Time management
Experts advise to solve any task set for themselves by building a pyramid. No major project is complete without planning. First, the final target point is outlined, then the strategy for reaching it is built. An example is your desire to spend your vacation by the sea. You set this goal for yourself. To achieve it, you need to take a number of actions.
First of all, you need to understand how you imagine your vacation. Maybe you want to get to the Black Sea in your own car. Perhaps you will use the services of a travel agency that has taken over the organization of your holiday on the shores of the Red or Yellow Sea.
Depending on this, a list of all subsequent actions is formed to meet your requirements and criteria. If you camp in a tent on the sea coast, then your personal pyramid will line up in one way. And it will look completely different if you want to spend summer time in a comfortable hotel. The construction of an individual pyramid allows the individual to be able to set the desired goal and strive to achieve it.
The use of Franklin’s complex system helps to properly organize not only a specific vacation, but the entire life of an individual, to solve various problems productively and achieve great success in various areas of life.
Structure
The pyramid is a kind of tree of goals, consisting of 6 main blocks (steps).
- First stage is the foundation of the entire pyramid, since the definition of life values is very important for every person. Some individuals want to realize themselves in creativity, others dream of fame, others dream of power and money, others want to move up the career ladder, others prefer to benefit others, and there are people for whom the family is the greatest value. At the base of the pyramid are the values that a particular person needs to build his life. An important factor is the need to sort out one’s emotions and thoughts so that the owner of the values he has chosen feels satisfaction and happiness. During the year, at least once it is worth reviewing your priorities and removing conflicting interests from the block.
- Second level represents a global goal based on the individual values of the subject. At this stage, a person determines his main life task. For its implementation, maximum achievements are assumed. For example, a musician who dreams of worldwide fame strives to perform or create a work that deserves the admiration of the people even after his death. Over the next few years, the individual will make efforts to get closer to this goal. It should not conflict with his life credo, otherwise the achievement of the final target point will not bring satisfaction to the individual. Every year you should adjust your future intentions.
- Third step involves master planning, which should lead the individual to the realization of the goal setting. A person will move towards it in stages. Before becoming a famous composer, he needs to complete a course at a music school and get a higher education. A musician, in order to reach the final goal set for himself, must perform at concerts and take part in various presentations, competitions at the city, regional and international level. He must harmoniously join the musical beau monde, meet other creative people and collaborate with them.
- Fourth block involves planning some time in advance. At this stage, it is necessary to clearly calculate all the planned actions, determine the timing of their implementation. Strict frames keep a person in good shape, do not allow him to relax and waste time in vain. Each item in this long-term plan needs to be compared with the master plan in order to know exactly how fast they will converge. After six months, the long-term plan should be adjusted.
- On the fifth step there is a specific task that must be completed in the near future. For example, a future composer for admission to the conservatory must prepare for entrance tests: a creative competition, testing, exams and an interview. Thus, each item of the long-term plan is divided into small tasks. Short-term planning requires specific dates for the execution of tasks. This preparation will be a short-term plan for the implementation of the global goal. It is necessary to revise such plans often, about once every 2 weeks.
- Sixth block involves planning certain actions for one day. Daily planning is directly dependent on short-term planning. The schedule may include preparing for a specific exam, such as learning the lyrics to a song and working out with a vocal coach. Some people divide all the steps into 3 groups: important, minor and insignificant things. The priority actions are those that should not be postponed under any circumstances. Failure to do so usually disrupts short-term planning. Minor activities in the event of unforeseen obstacles can be rescheduled for another day.
Just do not delay too much with their implementation, otherwise you can forget about them. And the solution of minor issues without prejudice to the implementation of the global plan is postponed for a longer period.
Terms of use
The application of the complex Franklin system is necessary for all business people. It can be used throughout life. Each person builds an individual pyramid, answering a series of questions: “Who do I want to be?” “What do you want to do?” “What results do I expect?” Next, you need to determine the prospects, find the necessary information to achieve the goals, make the necessary contacts.
The author of the methodology invites his followers to adhere to some specific rules of life:
- to maintain clarity in the head and gain composure, one should refrain from taking food to the point of satiety, alcoholic beverages to the point of intoxication;
- in order to eradicate the habit of idle talk and acquire the ability to listen to the interlocutor, one must develop in oneself such a quality as silence;
- keeping order in everything frees up additional time for useful activities;
- decisiveness helps to complete all planned actions on time;
- thrift protects against waste, waste of money;
- diligence leads to complete independence and prosperity;
- honesty allows a person to act fairly and saves a person from causing harm to others;
- sincerity and frankness contribute to the appearance of pure thoughts and keep the person from deception;
- moderation teaches to avoid extremes, to be tolerant of any occurring events;
- calmness saves from unnecessary experiences;
- chastity gives rise to immaculate thoughts and forms the control of one’s instincts;
- cleanliness, neatness in clothes, order and accuracy in everything contribute to the formation of bodily and spiritual purity of the individual;
- modesty lies in imitating Jesus and Socrates.
This complex system is studied in all classes devoted to time management. It is aimed at the rational disposal of your time, at setting and achieving goals. The system works on the principle of a gradual transition from the main goals to small tasks (systematic movement from general to particular).
The main problem is split into a small number of various tasks, so the system looks like a pyramid, where life principles and global goals are located on the lower steps, and long-term and short-term plans are concentrated in the middle and at the top of the cone. With a systematic ascent to the peak of the pyramid, a purposeful person concentrates on the correct distribution of his efforts and takes thoughtful sequential steps.
You should always focus on the top of the cone, and the plan for the next day is best done in the evening. All the systematic actions taken to achieve the set goal testify to the enormous savings in time.