Action Planning for Recurring Tasks
In my previous post about action planning, I laid out the steps for creating a plan to complete a home management project. Here is a quick review of the steps for action planning:
The first step is to set a goal for your project.
The second step is to list all the steps to get the project done.
The third step is to decide who is going to do each step.
The fourth step is to decide when to complete each task.
Finally, if needed, decide how and where the project will get done.
Head over to my previous post for more on creating an action plan that will assist you with larger home organization projects that won’t need a lot of maintenance.
This post will focus on recurring tasks that need a plan, but don’t require all of the steps written out like a formal action plan for, say, reorganizing a garage or arranging for a big move.
If we plan for recurring tasks in a strategic way, then we never have to plan for them again. They become automatic and easier and easier every time we do them.
In her book Better than Before Gretchen Rubin starts off with the idea that habits allow you to decide not to decide. Basically, she argues that habits allow us to automate some of our lives. I’m very drawn to this idea because then I can be more present for the special moments, like reading with my son or explaining to him that snow comes from the sky and melts with the sun — no one brings it or takes it away.
Later in her book, she discusses what she calls a bright line rule. She offers that, “A bright line rule is a clearly defined rule or standard that eliminates any need for interpretation or decision making.” The example she gives observing the Sabbath every week.
This got me thinking about what bright line rules I already have:
I meal plan, make a grocery list, and order my groceries online in that order.
I keep my shoes by the door so that I can find them when I want to leave. I insist my son does the same thing.
Every Saturday I clean the kitchen.
And then, I realized that I, if I was thoughtful, I could create a few more of these. For instance, I will purge my son’s toys every Christmas and birthday. This is logical because he is getting new ones anyway. I can clean the fridge when I put in my new groceries.
The bright line rule is, essentially, a way to plan, not to plan. I alway meal plan, make a grocery list, and order food online in that order. I don’t have to plan to do that. I just always do it. I don’t plan to do it. I just do it because I have a plan that doesn’t require me to plan.
So this is my offering to you — write action plans when you have a one off project that needs an over haul.
And for those item that you’d like to happen on a regular basis, plan not to plan.
