Get Organized See the Future (Review)

Revisiting: Plan for the long term. 

Macro-level thinking is long-term and big goal-focused. Micro-level thinking is the small steps that build a foundation towards the bigger goal. These close-up, detailed views are important because they help you make lists, check off to-do’s, and make slow, steady progress.

Now that you are further along in the year, have learned about micro and macro level planning, you can add more context to your plans:

When planning your long-term project, use these two different levels/views to set milestones and keep yourself on track. Start with the macro view. 

1. Find today’s date and mark it as your starting point. 
2. Mark the date your project is due or when you want to accomplish your goal. Check how much time is between today and your deadline. This timeframe is what you have to work within.
3. Add milestones to the calendar between these two dates. Determining your milestones can be the hardest part of this process, so we want to introduce two strategies that can be helpful.
1. Work backward — What is the last thing you need to do before your project is finished? How much time do you need to do it? Mark off that much time before your due date as your last milestone. Keep working backward to plan out the entire project. (ex: get approval, hit publish, fact check stats or for a home project - paint walls)
2. Put big rocks in first — with this strategy, you will identify your biggest challenges in the project. What are you most concerned about? What part makes you the most unsure? Start with those items and give yourself as much time as possible for their milestones. Then move on to the next biggest challenge, and finish with the easy things.
4. If your milestones are too cramped or don’t all fit, that is a sign you need to adjust. First, change the things you can control. What can you condense? What can you get help with? If you can’t find something you can adapt, communicate to others expecting this from you. Who do you need to speak to now to avoid a missed deadline later? Can any dates be flexed? 
5. With your milestones set, start working on a list of things you must do for the first milestone. This list is your micro view.  

Add this list to your planner on your weekly sheets between now and that first milestone date. When you complete the first milestone, make a micro list for the second one and repeat until the project is finished!