Your 168

CHAPTER 5THE ART OF BEING PLANFUL—AND SPONTANEOUS

Given all the things you're juggling—the push and pull from so many parts of your life—your 168 can overwhelm you. The only way to manage it is by being planful. Let me explain what I mean. My definition of being planful combines planning with mindful. It's an attitude and a habit that will increase your awareness of what you want and need to accomplish both now and over the longer term.

If we really drill down to the essence of being planful, we see that it's not realistic to just let life happen. Of course, you need to be flexible to manage the unexpected—both positive and negative. The planning part, however, still comes first.

This probably sounds simplistic, maybe even obvious—like saying that in order to live, you need to keep breathing. Your reaction might very well be, “Of course, I'm doing that!” But based on my observations and interactions with people, from students to senior executives, I can tell you that it's usually the opposite. For most people, life is one constant fire drill. They run from one thing to the next, creating confusion and chaos for themselves and everyone around them. This turmoil doesn't erupt only when there's suddenly a major problem to address or even a surprise call from an old friend who is in town. Their fire-drill mentality is the norm.

Although I have plenty of opinions about the importance of being planful, before sharing any of my thoughts on the subject, I wanted to research what the ...