Weekly Habits

We, as humans, are creatures of habit. So, shouldn’t you be creating habits that will build a better future for yourself? Building a routine takes time and dedication, but like most things in life the more you do it the more natural it will become. Although routines can be difficult to begin, sticking with them will help relieve stress and anxiety at work and at home.

Increasing productivity in your life requires turning your routines into habits. Have you ever been driving to a place you’ve been a hundred times, arriving at your destination and realizing you don’t remember taking three turns you know were a couple miles back? That is the power of habits. We can become so used to doing something, even driving, that we are able to perform the action subconsciously. Creating healthy habits is deliberate and takes mental focus.

Weekly planning is an integral part of running a successful business. Creating a plan will keep you on track to meet your yearly goals, help you track results, analyze your business, and keep stress off your back. Start planning today by following these 7 productivity hacks.

Pick a Planning Day

It takes weeks for proper habits to form, so do yourself a favor and stick to a specific time and day for your weekly planning. It helps to be consistent, so make sure you’re doing some form of planning every week – even if you start with just one goal for yourself, you will be moving forward.

Pick a Place

Pick a place you can go to every week that has a good environment for your weekly planning. Maybe you do better out of the house so pick a local coffee shop. Maybe you love spending time outside, sit on your porch and plan. Whatever environment is inspiring and/or relaxing for you, go there.

Brainstorm Projects/Goals

What projects and goals can you assign to yourself that will progress your yearly business plan? It could be as simple as setting a sales goal you want to hit each week. However, how we hit those sales goals often correlate with how often do we blog, how often do we create new product, how often do we post on social media…the list is endless. Take that list and break it down. What things can you be doing weekly to improve your business? Start setting those goals for yourself along with a sales goal.

Set Measurable Goals

No matter what projects and goals you set for yourself, make sure they are measurable. For example, don’t word a goal like this – “I’m going to post on social media more this week.” Instead word it like this – “I’m going to post on Twitter 5 times this week and make a Facebook update everyday.” At the end of the week when you review your results it will be very easy to see if you hit your goal of posting 5 times on Twitter, won’t it? So make sure, you are being specific with your projects and goals. Especially if you are working on projects, like building a bench, make sure you set yourself up for success by outlining how much of each day will be dedicated to building that bench and where you want to be with that project at the end of each day.

Set Deadlines

Set deadlines for yourself, this goes hand-in-hand with setting measurable goals. If you are going to post on Twitter 5 times or build a bench when should those things be completed by? Personally, I’d take it one step further and set a daily action goal of “1 Twitter Post Today.” Deadlines help you manage time wisely and give you urgency to complete the goals you have set for yourself.

Challenge Yourself

If you’re new to planning or have just started a business don’t overwhelm yourself and set unrealistic expectations. Start slow. Schedule in what you know you can do and then one or two things that push you. Make sure that every week you are challenging yourself, whether it’s setting a goal higher or adding in an additional task, make sure you are capitalizing on your full potential every week.

Review Results

When you sit down to do your weekly planning make sure to start with reviewing your results from the week before. Did you hit your sales goal? Did you finish the bench? Or did you post on Twitter 5 times? Celebrate your successes and note your opportunities. Analyze why certain tasks got completed while maybe others didn’t, did you plan too much for your week or did you just not manage your time well – what was the cause of this effect. Now that you have reviewed your previous week it’s time to plan the current week!

This post was originally posted on Think Entrepreneurship.