As some of you might remember, I am a massive fan of the hard-won wisdom in Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson’s excellent book “It doesn’t have to be crazy at work.” One of the key tenants in their philosophy is the deliberate lack of plans – an idea which we brought to radical and which serves us well so far.
Now… Let me introduce you to the 100 Day Plan.
The 100 Day Plan is simple: Instead of planning out a full year (or god-forbid three or even five years! Do you truly believe you can project that far out?), you focus on the next 100 days in front of you. Once you hit the 100-day mark, you create your next 100 Day Plan. In this regard, the 100 Day Plan is a lot like the Pomodoro technique where you break down your work into 25 minute chunks, focus on one task at a time, work for 25 minutes on the task and then move on to the next task and/or chunk of time. It has proven an excellent tool for many of us – if you haven’t tried it and feel unproductive from time to time, give it a shot!
The beauty of the 100 Day Plan is that it is long enough to get actual work done. It is short enough to allow for adjustments to the many factors which can make long-term plans obsolete. Moreover, it keeps you focussed, aligned, is easy to communicate and rally around and highly motivating.
What are you going to do in the next 100 days?