Are you a planner or a floater?

Tuesday, September 16, 2008  by Gregory Gronbacher
Category: Planning

Do you plan your way through life, making lists and scheduling your every move or do you "float" through life, letting things happen?

A few friends and I had this conversation and I thought I would take it to my readers. I'd be especially interested to hear how this subject applies to IBOs and how they run their business.

I am an obsessive planner. I keep lists for upcoming purchases, groceries, bills, and so on. I have an online calendar that tracks everything from parties to paydays. While I can be spontaneous, I can also likely tell you what I am doing on any given weekend in December. 

I have friends who are the complete opposite. They don't plan. They don't have lists to keep track of their lists. They appear to "float" through life, riding the currents and taking each wave as it comes. 

Which approach you take is part due to genetics, part due to upbringing, and part due to experience and temperment.  And I admit that both approaches have their merits and difficulties.

My guess is that most people are a little of both. I know I tend toward the planning side for nearly everything. How about you?

 

Comments

# j4.1776 said on September 17, 2008 2:11 AM:

when i have down time, its DOWN.  nothing planned, float like a paper in the wind.

but...

...for me to do that, i set myself goals to accomplish so that when i am DOWN there is not any thinking...i could be ...  or i should be doing...

calendar-wise...

-i plan major functions and q-12/achievers-type trips

-local regionals

-possible times of distance business trips

-board plans

then for the daily, it works around those.

i generally keep a list of "tasks" that i need to do and create these on a daily basis for the next day, or that day, or what is going to be pushed maybe another day forward.

but even the basic parts of the business are on my daily list...ie-  meet a new person, listen to a cd, read.

this way, as i cross them off daily, then i feel like i am accomplishing and using my time effectively.

i also incorporate this to things that i want.  for instance, i am an 80's kid and love transformers.

well...i have the hd-dvd of it.  i recieved it as a gift.  but..you know it came out on blu-ray last week.

could i go and buy it?!  sure.  not a problem.  but instead, i give myself a goal to ensure that when i am sitting there, wasting time with nothing of constructivness, that i am DOWN!

so, my own driven tasks to "earn" it are, 2 plans in width, 3 plans in depth or board plans, sponsor one new person in width.  and until i get every number as stated, then i don't get it!  doesn't matter if it is 2 sponsored in width and 4 plans in width...if i haven't helped someone else at least 3 times, then i don't get it.

may sound dumb, but i have always done it.  sponsor 1 person in width, get a new tie, sponsor 3 people in width or hit certain parameters, get a suite from paul fredricks...it works!  we built a founders platinum business on it.

soo, i guess im just ambitiously lazy to the sense that so long as i feel that i have deserved it, then i keep myself on task with pre-defined goals and lists to get the accomplishment.  even found that no matter how trite my wife would seem my goal, she is perfectly happy about being achievers and supports every one that create...and she sees them ALL...even writes little notes on them.  ;)

# Beth Dornan said on September 17, 2008 9:12 PM:

I'm definitely a planner, but I plan so I can "float" more.  By planning, I get more done and I get stuff done ahead so I have more time for fun -- whether that fun is "planned" or spontaneous.  Instead of running around this weekend our family spent two rainy days pretty much inside doing whatever we felt like doing -- from baking bread and making chili to watching way too many tween movies!  

# Aaron said on September 18, 2008 1:54 PM:

I think that anyone who is a successful IBO will tend to create lists at least in business. I was not good at goal setting, nor were my various uplines, my first time in Quixtar. I had to learn more skills to be able to do it, including making lists of steps needed to reach goals. For example, list for this week:

Current customers:

--Pull last 10 files from customers (I organize them by how recently I had contact with them, not by name) and stop by to see how they are doing, see if they need anything.

--Prospect 8 and qualify 3 new Nutrilite customers

--Prospect 8 and qualify 3 new Artistry customers

--Demonstrate eSpring under the counter units in my home for 5 more people, with 1 sale.

--10 new referrals from prospects and customers, with an arrangement for demos in the homes of the people doing the referring in the next two weeks [these count as "new customer prospects" above].

--Chamber of Commerce committee meeting (I joined as an individual for networking) today, monthly meeting Friday

--Historic Preservation Society board meeting Tuesday

--3 hours of mentoring

--3 hours of informational readings on products (including manuals and research on competitors' products)

--2 hours of general paperwork (expenses, creating new customer files, ensuring existing files are up-to-date, re-ordering samples, etc)

Those three hours of mentoring, by the way, are for myself. I don't have any downline yet, though I expect a couple of my current customers to join me soon enough. I focus on retail rather than recruitment, because my personal goals include paying the mortgage and Sallie Mae with commissions each month.

When that happens (not to far away now) I will work with my upline to create a new list for the next phase of growth, including recruitment. Until then, I use that list every week (with the exception of organization meetings, which change).

# Dave Drake said on September 20, 2008 7:10 PM:

Thanks.  I have been trying to figure out how to be more effective in my business,  and your examples will definitely help me Today!  My draft to-do lists weren't as comprehensive as yours.  I did buy a notebook for tracking my tasks to do,  and now I will get to them to have positive entries and to make progress daily!

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