A strong start creates momentum and this lesson is intended to get you up and running right away on your first 12 Week Year.

The first step is to establish an emotionally compelling long-term vision. That is because when applying The 12 Week Year, there will be some days when you just won’t "feel like" taking action on your plan. To help you stay on track you need a powerful "why" – and that’s your vision. (*I'm using the book terminology, but it's more correct to use "mission" here instead of "vision", some people would consider it as a mistake, I know.)

The most powerful visions address and align your personal aspirations with your professional dreams. That’s because in the end, your professional vision often funds and enables your personal vision.

I didn't like much the idea of creating a blank sheet of paper with the headline "My Vision", that's why I'd like to give you a free page from Plans Matter Diary.

We start the new "year" from the 1st of December, 2015 (it will end at the 22nd of February, 2016). If you want to join, like Plans Matter page, so you can get prepared with additional materials I'm going to post here.

Allright, here is the link to download, print the page and fill the gaps in the paragraph, so you'd have your own vision to push you through The 12 Week Year. Isn't it great?

Now it ’s time to write your first 12 week plan. The plan is the roadmap needed to reach your 12 week goals. The best plans are focused on one or two things that you want to make progress on in the next 12 weeks. The fewer goals and weekly actions there are, the easier the plan will be to execute.

To get started, download Plans Matter free template, print it out, and write your first 12 week goal as Goal 1.

Write each additional goal separately. The template fits 3 Goals, it's the maximum to focus and not to be frustrated if something gets wrong. You may focus at only one Huge Goal; that’s fine.

Next, for each of your goals, define the highest-priority daily and weekly actions (tactics) that you must take to reach that goal.

In order to do this it might be helpful to brainstorm on a separate sheet of paper all the things you could do, and then select the ones that will have the greatest impact.

Good luck. smile emoticon

Link for downloading a free template for 12 Week Plan

Forget about a year. By now you can see the pitfalls associated with annualized thinking. Let ’s redefine a year: A year is no longer 12 months, it is now only 12 weeks. That’s right, a year is now a 12 week period. There are no longer four periods in a year; that’s old thinking. Now, there is just a 12 Week Year, followed by the next 12 Week Year, all the time. Each 12 week period is independent - it is your year.

Think about the real meaning of a 12 Week Year for your productivity. The excitement, energy, and focus that happen every December now happen continuously. The year-end push to hit your goals now happens not once every 12 months, but all the time.

If you got inspired, read the book "The 12 Week Year" and join us 1st of December, 2015. You may download the free sample of the book to get the basics. You may also check on their official website with videos and paid tools.

But I assure you, with Plans Matter page it'd be much more fun. We are going to start the new "year" from the 1st of December, 2015 (it will end at the 22nd of February, 2016). If you want to join, like Plans Matter page, so you can get prepared with additional materials I'm going to post here.

Currently I'm amazed with the book "The 12 Week Year: Get More Done in 12 Weeks Than Others Do in 12 Months".

It's one of the greatest approaches in time management I've explored so far, and I like the idea to celebrate the New Year more often. kiki emoticon
So, me and a couple of my friends decided to start the new "year" from the 1st of December, 2015 (it will end at the 22nd of February, 2016). If you want to join, like Plans Matter page, so you can get prepared with additional materials I'm going to post here.

All paper sheets are compatible with A5 format organizer, I will publish them for free. If you want to get more, you can purchase Plans Matter Diary at Etsy store.

Setting goals is easy, much harder part is to prioritise and accomplish on time. Here's a set of journaling cards for your time motivation. Stick them next to your office desk, or place to your paper planner. :)

The first day of the year is great to make plans and think about the year ahead. Usually we all start with good intentions, but quickly lose strength.

Let's continue with a couple of statistic numbers:
Almost 2/3 of people make promises to themselves in New Year.
75% of them maintain their resolutions through the first week of the year. With some primitive knowledge of Maths, we can figure out that 1/4 of people can't EVEN make it for ONE WEEK!

And only 12% of those who set goals, will keep up with them through the year.
88% OF NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS END IN FAILURE.
(I really want to frame it and put on the wall in my room, as a motivator) :)

There are a lot of gurus of strategic planning and personal motivation, who are willing to give you the secrets how to become a better person. They are always so positive and pleasant, so I don't know about you, but I feel myself like shit that I can't keep up my daily routine and remain as miraculously happy as them. So, I prefer just go with a flow and make a reasonable, action-oriented list of goals I really can cope with.

