: Are you finding yourself frustrated when scribbling out canceled events,
Speaker 1: Are you having trouble coordinating schedules with your partner or
Speaker 1: keeping track of your kids online school meetings. The switch
Speaker 1: doesn't have to be permanent. My friend wound up missing
Speaker 1: her old annual planner, so she eventually bought a new
Speaker 1: one and put things that might be canceled on sticky notes,
Speaker 1: and you can always switch back even if you don't
Speaker 1: have any interest in modifying your planner or calendar. You
Speaker 1: might consider if you're planning habits, such as when you
Speaker 1: plan need a refresh. Maybe your former supervisor sent you
Speaker 1: guidelines for the week on Sunday night, and so you
Speaker 1: always planned everything out on Monday morning, But after some restructuring,
Speaker 1: you're reporting to someone who tends to send assignments day
Speaker 1: by day, so you might set a designated weekly planning
Speaker 1: time like Friday afternoons, supplemented by many planning sessions each morning.
Speaker 1: Or maybe you're coordinating childcare with your spouse and you
Speaker 1: get your schedules at different times, figure out when you
Speaker 1: can chat to make sure you can cover for each
Speaker 1: other a reasonable proportion of times. Planning ahead doesn't prevent
Speaker 1: all unforeseen circumstances from arising. But in a world that
Speaker 1: often feels uncertain, it can certainly help us to be
Speaker 1: happier and more prepared. So today ask if you're planning
Speaker 1: methods need an update. There's no point sticking with something
Speaker 1: that isn't working, and there's a lot to be gained
Speaker 1: by finding a new approach that does. In the meantime,
Speaker 1: this is Laura, thanks for listening, and here's the succeeding
Speaker 1: in the New Corner Office. The New Corner Office is
Speaker 1: a production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts, visit
Speaker 1: the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you
Speaker 1: get your favorite shows. H