Just like reverse dictionaries exist, there is a reason to create a countdown calendar. A countdown calendar begins with Franklin Covey’s philosophy, “Begin with the end in mind.”
The biggest advantage of a countdown calendar is that it makes you think and focus more, as well as making planning easier.
First, write down the exact results you want or expect. Suppose you have a teleclass, seminar, or talk that you are giving on date X. This becomes your D-day, more or less speaking. It can be the end of event planning, however it can also be the beginning of your follow-up plan. For the sake of simplicity, let’s stop at the D-day point.
Now you can prepare a countdown calendar in several ways. One way would be to use a calendar with the full days of the month. Mark D-day and then go back from there to today.
Count the days until __________. Number of marketing days until __________.
Example: count the days until the seminar. 20 days of marketing for the seminar.
Anyone, no matter what calendar method you use, will need to write down your measurements or your mini results that will give you the final results you want. I use the pivoting question, “What does it take to …” to get my thinking moving in the right direction. I like to think carefully and write them on the back of my calendars. This gives me an overview of that particular compromise that my software doesn’t provide.
Another way would be to use a blank form like this with the appropriate number of days in between. Then cross off the days you will be marketing, say Sundays or days full of other requirements. For my teleclass shows, my D-day through day 1 is always 3 weeks, so I have created a regular schedule for these. In fact, I use green colored paper to print the calendar.
If you don’t want to create your own, visit your local office supply store, they have countdown calendars available for purchase (blank planning books).
A third way to complete a countdown calendar would be to complete it in a linear fashion.
Day 21: Talk about the results of the event I want: describe those results.
Day 20: Get printed brochures at Kinko’s.
Day 19: Write and email a reminder to the organizer.
Until day 1: today.
Again, if you have a recurring countdown, like teleclasses, you can create a linear countdown calendar like the one above. Over time, you will see a constant pattern of to-dos.
At that moment, don’t stop doing this thinking that you have it under control and that it is not necessary. This will jump out and bite you into assets fairly quickly by bogging your mind and making you wonder if you’re missing something. If that happens, get back into the habit, it’s great to have it. Even if it is frustrating because it takes time to think.
Once you’ve completed your countdown calendar, you can enter it into your automatic reminder calendar, such as Outlook or Act. This will keep track of all your deadlines, goals, and projects. You will have a separate countdown calendar for each one.
