Franklin Planner
The importance of taking enough time to take time.
I have a confession to make. I still use a Franklin Planner. You know the one with the big 7-ring binder with a to-do list, calendar, and a notes page? I’ve had one on my desk for going on 30 years.
Back in my corporate days, I mentioned this to a co-worker. He gave me a quizzical look as though I had just told him I ride a horse to work, and just shook his head. “I’m sorry,” he told me.
Studies have shown that writing things down by hand makes it more likely to stick in our memories than typing it. But that’s not why I use the Franklin. I use mine because it’s part of my morning ritual: spend 15 minutes with a cup of coffee and my planner. I map out the day’s activities, sort them by urgency/importance, and eliminate what doesn’t matter.
That’s the Franklin method and how I was taught those many years ago when I first took up the mantle of productivity. But I learned a couple of things along the way that aren’t part of the course.
1. You’ll never conquer it all, so stop trying. The more you get done, the more you think you can do. There’s an old saying for runners and cyclists: “It never gets easier, you just get stronger.” Productivity is the same. As you get more done, you — or someone else — will decide you should be doing more. It’s a never-ending cycle that continues to leave you exhausted and unfulfilled.
2. Effort has meaning. We’ve taken the work out of everything. Birthday cards are easy: go online, find a funny one with a video, and click send. I do this all the time. My wife sends the real thing. That means she goes to a store, picks out a card, buys it, writes something meaningful, addresses and stamps it, and gets it in the mail. Once you render a process more convenient, you drain it of its meaning.
3. Keep your days open. If you’re one of those corporate crushers who runs five miles before breakfast, and uses airplane time to catch up on email and to-dos, my hat is off to you. I don’t use an alarm and the only thing I try to get done before I start my workday is to take my dog for a walk. Don’t get me wrong — on an average day I schedule somewhere between five and nine meetings. But I leave free time — not scheduled, just free.
Writing things down every day is great — but I’m not here to sell Franklin planners. My point is that you need realize that the more you try to get done, the more you will try to get done. It never stops, and it never gets easier. Those B2 and C1 items on my to-do list? They will never get done — we all know that. The difference is that I don’t list them. If it’s not an A1, it doesn’t make the cut and I forget about it.
I used to have a CEO whose mantra was “If you want to get something done, give it to a busy person.” He was absolutely right. Those busy people would get it done, along with a bunch of other things. His life was better; their lives? Not so much.
As a business owner, I have much more control over my day and how I use my time. Clients are always at the top of my list and they can be demanding, but they are never as unreasonable as a micromanaging egotist with delusions of grandeur. After that, what’s important is what’s important to me.
If I have learned nothing else in my years on this earth, I have learned that our time here is finite. I don’t know if I have two years or 20 before me. What I do know is that I want to use whatever years I have remaining in the way I wish to use them. And I plan accordingly.
Today’s notes entry: I wish the same for you.
