Weak Point: Planning

This past Wednesday evening, I found myself frantically trying to pin down a topic for my Thursday post. I’ve developed a basic plan for my two blogs. This blog gets a new post every Tuesday and Thursday, and my Bible blog gets a new post every Monday and Wednesday. Occasionally, I do a Friday blog post by transferring an old post from this blog to the Bible blog because it fits better there. It’s a simple enough schedule, but Wednesday night, I realized it was stressing me out. This morning (oddly, while folding clean clothes), I realized why. One of my weak points is step-by-step planning.

For someone who prefers to follow instructions, it’s strange that this is a weak point. I have even compiled notebooks of instructions when I have left jobs so that my replacement would have it easier than I did when they arrive. I love calendars and weekly task lists and yearly goal lists. I love having a mission and reaching the end-goal. I even have long-range blog ideas for new sites and creating multiple streams of income. So why am I struggling with planning this basic thing of blog topics?

The simple answer is that I’m looking at the big picture, and I realized that I need to be devoting some time to the focused everyday picture as well. The big picture can’t be fully developed until I’m doing the small things well. I need to back up a bit and start making some basic plans. I need a basic daily schedule including what must be done each day versus what I hope to get done each day. I don’t have to follow the schedule exactly, but a schedule and a list of tasks certainly help alleviate some of the stress from working on my own.

Whether you are unemployed and looking for a job or beginning to work freelance or for yourself, think about how you need to divide your time each day. Yes, there may be times where you need to take care of family or personal tasks, but if you know what you need to do each day when the day begins, you will find a way to work those other tasks into your daily schedule. In the end, it isn’t that I lack the skills to plan. I just need to dig them out to be sure that I’m not stressed about my blog posts each week. Whatever your weak points are, don’t fall into the habit of thinking that they can’t be polished up and used. Just admit that they are things that need work so start working on them.

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Inspirational Verse for the Day:

Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established. (Proverbs 16:3, ESV)