Hey CEOs, I am so excited! Today we are officially announcing something new: The CEO 90 Day Planner!
That’s right. I created a print planner and in this episode I want to walk you through why I did it, what it took to create it and what you can find to help you make sure you’re staying accountable and following through to all of the big plans that you have for 2020.
Ok, now for a little Rach history: I have always been a planner person. I have a row on my bookshelf full of past and present planners, and it feels like I’ve tried them all.
But I always found myself making changes to whichever planner I was using, just because it never quite suited my needs. If you’ve tried even a handful of different planners or planning strategies, you know all the different directions that they can point your focus and attention.
And when a friend introduced me to bullet journaling – a clean and simple page of dots arranged in a grid – it clicked with me.
I was able to create a layout that worked for me, as a mom, as an entrepreneur… It was the first time I considered playing around with a layout. I was able to plan and organize the tool I was using to plan and organize my time!
A few pages from my bullet journal that brought me more successful and productive weeks!
So this was about 5 years ago that? I landed on a layout that made space for everything I needed. I was using it every day, taking it with me everywhere, and people started asking me about it.
Friends, clients, and other CEOs kept commenting on how much they liked my layout and strategy, I called up my designer to make a template, and soon after the CEO 90 Day Planner was born!
Listen in to today’s episode to hear all about its design, purpose, and all the thinking that went into creating the planner that’s made for CEOs like me.
7:30 The best place to begin was with all the tasks that are on a CEOs plate, week in, week out. So for their weekly CEO Date, I wanted a place to ask “What are my must do items this week? What would make the most impact this week? What do the members of my team need from me this week?”
10:30 A mindset strategy that’s really resonated with me is the CEO Debrief, which was first introduced to me by my coach Tara Newman. This has really helped me recognize and acknowledge my wins each week, and prepare for the week ahead.
12:00 Reverse engineering my planning from week-by-week, I wanted to make sure I was thinking about my goals for the year. I’d already been practicing using a 12-month profit plan and from my work in the CEO Retreat, I’ve been breaking the year down into 90-day goals so everything important stays in sight and the steps are manageable.
17:00 The weekly planning pages are designed to first and foremost direct my attention to my audience and clients. There’s spaces for me to plan every type of engaging marketing activity for people at every stage of the customer journey.
24:45 The next big part of the CEO Planner is the “top three.” This is just the sweet spot for the number of big projects I’ve found we should work on each week. It’s just right for getting projects moving, accomplishing more and greater things for your business, without worrying about fizzle, overwhelm, or burnout.
28:30 The final section of the weekly planning pages is all about self-care and CEO habits. This is so important to me because I really value personal growth and professionalism, both, and I wanted a checkoffable area for me to really remind myself {and credit myself} when I worked on good habit-forming.
31:30 One of the biggest productivity lessons I have to teach is built into the CEO Planner to help you plan and prioritize the greatest value, most impactful tasks in your business. Entrepreneurs often feel the weight of every task there is to do, but not every task yields the same value for your business. {And not every task makes the most of your talents and experience!} The CEO scorecard helps you recognize the value of different tasks in your business, so you can plan to make the most of your time and energy, and get the most value!
Now there are a TON of resources in this post and I welcome you to check out any and all of them that can serve you. Whether you have a system for planning that’s bringing you success and consistent wins in your business, or like me you’re looking for a planner and system that’s Goldilocks-right for you, I’d love to hear your insights. Share with me on Instagram and Facebook and let me know. Talk soon!
Show Notes
The Power of a CEO Debrief with Tara Newman
Are You Doing $10 an Hour Work… Or $1000 an Hour Work? (The inspiration for the CEO scorecard)