Intentional Planning for 2022

By Naomi Tucker, CMP, HMCC

Intentional Planning for 2022

It’s that time of year that as a planning professional you’ll be creating your plans for the next year. This year has been another wild ride where you are balancing stepping back into the forefront with events, while the world hits you with global changes on your newsfeed every day. With so many varying narratives, you have to be aware of how these constant modifications affect your plans. You don’t want to have these changes knock you too far off course so that you are unable to pursue what you have prepared.  

So how can you continue to be more intentional in your planning, without veering far off course in the future? Here are a few tips that can help you continue to create seamless plans for yourself and your clients in the new year.

Be realistic about your time 

Planning professionals often take on way more than they should handle. And although you can readily admit this, you always find yourself in situations where you have no choice but to move forward with what is on your plate. When committing to a project, make mindful choices on if you’ll be able to actually do what the project is requiring of you. If you find yourself showcasing the slightest hesitancy, evaluate what is the cause of that hesitancy. Address it right away, and come up with solutions to ensure that that the project can work for you. Meeting and Event Professionals acting in transparency about their time will help the industry reduce the stress and burnout that comes with planning events. 

Be mindful of your space

Where and how you work are just important as what and whom you are working with. Assess how you work, and see if you need to bring in some other solutions to help you make the best use of your space. Perhaps you need to remove some clutter from your workspace or maybe you are getting too many distractions at work. 

Barbara Hemphill says that “Clutter is nothing more than postponed decisions,” and having clutter in our workspaces can prevent us from being as productive as we would like to be. Removing the clutter might be what you need in order for you to get into the mental space you need to make good decisions. A distraction audit may be just the tool you need to find and eliminate distractions that prevent you from being your best. These are just a couple of ways that you can look at the space in which you work and make it work better for you. 

Be intentional about your results 

As a planning professional, the plans that you make should be results-driven. Every goal and objective for each event should have a plan that aligns with them so that the event produces the results that you are looking to obtain. When you are highly intentional about your results, then decisions can be made with ease. In this constantly changing new world, it is important to anticipate the agility that your event will need to have should modifications present themselves. Having purposeful conversations about how those changes could affect your event will prepare you to make quick decisions should the need arise. 

Be purposeful about your self-care

Business is ramping up, and you might be finding yourself on the road and in the air again. Although you may have so many other worries, there is a push to keep on moving. In the new year, the floodgates may open ushering the way for even more opportunities to head your way. Keep self-care at top of your mind, and make sure you are taking breaks, getting rest, and enjoying what puts a smile on your face. 

As you head into the new year, reflect on your challenges and successes of the last year. Consider the challenges and how they arose. Consider your successes and what made them so great. Create your plan not only for your events but for your personal and professional development. Write down which successes you want to see next. Anticipate the challenges you may have and write down solutions. Be super intentional so that you can make this year the best one yet. 

About Naomi

Naomi Tucker, CMP, is an Account Director of Meetings & Incentives Worldwide, Inc., a Past President of the MPI Wisconsin Chapter, and the Founder of Planners on Purpose. Naomi has more than twenty-five years of experience planning meetings and events. She also loves to write and discuss her learnings in this industry on her website Planners on Purpose, where she empowers event planners to lead a stress-free life on purpose. When she’s not planning or writing about events, Naomi enjoys spending time with her family, friends, and getting lost in a good book.  

 www.plannersonpurpose.com | Facebook: facebook.com/plannersonpurpose | Twitter: @planonpurpose | Instagram: @plannersonpurpose