Cover image featuring the title 'Powerful Planning: Getting Back Time From Your Business' in Meta Excellence branding, introducing an article on creating efficient plans to save time and enhance business success.

Powerful Planning

Meta Cognition
January 07, 2025•2 min read

Getting Back Time From Your Business

By: Lillian Korkontzelos

Edited By: Justin Teeuwen

When it comes to completing big tasks, it can be tempting to dive right in and get started—especially when it seems like time is limited. Often we see planning as a time sink, but, as Kelly Ehlers reminds us, “proper preparation prevents poor performance.” 

Instead of starting with the present, as many people tend to, we argue that not only is it more effective to plan backwards from the future, but that it’ll ultimately save  your business time and effort. 

There are 4 steps that go into creating an effective plan:

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  1. Take Inventory. Consider how much time, energy, and resources you have available to you.

PROTIP: Resources include attention, memory, self-regulation resources, and both internal and external supports.

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  1. Set A Goal. Goals should be SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-bound) and can prioritize a wide variety of components. 

PROTIP: Some things that your goal can be oriented on are speed, completion, high performance, efficiency, or growth.

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  1. Select A Strategy. Picking the right components strategy is determined based on your intended goal and is essential to consider when creating a plan. 

PROTIP: Components evaluate how much time, energy, and resources should be dedicated to the task. 

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  1. Take Action. It is now time to determine the action steps needed to complete the task! 

PROTIP: Ask the following questions: What is the objective? What information do you have available about the task? How will you manage your inventory along the way?

These four steps are ones that we implement every day at Meta Excellence and are excited to help you learn and apply to get the most out of your own business. You won’t believe how much time creating and executing an effective plan will save you and your business—that is, until you try it for yourself.

Wondering what planning would look like for your business? Set up a free consultation with a Meta Coach to find out!

  1. Kelly Ehlers, “5 Tips For Building An Effective 2025 Marketing Plan,” Forbes, November 15, 2024, https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbesagencycouncil/2024/11/15/5-tips-for-building-an-effective-2025-marketing-plan/

  2. Mark Johnson, “To Set a Great Strategy, Start by Imagining the Future You Want,” interview by Curt Nickisch, HBR IdeaCast, Harvard Business Review, May 12, 2020, audio, 27:03, https://hbr.org/podcast/2020/05/to-build-strategy-start-with-the-future

  3. Jose Luis Gonzalez Rodriguez, “The Importance Of Strategic Planning For Business Success,” Forbes, April 30, 2024, https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbescoachescouncil/2024/04/30/the-importance-of-strategic-planning-for-business-success/

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Lillian is currently enrolled in the Master of Music in Music Theory program at Michigan State University. She grew up in the Greater Toronto Area and obtained her Bachelor of Music in Jazz Vocal Performance from the University of Windsor in 2020. While in school, she taught piano and voice lessons and worked as an audio engineering assistant in local recording studios. Her research interests include recording arts and the intersection between pedagogy and industry, music cognition, the implications of timbre and texture on musical narrative, and the impact of language on the understanding of musical materials.

Lillian Korkontzelos

Lillian is currently enrolled in the Master of Music in Music Theory program at Michigan State University. She grew up in the Greater Toronto Area and obtained her Bachelor of Music in Jazz Vocal Performance from the University of Windsor in 2020. While in school, she taught piano and voice lessons and worked as an audio engineering assistant in local recording studios. Her research interests include recording arts and the intersection between pedagogy and industry, music cognition, the implications of timbre and texture on musical narrative, and the impact of language on the understanding of musical materials.

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