How often have you looked at your workload and said to yourself, “Yes, I’ll do that later.” Somehow, later never comes does it? You get yourself so caught up in doing stuff, that you allow a mess to pile up, that get to it someday type of mess.  Some people call it procrastination, others laziness, others don’t see the fact that they need to do something or go down with the ship, ignorance isn’t bliss.

When was the last time you took a PD day (Personal Development)? I was talking with one of my clients’ and he mentioned that he was going to have to schedule some time for PD time.  It got me thinking; I have PD time, this is what my Friday’s are for. Every Friday I have blocks of time allocated to reading blog posts, reading books, learning a new skill, brainstorming new ideas for JMJ – EA for a Day and The VA Project or simply spending time reflecting on where I am at.

Having your PD time is about creating new opportunities, developing goals and reflection on where you are, where you want to be and how you are going to get there, at least this is how I look at my PD time.  This time is just as important to you and your business as being there for your clients’; actually I would probably go as far as to say it is more important.   How can you continue to develop your skill set and grow your business for the long-term without working on developing your skills and knowledge base, without taking time for yourself?

Here is what I recommend you do. First things first, go through your diary and look for time that you can spend on developing your plan and be honest here. Don’t find a time that you know you are going to have to spend doing other things. Try to find the same block of time each week, fortnight or month so that you can really develop a habit of growing and learning.

If you are only planning PD once a month then I recommend you assign yourself a whole day, because an hour or two is not going to set you up for the win.

Here are some points you should consider for your first PD day.

  • How are you are going to be accountable?
  • How are you going to keep yourself on track?
  • What areas of your skill set need improving?
  • How are you going to capture this information to make it workable for you?

My advice, start with a pad and pen, multi colours and go nuts writing and recording every idea, every thought, hope and expectation you have for yourself and your business.  It doesn’t need to be in order to begin with, just get it all out of your head and onto paper. You may be extremely visual and prefer to draw instead of write … whatever floats your boat and makes it as enjoyable and enlightening process as possible.

No idea is too silly, too big, or unachievable. Start your PD planning by beginning with small steps.  This is what I do when it comes to my PD time for my business.

Allocate your time

Don’t sacrifice your time, this is important to moving you and your business forward. If you can only afford a few hours a week, then find a block of time to accommodate this and if possible make it the same time each week.  Be realistic, you can’t block out 30 minutes and expect to get maximum benefit out of it.

Don’t discriminate

Write anything and everything that comes to mind.  If you’re into drawing (I never progressed past the stick figure myself) draw your idea. Your sole objective here is to dump ideas, get them out to where you can visualise them.

Revision

This is where you get out your red pen. Work out what’s going to be a quick win, what’s going to take longer, what’s a priority for your business learning and what’s not viable at this point in time. It’s no good having everything locked away in your head, you need to get it out because only you can get you organised.

Don’t set yourself up to fail, your PD time should be all about the win .. for you.

Chunk it down

Don’t be overwhelmed by the thought of getting your idea off the ground, your great idea may have as little as two steps to as many as 30 steps that you will need to do in order to get it off the ground. Create your own little projects, for the big ticket items writeup a project plan.  I love this saying, “If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.”

Action plan

Now that you know what it is you have to learn about, read about or need to do, make an action plan and get started. There is no excuse. 

I love to read your comments, please take the time to leave one below.