One thing I know for sure: You won't accomplish your goals and dreams if you don't plan for them. I suggest that you take each dream and phrase it in the form of an objective statement, using the following format:

I will (verb) (measurement) by (date) because (motivation). I will evaluate my progress by (date). I will reward myself through ( ).

For example, a poor objective would be "Get a new job." A better objective is "I will get a more challenging and satisfying job as an engineer in a different industry and realize an increase of $7,500 per year by June 2007. I will buy myself that new truck when I land this job!"

Create three goals that describe the changes that would have to take place to get you from where you are now to where you want to be.

Plans: Quiz Item 3

3. Try to gain flexibility at work.

Which Half of the Job Do You Want?

An important component of planning is determining how the business of life and the game of work are going to fit together. Strive to create a lifestyle that is flexible, in which your personal life works with your job and your job works with your life. Wherever you work, whatever you do, find a way to make your job fit into the rest of your life.

As better technology explodes on the scene and people can work from anywhere, the blurring of your work life and home life is inevitable. Dual career couples, each feeling equally passionate about their jobs and families, want to participate more fully in each, regardless of gender. In more and more situations, sacrificing one for the other is no longer required. Managers have become increasingly aware of the need for flexibility, recognizing that a worker who leaves in the middle of the afternoon to visit an ailing parent will log into the intranet on the home computer later that night anyway.

Flexibility could come through telecommuting, an off-site work arrangement that permits employees to work in their homes for all or part of the workweek. Challenger, Gray and Christmas, a Chicago-based international outplacement firm, conducted a survey with two hundred HR professionals in different industries throughout the country. The survey noted that 43 percent of those polled believe workers will become increasingly mobile with far more telecommuting.

However, flexibility doesn't only mean telecommuting, which may not be as desirable to some people as other solutions. Indeed, the definition of "flexibility" is morphing. It might mean seasonal hours, such as different hours during the school year and summer. It might be rotating jobs part time so one or the other spouse is always home when a child arrives home from school. It might mean "desk share," allowing workers to share a job in the office and take turns working remotely, or "compressed workweek," in which you do a full-time job in fewer than five days and have a long weekend. Sometimes workers come in early and leave to beat horrendous traffic patterns. In summary, managers in a truly flexible workplace don't care when or where the work gets done as long as it gets done with great results. It hinges on giving workers more authority and responsibility.

How can you add flexibility to your life? Check with your human resources department to find out what alternative schedules are available. If your child gets out of school at four o'clock and no after-school program is available, ask about arriving at work extra early on some days and leaving early to pick up your kids and your neighbor's kids on other days. Perhaps your neighbor can work the opposite schedule. Or possibly you could do your job from home, which would allow you to take short breaks for drop-off and pick-up runs.

If you want flexible work hours but believe that your boss wouldn't dream of it, get brave! The trend to add flexibility is gathering steam. Even if an official policy isn't on your company's books, you may be able to create your own program. People often avoid pursuing a telecommuting arrangement for fear of their bosses' reactions. Usually, however, the concern of most supervisors comes down to this: "How can I manage an employee I can't see? How do I know if that employee is working or not?" This trend demands that managers learn to focus on results and achievements instead of attendance. An employee who is "present and accounted for" is not necessarily productive.

Is Your Job Right for Telecommuting?

Even if you think you have a "telecommuting personality," your job has to fit the situation. If you want to approach your employer to discuss a telecommuting arrangement, use this list to spur some introspection before proceeding. HR professionals actually use this list as a conversation document to assess the viability of this arrangement with interested employees. It notes the following characteristics of good "work at home" jobs:

• Jobs that require frequent use of the telephone
• Jobs that don't rely on person-to-person contact
• Jobs in which most of the work is done on computers
• Jobs that deal with a series of projects that have definite beginnings and endings
• Jobs that can be done in small, possibly confined areas
• Jobs that don't rely on constant feedback from coworkers
• Jobs requiring tasks that can be done by one employee or combined with the work of other employees at a later date

Once you make sure you're suited to working from home and have a job that supports it, be proactive in securing the necessary approvals to make it happen.

Whatever solution you choose, you must be proactive in gaining flexibility at work; it's rare that others will do it for you. Plan to actively pursue work that fits your life, rather than trying to squeegee your life into your job.

Plans: Quiz Item 4

4. Keep effective to-do lists so things don't slip through the cracks.

I Know There Was Something I Was Supposed to Do Today!

One important planning consideration is what you're going to accomplish each day. In his role as the dean of creativity for the Walt Disney Companies, Mike Vance had a strategy he called Do-Doing-Done. The idea is to start a task in the Do column, move it to Doing quickly, and then move it to Done as quickly as possible. That's a fine idea, but it doesn't really matter how you format your list. What does matter is that you have a list. In fact, you need several lists. Without them, your brain forgets many of the things you have to do as well as the cool ideas you come up with. Having lists will enable you to plan your day most effectively and will relieve that nagging sense of "what did I need to get done . . ." Chapter 6, Paper, also contains information on tools for planning.

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Copyright © 2006 by Laura Stack. Excerpted by permission of Broadway, a division of Random House, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

Tags: Personal Growth

About the Author

Laura Stack is an internationally recognized productivity expert and bestselling author of Leave the Office Earlier. As president of The Productivity Pro®, Inc., she gives over 100 seminars and keynote speeches a year on managing time, reducing stress, and getting organized. More