We all are living these fast paced, caffeine fueled lives, tempted by countless distractions and real or pseudo emergencies that it is very common to find ourselves in a situation where we are saying “Where did the whole day go?”

Or for some of us the phrase goes like “Where did the whole year go?” It is not that uncommon.

What I have noticed is that life has a momentum of its own and it is always running at full speed. But the key question to ask here is: Is it going where we want it to go? The most frustrating thing is when I work my ass off and at the end of the week I haven’t accomplished even a single thing I’m proud of. It’s a bummer.

One recurring problem due to which you’re often swayed away is because there isn’t any set agenda.

If it isn’t on your calendar, it isn’t real.

I began making to-do lists and list of goals. Started putting them in the order of priority. But what ended up happening was each day I used to have a different overall agenda, and it was often determined by how my previous day had gone.

If your to-do list is made up of many small & immediate actions, a daily to-do list is fine. But mostly what you want to accomplish entails a combination of actions, many of which are dependent on someone else’s reply, many of them can’t begin before the previous ones are completed. It’s all too complex and time consuming. In such cases, having a weekly visibility over your agendas and goals is a much better option.

If you think about it, life is just a bunch of weeks. If you spend your weeks great, your life is automatically lived well.

And that is why I have begun the practice of planning my weeks in advance. Every Sunday I get up a little early, go for a bike ride for a few hours and then stop by at any cafe that I like. There, I sit down for at least an hour and write in my journal.

Right now I’m following Tony Robbins’ ‘Time of Your Life’ system for planning my weeks. It’s a time management, albeit Life management system that helps you make time for those goals that are most important to you. Robbins says that you don’t need to manage time, in fact you can’t do it even if you wanted to. Instead you need to manage energy and focus.

Where focus goes, Energy flows.

And how the system works is each week you begin by focusing on what your true goals in life are. What are your passions, what are your motivations, what’s the purpose you want to strive for, and what will bring you to life! (rhetorically speaking)…

By doing this you put yourself in an energized state. With the momentum caused by getting into the state, you then focus on key areas of your life – whether it is fitness, your job, friends and family or your finances. You think about how you want to be in each of these areas, what results you want to accomplish.

Once you have the Results you want to achieve, you then focus on the ‘why’. That is the purpose behind wanting those results. One key question to ask is “if I manage to get this result, what will it do for me and my life?” Will it give me more freedom? Will it give me the feeling of control? Will it open doors for me? Why is that particular goal important to me?

After focusing on the Results and the Purpose behind wanting those results, you then chalk out a Massive Action Plan to execute.

This action plan should be detailed. It should consist of small steps that you can take with ease. Then you put all these action items in your calendar and you commit to following your calendar through the week.

During the next week, on the Sunday morning, you look back at what results you achieved and you take the time to really celebrate. And celebration can mean many things. Maybe buying yourself a Creme Soda would do. Maybe throwing a party would be more suitable. It all depends on how big results you achieved and how fulfilled did that make you feel.

I have followed this process for last 3 weeks and have seen many long pending tasks vanish in front of my eyes. I also could gain more control of my work life and felt at ease after a long long time.

And more importantly I stay in sight of my real goals. Things that really matter to me. My own agenda. My own purpose. And that feeling is precious to me.

I know when I truly master this form of weekly planning (which I think I’ll be able to do after 5-6 weeks of practicing it), the next step would be to graduate to monthly planning. Or perhaps even yearly planning. I know many people who plan out their whole quarters or years in advance. And these people are always those who seem to be doing everything out there. Both in their personal lives and their professional lives.

I share this with you all because I know many of you want to live an organized life and accomplish big goals. The system I talked about is powerful. And I am committed to explore and master it till the time I can easily say, that I’m having the ‘Time of My Life”.

Like I said earlier, Life is just a bunch of weeks. And if you spend your weeks great, your life is automatically great.

So go out there and build a great life.

Cheers!