Lean Planning Tool

In this article I'd like to give you a lean planning tool that could help you
eliminate lots of wasted time from your business and work life.

Lean Planning Tool -  What's the problem?

Think about these questions:

	Are you a slave to e-mail?
	Do you immediately open e-mails as soon as they pop up on your flat screen monitor?
	Do you have a plan of work for the week that you follow?
	Do you have a daily list of activities written down?
	Are you easily distracted from doing important tasks because you do not like doing them?
	Do you find yourself doing tasks that you enjoy but are not necessarily important or relevant?
	Do you ever have weeks when on reflection you wonder what have you actually achieved?
	Do you have a un- used electronic calendar?
	Are you not sure what you are supposed to be doing on a day-to-day basis?
	Do you forget to do things that you are supposed to do?

If you have answered yes to any of these questions then the little tool I am about to describe could help you!

Lean Planning -  Description of the Lean Planning Tool

Unlike most planning tools that are "software" based, this tool does not cost hundreds of pounds.

You can easily implement it for under £5 sterling.

All you need is a pen, some postcards and box to put them in.

Here is how you set up the system:

Get thirty-one, 5” x 3” cards, and mark them with numbers 1 through 31, so that you end up
with one for each day of the month

Take a further twelve cards and mark each card with the name of the month i.e. January through
to December

Put the current month card at the front, the 31-day cards behind it, and the other 11-month cards
behind the day cards

Now put the cards into your box

Your system is now set up ready to receive planning information.

Now think of all of the routine tasks that you should be doing as part of your daily, weekly, monthly or
annual activities.

For each task get a blank postcard, and write on it the activity that needs to take place.

Indicate on the postcard whether the task is daily, monthly, or annual with a brief description.

You will quickly build up a series of routine tasks you need to perform.

You use the 5Ws and 1H to help you with this e.g. who, when, where, what, why, and how

Once you have created a card for each of these routine daily tasks, spend some time placing them behind the appropriate date.

Monthly, quarterly and annual tasks go behind the relevant month

Now all you have to do is flick through the cards, find today’s date
and it will remind you of the routine task for that day.

All the key routine tasks for the year should be in your box.

It is a way to fool proof remembering tasks that you might forget.

Lean Planning Tool - Types of activities