Preview Planning: How I Set Myself Up 6 Months in Advance

(Includes free templates)

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I rarely complete my goals and plans within the timeframe I set for myself.

I’m bad at “guessing” how long things take me. So, I end up planning ahead based on some unrealistic deadline that will never fly for me.

Sometimes the ADHD side of me just gets bored with whatever the Autistic side of me set up for myself in advance. At times, I venture to try something different, or approach the same idea other than what I planned for.

But, I realize, it’s often that I have a lot going on in my life—most of which occurs as a surprise that “throws a wrench in the works”, or however the saying goes.

Instead of holding myself to some rigid plan I set up during a different time than what I’m currently experiencing, I prepare for each project in advance, but I focus on keeping things flexible.

I utilized sticky notes so they could be moved around back when I used paper. And now that I use a digital notebook, I can still move things around as needed.

But there’s more to it than just the tools and methods we use to plan. There’s also our differing neurologies to consider.

Every brain is different.

My brain is one that won’t do anything unless instructions are “on paper” first. My body is on board: When I don’t have a plan to wake up to, I’m in a worse mental, and sometimes physical state.

I’m work-motivated. Say, one of my kids asks me to wake them early. I’m more likely to be able to get up for them when I have a professional goal set as foundational motivation. (The other side is: I tell them they can set their own alarm, and I can maybe serve as backup. Self-reliance is an important skill to learn, I’d say.)

Oh, don’t get me wrong, there’s always plenty to do. But if it’s not recorded, I get too overwhelmed to move forward. I have to write things down, then create a framework around the expectations I’ve set for myself.

Okay: I know I've written about habit-building (plus my revamped version) and having daily themes being motivators as well. But they’re not springboards, they’re infrastructure.

First, consider how your brain functions.

What motivates you?

Does a “loosey-goosey” plan float your boat? No plan at all? (That person probably didn’t start reading this post, if so.) Or a high-detail plan (that you may or may not set a hard deadline on)?

Once you’ve noted your motivation and detail-level of planning, let’s focus on your growth infrastructure.

Let's start with what I like to call my “Preview Plan”.

What’s a Preview Plan?

When I set a goal or project up, I’ve already considered the planned-for interruptions (thanks, initial goal-setting). I begin with every project and goal already broken down into action steps.

I have separate files in my Supernote covering each goal or project, so when I get to work on it, everything’s pre-organized within each file.

With a Preview Plan, I create a bird's-eye view of the month ahead.

If you're an entrepreneur, my pre-selected categories will probably work well for you. But hang tight if you're not—I have some suggestions for non-entrepreneurial categories below.

My (Monthly Plan) Breakdown: The Sections

Each month gets one page (in my Supernote), but the same general framework can apply to a paper notebook, etc.

There are Events, or future events you can plan for. Then, there are Birthdays (anniversaries and such too). This way, I have an advance warning of upcoming dates.

And the "4 P’s of Professional Growth":

• The task-driven breakdown of Projects in each month.

• The key Personal tasks that need to get done that month.

• What “new” or different task(s) you can complete to add to your Profit. If you’re not an entrepreneur, consider things you can do to increase your income for that month—if you care to, that is. Otherwise, you could substitute this section with, say, your basic week-to-week work schedule if yours differs weekly / monthly (i.e., What days are you going into the office? What days can you work from home?). Or something entirely different like “Personal Projects” or “Home Projects,” or whatever else better suits you.

• And Promote is whatever new or different task(s) you suggest to yourself that can grow your business or social media presence or newsletter—whatever numbers-driven area of your life that’s focal that month for you. If you’re not trying to grow a business or online / social presence, this section (in addition to those in the Profit section) could also break down personal tasks or projects further into categories. As in (other than Personal Projects and Home Tasks mentioned under Profit), you could break down a small segment of tasks for building a new hobby or expanding one you already have, creating a new habit, etc.

To note: When I say "new or different," I’m referring to whatever task you don't normally do / that isn't a habit-task of yours.

What the symbols mean.

When I was actively a part of the bullet journal community on Reddit, I was often asked about the “different” symbols I used. Let me explain them briefly:

• Under Events and Birthdays, the encased number is the day within the month it falls on. If the day-number is in a box, it’s a special event/important date of note, birthday, anniversary, or holiday (e.g., my kids’ open houses as they’ll move onto new schools next year, etc.). If the day-number is within a circle, that means it’s an appointment or in-person event—doctor appointments, hot dates (your anniversary since pre-planning “hot dates” feels less “hot” to me on the regular…), surgeries, etc.

• A tiny circle or dot (•) serves as a task. X-ed out task-dots are completed. One line through a task-dot (the back-slash (/)) means it’s been started or is actively being worked on.

• A dash (-) is a note.

• A plus (+) is a suggestion.

• An asterisk (*) signifies an important note.

• And, although my photo examples don’t show this, an arrow on the left of a task-dot pointing toward the dot (→ •) means the tasks will move to a future date / month.

Plug and play.

Begin filling out the next 6 months on the free worksheets below.

Note: You can use sticky notes in each section so you can move things around or change them as needed. This is especially effective if you don't want to print for, say, a single month repeatedly.

First, title the pages with the Month and Year for 6 months.

Then, populate the Events and Birthdays that you know of. (Use an asterisk if you need to project an event or something that you don’t have concrete information on yet, but you estimate will occur within that month. Definitely use a sticky note for this, if possible. Those small sticky notes—Post-It Page Markers*—are great here.)

Using your predetermined goals and projects, plug those in as needed.

I always start with the Projects as, often, my Promote and Profit sections reflect the project(s). Then I move onto Personal—any birthday parties to plan? Going to move in a couple of months and need to prepare in advance? Have to hire a new house cleaner or plan for a large purchase in advance?

When planning, the closer to 6 months-out you get, the more difficult it may be to come up with categorized tasks and suggestions for yourself. Not to worry.

The sections I’ve found to be the most pivotal month-over-month are the Events, Birthdays, and Projects. Everything else can be viewed as a gentle suggestion for how you can continue advancing yourself and your work / home life.

I’ll share more about how I keep up with my 6-month Preview Plan next. We’ll cover my everyday, simple practice that makes continued progress seem almost effortless.

My best,

Sara

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