Creating a Helpful Seasonal Action Plan and Calendar

I think everyone needs an action plan of sorts. But, it won’t look the same for everyone.

Being in school for so long has taught me to create a plan for each semester. So how exactly do I go about this? Basically, every spring, summer, and fall, I look at all of my deadlines and map it out onto a Google Doc with the weekly dates for the 12-16 weeks. I color code the main categories and have a key in the header and footer of each page. I learned this method from the National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity.

Even though I’m now graduating, I am going to continue this method of planning because it truly helps me to get a big picture overview of my goals. I can then match my big goals to subtasks by making weekly progress toward completion.

Here is a snapshot of a week from last summer:

Each week would have a similar format that I copy and pasted for the whole summer. In May, I go through and add in important deadlines and repeating tasks. For example, my teaching timesheet is due every two weeks. Now, I also include these repeating tasks in my Google Calendar. Some may find this process repetitive, but it actually helps me remember things by keeping it in multiple places.

So, because it’s time to think about Summer 2021, I am in the process of creating my next 12 weeks or so goals. I’m still working out what I’d like my categories to be, but I’ve started to put in my dates and then will create my outline and fill in goals. The first pass through is all the big items, and then I re-evaluate every Sunday and prioritize my week, filling in additional items as needed.

Summer 2021 action plan

FREE Google Doc Summer 2021 Planning template!!

Here is a YouTube video showing how I go through these steps for the summer!