Mindful Monday: Review, Plan, Do!

This post is Parts 9 & 10 of a 10 part series that is an extension of this post I wrote on the subject of the importance of introducing some regular Digital Detox time in our lives. In that post I listed 10 Good Reasons to introduce regular Digital Detox time into our lives. Each week for 10 weeks I will expand a little on each of those 10 reasons listed.  If you haven’t already, you might like to check out:  Part 1 – De-Clutter Your Mind, Part 2 – Reconnect to the Present, Part 3 – Conduct a Self-Audit, Part 4 – Get Outdoors in Nature, Part 5 – Chip away at those extra elusive little chores, Part 6 – Spend some time with your loved ones, Part 7 – Read a Book and Part 8 – Move that Body. This week we look at:

REVIEW, PLAN, DO!

This week I’m finishing up the series by wrapping up reason’s 9 and 10 together into one post because they go together so well.   In my original Digital Detox post these two were listed as follows:

9. Review your schedule
10. Do some planning

Another way to word it would be Review, Plan, Do or if you were starting something from scratch it would be Plan, Do, Review!  It’s a commonly used quality management practice that you repeat on a regular basis!  I apologise for my corporate governance and strategic planning background side coming out!  😉

It’s a really good idea to take some time out from our busy lives for a ‘Review, Plan and Do’ and this is exactly what I did last week. I had not planned adequately before I went away on my trip. I underestimated how much work would be involved in preparations at home before we went away and therefore did not get any advance planning and/or writing done before I left!

I also never did get a chance when I got back from my trip to Tasmania to do some forward planning or writing.  This has meant that lately it has got to the stage where I was flat out typing up posts and editing photographs late at night the night before a post was due to be published for the next day. This is not an efficient way to operate and certainly not how I like to operate. I knew that an urgent time out from blogging was needed for a Review, Plan and Do and so that it exactly what I did and am still in the process of doing!

Here’s what I mean by Review, Plan, Do (RPD)!  Thre’s no need for it to be a complex process.  Keep it simple!  It’s an opportunity to PAUSE and review if how you’re operating is serving you well, and if not – then change it up!

I’ve including a few questions to ask yourself under R, P & D, relative to the life of a blogger – just as a guide!  You could add more or have less.  You can also adapt this to suit various differing situations (eg you could apply it to just one particular project you’re working on or even to the general running of the household).

Review
Evaluate and improve performance

How are you spending your time across the day each day or week? Are you spending enough quality time with your family?  Are you making time for yourself (exercise, time outdoors, rest time, self-care etc)? Is anything getting missed out? Is there something extra you need to try and fit in? Is there something that could be outsourced? Have you got the balance right? Are you being efficient with your time? How could you improve your time management? How are you feeling? Are you getting the response and/or engagement you want on your blog and/or blog’s Facebook page? What has been successful for you? What hasn’t really worked? Why do you think this is?

Plan
Develop strategies to improve performance

If you’re a person who works well with lists, then now’s the time to make your ‘to do’ list/s. Maybe you plan best by scheduling on a spreadsheet or marking out times for meetings or work activities in your calendar. How do you plan to implement the changes identified by your Review? What plans do you need to put in place? What outcomes are you seeking? How are you planning to achieve these? How much time do you need to devote to each task?

Do
Take action to improve performance

Implement your plans and tweak as need be! Perhaps have a checklist that can be ticked off as activities are completed.

Don’t forget to set a date in your calendar for your next ‘Review, Plan, Do’. Decide how regularly you might like to do this. Six monthly is a good start!

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Well, that concludes this series! I will be taking a break from Mindful Monday posts for now until my planning (RPD) is finalised.

Do you ever take time out to do a Review, Plan and Do?  How do you like to do your planning?

Ciao for now,

Linking up with One Mother Hen for #OpenSlather