Unusually Under-Booked

Nearly a year ago, I had calendar sync problems between my Blackberry and my Outlook calendar. So I had to get some meetings back on my calendar. As I asked one of my team members to resend the invitations for a couple meetings, she commented that my calendar looked "unusually under-booked." It was a funny yet scary realization of how busy my calendar is every week. That comment plus the fact that it was still January -- and not too late to get those New Years resolutions in -- got me thinking about re-implementing a quarterly administration day.

What is an administration day? I got the idea while reading one of John Maxwell's books. Maxwell encouraged his readers to take a day every quarter to get away by yourself to reflect and plan. With our busy schedules, it is way too easy to just be taken along by life as weeks and months and even years pass by on the calendar without really implementing lessons learned and needed changes.

I started taking quarterly administration days a few years back. I would take a day or half day of PTO, grab my journal, my calendar -- that might mean your laptop or smartphone so be careful not to get sucked into work or surfing the web -- and my Bible and go to a forest preserve (if the Chicago weather cooperates), a library, a Starbucks or my quiet time spot at home.

The idea is to look back at the previous quarter to reflect on how you dealt with the day-to-day things, how you handled trials and changes, to pull out lessons, to see themes and trends you wouldn't otherwise see. For me, it also means spending extended time talking to and listening to God.

Once you have done that, it's time to move on to the "So what?" Based on what you have seen looking back at the last quarter, how are you encouraged? How are you challenged? What things do you need to continue? What do you need to do more? Do you need to make some major changes, maybe in how you prioritize and spend your time? Do you need to move more of your attention and energy from the day-to-day (operations) and week-to-week (tactical) to longer-term planning (strategic)?

As I write this, another calendar year is coming to an end. It's time for me to take that quarterly administration day. It's a discipline I had and let go in my life. Through some changes and new opportunities this year I have been reminded of the value of this discipline. So after I post this, I am going to block out a good chunk of a day yet this week -- since it's December and this is Chicago, the forest preserve isn't an option -- and set it aside for reflection, prayer and planning. How about you? Do you need to implement a quarterly administration day for 2011?