The Weekly Plan with Intermediate Packets

Sundays often bring along a tide of tasks with looming deadlines with the ‘Sunday Scaries.’ I’ve been adrift in this sea more times than I care to admit.

Watching the sunset at the end of the week casting a warm glow had me with dread sensation with the week’s tasks clouding my mind instead of being present in the beautiful moment.

I’ve been lucky to facilitate Weekly Plan and Review sessions for the community of Building a Second Brain (BASB). These sessions are a haven of structured contemplation. As the week unfolds, the impact is undeniable.

Using Tiago’s concepts, I enjoyed creating the compass that helped me anchor the scaries — a structured weekly plan buoyed by the concept of Intermediate Packets (IPs).

IPs emerge as a lighthouse, shedding light on the week ahead.

These packets, as coined within the BASB framework, act as small reservoirs of information, each tied to a specific task or project for the week. These are pieces of tangible knowledge you create which can be reused.

A new week often unveils a mountain of tasks, each wanting attention, as if everything needed to get done now. The common adversaries, procrastination, a murky clarity on priorities, the daunting view of an endless to-do list often get the best of us. But here is where transformation lies.

IPs shifted my perspective from seeing projects as mere to-do lists to thinking in building blocks. It is all about creating value in small chunks.

Before I show you the weekly plan framework, I’d like you to think about committing to something you know you can win.

In the work “The Power of Planning,” authors Peter M. Gollwitzer, Caterina Gawrilow, and Gabriele Oettingen delve into the psychology behind planning that leads to the realization of objectives.

The authors suggest that when chances of success are low, people will refrain from taking action, so they propose four key strategies:

1. Set Specific Plans: Knowing when, where, and how to act removes ambiguity, making it easier to commit to actions.
2. Tailor Focus Strategies: Find a unique way to counter internal and external distractions.
3. Criteria for Change: Being adaptive is key; setting benchmarks for when to change tactics or objectives assures that you’re not stuck in an ineffective loop.
4. Set Boundaries: Spreading yourself too thin can dilute your energy, focus or effectiveness.

The ritual I share with the BASB community every Monday:

The Weekly Preview is a method of organizing and planning tasks, goals, and projects for the coming week. It’s an essential part of being proactive about our time and priorities. This is the bridge between longer-term goals and day-to-day activities. It takes the broad objectives and breaks them down into creations that you can complete in the upcoming week.

Review long-term goals: We begin by taking 5 minutes to reconnect with long-term goals, both personal and professional.

Visualize the week ahead: Then, I ask members to envision the feel and desired outcomes for the week. This helps with staying motivated and excited.

Plan with PARA: Next, we focus for 8 minutes to find the week’s intention. This ties to the concept of PARA (Projects, Areas, Resources, Archive) from BASB, which is an actionable way to organize digital knowledge. I ask the members to:

• Select 3 Projects with specific, meaningful outcomes for the week.
• Choose 2 Areas that need nurturing or attention.
• Pick 1 Resource that intrigues you for exploration.

Identify IPs for each Project or Area: This is the game-changer. IPs serve as building blocks that move you closer to your desired outcomes. So, we identify the essential artifacts for 8 minutes for each chosen Project, Area or Resource, considering the following:

• Identify 2-3 IPs for each selected project or area. These could range from pieces of knowledge to specific actions that would contribute to your goals.
• Prioritize these IPs based on their impact and urgency. What key IPs will make the most significant contribution to your long-term goals?
• Resource Mapping: For each high-impact IP, list out the resources you’ll require:

• • Digital Audits: Existing digital assets you have that can be repurposed or integrated into your IPs.
  • People: Identify whose expertise you can tap into. This could be a colleague, a friend, or an industry expert.
  • Materials: Books, articles, templates, or tools that can make creating IPs easier.

Calendar Block your IPs: We continue by dedicating specific time blocks in the calendar to gathering, creating or delegating these packets. Also, breaking them into tasks. I like to remind all to think about setting aside buffer and wellness times throughout the week to catch up and self-care.

1. Organize the packets: The last thing we do before celebrating another Monday plan completed is to determine where and how to store these packets for easy retrieval and connection later. This might involve tagging, linking, or uploading packets in a PKM system like Notion or Evernote.

Here’s a concrete example:

Monday, November 6, 2023

Review long-term goals:

• Personal: Improve physical health by consistently exercising and eating a balanced diet.
• Professional: Scale holistic PKM coaching and Notion consultancy business to double the current income by the end of Q2, 2024.

Visualize the week ahead:

• Feeling: Energized and focused.
• Desired outcomes: Secure at least one new client and sign up for a 5K run.

Plan with PARA:

• Projects:
  1. Coaching Program Marketing Plan
  2. 5k Run Research
  3. Organize a community event focusing on “Managing Time Wisely.”
• Areas:
  1. Personal Health
  2. Client Relationship Management
• Resource:
  1. Habits

Identify IPs:

• Marketing Plan:
  • IP1: Coaching program pricing structure → Priority
    • Resources: Past client feedback on pricing, Consult Tiago on pricing strategies, market research reports on coaching program pricing.
  • IP2: Develop a list of marketing channels to use.
    • Resources: Previous successful campaign data, marketing experts on LinkedIn, online marketing strategy articles.
• 5k run:
  • IP1: Register for a suitable 5K run event.
    • Resources: Local Running enthusiasts, websites and apps that list upcoming 5k runs.
  • IP2: Develop a six-week training schedule.
    • Resources: Past exercise routines, Personal trainers or running coaches, training plans or mobile apps specialized for 5k training.
• Community Event:
  • IP1: List of guest speakers
    • Resources: Previous events’ contact lists, professional network for recommendations.
  • IP2: Create a promotion strategy for the event → Priority
    • Resources: Previous event promotion materials, colleagues good at social media engagement, promotion strategy guides.
• Personal Health:
  • IP: Grocery list
    • Resources: Previous meal plans or nutrition apps, nutritionist or online cooking groups, cookbooks, healthy recipes online.
• Habits:
  • IP: Case study or real-world example of successful habit change.
    • Resource: Atomic Habits by James Clear Book

Calendar Block your IPs:

• Monday: 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM for the pricing structure of the marketing plan.
• Monday: 2:00 to 3:00 PM for the grocery list.
• Wednesday: 2:00 to 4:00 PM for selecting a 5k run and beginning the training plan.
• Friday: 3:00 to 5:00 PM for the promotion strategy of the community event.
• Saturday: 10:00 to 11:00 AM for taking notes on the Atomic Habits book.

Organize your packets:

• Use Notion to create a new page under each PARA category for this week if they aren’t there already.
• Upload all the relevant files, notes, or tasks in their designated pages.

By encapsulating tasks within IPs, we no longer face a swamp of disorganized tasks but a well-arranged ship of actionable packets, each a step steering toward the week’s objectives.

This practice is a proactive measure to align you with your goals, making the most of your time.

This plan paves a path of clarity amidst the habitual chaos.

P.S. I enjoyed using the sea metaphor because it’s all about flow. Besides, “Anchor” is my word of the year.