ALL I KNOW - OVERTHINKING DOESN'T BRING YOU RESULTS.  But if you write your resolutions on paper, it'd be easier for you to follow them. And I wish you could do the same, so I made an A4 paper with New Year Resolutions of different people that you can download and use as ideas for your own list. Some of them are silly, some of them are very hard to achieve, it's just a help for you. The list is ready for printing, and there's a space for your own goals. Write them down, cut the paper and try your best to make them true in 2015. Good luck.

Download New Year Resolutions List

 

  

My name is Anastasia Ivanovskaya, currently I live and work in Amman, Jordan.

It's hard to say what this blog will be about, all I know is I want to have something beautiful and personal. The idea of this blog has started as a very simple wish: I wanted to purchase or download a digital planner of any size, but couldn't find any good one. From time to time I was browsing Internet again, hoping to find something suitable. It took a while to understand what types of planners exist, and why I don't want them.

What I've Found:

1. So called "Happy" planners - full with flashy colours and florid backgrounds, mainly done for housewives, to organize their daily routine, as amount of ironing per day, or 30-days family dinners. I understand fully they need it, but I'm working in the office and honestly speaking I rarely have dinner at home.

2. "Wise" planners consist of randomly chosen quotes on the top of each page. I don't like quotes, I never get inspired by them, and know for sure they'll irritate me the whole year I'm using the planner. The worst part when they are mixed with free-spirit slogans "weknowyoucan", or sayings for poor believers, similar to what Kiyosaki and other rich bastards are producing. So, if I want to write down a quote I liked - I want to find it myself.

3. There is a special type I call "useless" planners. It seems to me their creators never used a pen in their life, because the space between the lines is too big, the separated boxes are too small, and you're wondering what kind of handwriting you should have.

My Demand For a Personal Planner:

1. A5 size - I can't carry a bigger format to work. Sometimes my bags are too small for A4, and I don't want my planner to be crumpled in a couple of month. I also can't accept a smaller size, because I feel I'm a spy, while making notes on micro paper. Sometimes I like to use my personal planner for studying, so I need to understand what I wrote.

2. Flexible sheets - it's great to remove or add sheets whenever you like it. My planner should give me the option of printing additional paper sheets and adding them if needed. I can be not very attentive sometimes and mix different tasks from different fields, so the A5 binder with clips fits my idea of a personal planner perfectly, because I can rearrange my planner without any headache.

3. Nice cover - I wanted a digital planner because I've already bought a beautiful binder and was planning to use it. Office women will understand me well: we don't have a lot of things to show our personality at work, and we still want to be women. So, we want nice business cardholders, beautiful tea cups, comfortable pens to write with and personal notebooks (if you don't, you can close this blog and don't waste any time, really).

4. Ability to put goals and tasks. I've tried a lot of apps for daily planning, and I didn't feel I liked it much. Probably it's the difference between typing and writing, I can't memorize a lot, putting ticks and dates. At the same time, I'm a very strategy-oriented person, before working on any project, I'm doing a list of tasks to complete, and follow them. Paper writing is the best option for me.

5. A space for free writing. As I've said, I need it for studying and some diary writing. Sometimes I draw or doodle, like all normal people. I just need it. :)

6. Various pages with lists. I make lists for everything, and paper format is the easiest to follow and update. Even my job is internet-related, I don't like to depend on internet connection, use mobile for my apps. Sometimes I just need to have a weekend, keep all my thoughts together, without unnecessary distractions. I want to keep it simple, and I'm perfectly fine with pre-arranged lists for holidays, or life updates, if they are simple and minimalistic.

7. Free space for dates. Sometimes I'm loaded with work, sometimes I have additional internet-marketing projects. There might be periods when I work at the weekends, and sometimes I can afford to have a break on my usual workday. Also, it's not very convenient when you got disappointed with the planner your colleagues or relatives bought your for Christmas, already used it for a couple of months, and now you have to buy a new one, leaving January and February empty. If I plan before, I use lists, where I put due dates. So, I've decided on myself I don't need it.

Perfect Planner Ever

Well, if you need the same features, you can find in my planner "Plans Matter" on Etsy. I made with great love for myself, and with consciousness for office work. As for now, it's in digital format, you can download it anytime. It has no fixed dates, so you can add, mix and remove sheets as you need. Well, I've designed it office-oriented and minimalistic, so you can purchase "Plans Matter" and make a great present as for a man or a woman colleague. Just spend one evening: print, cut, arrange the planner and put it in a suitable cover. Any printing agency can do it for you as well. It's A5 format, so you will always look elegant and professional with this size, I bet.