I've learned something interesting about myself over the past several months. When I have the space to slow down, think, and explore new ideas, my creativity really starts to show up. And sometimes, those ideas come from the most unexpected places.
Like my weekly to-do list. 😂
Yes, really.
When I left my corporate career and began building my coaching business, I suddenly found myself wearing a whole lot of hats. I was the CEO, the marketing department, the business development team, the client success department, and the person actually delivering the coaching. At the same time, I was continuing my coaching education, studying, completing assignments, practicing my coaching skills, and working toward my professional credential.
And somewhere in the middle of all that, I still needed to make room for my personal life.
There were so many things I wanted to accomplish, and they were all important to me in different ways. But I knew that if I wasn't intentional about where I put my attention, some of those responsibilities would inevitably get lost in the shuffle.
So I started experimenting with different ways to organize my weeks.
And let me tell you, the system I'm using today is definitely not where I started! lol
There were several iterations of my little planning journal along the way. I'd try one approach, use it for a while, and realize something wasn't quite working. Maybe I wasn't giving enough attention to certain areas of my business, or maybe I was creating a list of things to do without really considering when or how I was going to get them done.
So I'd make adjustments. I'd change the layout, rethink the categories, or try a different way of organizing my priorities. Each version taught me something about what I actually needed from a planning system.
Eventually, I landed on something that felt both simple and effective.
Every Monday, I'd sit down with my notebook and organize my priorities into five different categories, or what I like to call my different hats. Under each one, I'd identify the things I wanted to accomplish that week. My intention was to make sure I was giving every important area of my life and business some attention, even if it was just one small action.
Because I knew that building a business, continuing my education, and taking care of myself weren't separate things competing for my attention. They were all parts of the life I was intentionally creating.
And I wanted to make room for all of them.
Once I'd identified my priorities, I'd turn to the next page and begin assigning tasks to specific days. But I wasn't just looking at my calendar. I was thinking about my mental capacity, too.
If I had several coaching sessions scheduled on a particular day, I knew I probably wouldn't have the same mental space for a big creative project or an afternoon of studying. On days with fewer commitments, I could make room for work that required more focus and deeper thinking.
And if something didn't get done? I reassessed. If it needed to happen that week, I moved it to another day. If it was still important but not urgent, I carried it into the following week. And sometimes, I realized something didn't need to be done at all. I could simply let it go.
The plan was there to support me, not become another thing I had to perform perfectly.
The funny thing is, I wasn't thinking about any of this as a coaching tool at the time. I was simply trying to find a way to manage all the things I wanted to do without feeling like I was constantly chasing my own to-do list.
But recently, as I was exploring ideas for resources I could create to support people beyond my one-on-one coaching sessions, I started looking at that little handwritten journal differently.
What if it could help someone else?
And the more I thought about it, the more I realized that what I'd created wasn't really just a planning system. It was a form of self-coaching.
Every week, I was asking myself what mattered most, where I wanted to put my attention, what actions would help me move forward, and what I realistically had the capacity to do. I was making intentional choices rather than simply reacting to whatever felt most urgent.
And when things didn't go according to plan, I was learning to adjust rather than judge myself for not getting everything done.
Those are all things I explore with my coaching clients in different ways.
It got me thinking about how many of us have been conditioned to measure progress by how much we accomplish. How many things did we cross off the list? How productive were we? Did we get everything done?
But what if we approached progress a little differently?
What if, instead of focusing on doing more, we focused on consistently giving attention to the things that actually matter to us?
Maybe you're working toward a career change, trying to improve your health, strengthen your relationships, create more financial stability, or reconnect with parts of yourself that have been neglected. Maybe you're juggling a dozen different responsibilities and just want to feel a little more intentional about how you spend your time.
Whatever you're working toward, I think there's value in identifying the different areas that will help you get there, choosing meaningful actions for each one, and creating a realistic plan to follow through.
Not perfectly. Just intentionally.
Because small actions, repeated consistently, can create meaningful change over time.
And that's how my little handwritten planning journal eventually became The Intentional Six Weeks.
It's a reusable, self-guided workbook designed to help you develop your own intentional planning practice. You begin by identifying what you're working toward and the five areas of your life or work that deserve your attention. Each week, you choose meaningful actions for those areas and create a plan that considers your actual time, commitments, and mental capacity.
At the end of six weeks, you have an opportunity to look back and reflect on what changed, what progress you made, what you learned about yourself, and what you'd like to continue.
But here's something I really want to emphasize.
The goal isn't to accomplish everything in six weeks. The goal is to spend six weeks practicing a different way of approaching the things that matter to you.
And because the workbook is reusable, you can begin again whenever you're ready. Your goals might change. Your priorities might evolve. The five areas you choose might look completely different the next time around.
That's part of the process, too.
One of the things I love most about coaching is that I don't get to decide what success looks like for someone else. My role is to help people explore what matters to them, recognize their own capabilities, and discover the direction they want to take.
I wanted this workbook to reflect that same philosophy.
I'm not going to tell you what your five priorities should be, how much you need to accomplish each week, or what success is supposed to look like for you. And I'm certainly not going to tell you that you need to become more productive to be worthy of feeling good about yourself.
You get to decide.
Your priorities. Your capacity. Your choices.
The workbook simply gives you a structure to turn those choices into action.
I never imagined that the little notebook I used to organize my Mondays would eventually become something I wanted to share with others. But sometimes the most meaningful ideas grow out of the things we've already learned to do for ourselves.
And maybe that's a reminder worth holding onto.
We don't always need a completely new system, a dramatic transformation, or a perfect plan to begin moving forward. Sometimes we just need to get clear about what matters, give it some attention, and take the next step.
Then do it again next week.
And the week after that.
One intentional week at a time. 💗
Introducing The Intentional Six Weeks
If this approach resonates with you, I've turned my personal planning practice into a reusable six-week workbook designed to help you identify your priorities, take meaningful action, and recognize your progress.
You can explore The Intentional Six Weeks on my website.
Explore The Intentional Six Weeks
Christy Graessle | Personal Growth & Resilience Coach
Come Home to Yourself.
