A template to help you create your own custom 21/90 day project goal planning system. Use as is or customize it to your own needs.
Depending on what you need from it, just print selected pages.
There is a planner which helps you track so called 21/90 projects (that's where the motivation and idea for this came from, you should be able to find it on Amazon) but I found the planner had too many elements I didn't like.
So I thought I'd just LaTeX'ify the part that I liked as a printout. The idea is that you have a 90 day project or allocate 90 days to reach a goal or whatever. Then you split it into three sub-projects. If you take away some days for holidays and breaks then you have 21 days for each subproject. That's it essentially.
Having to lie out action steps for each 21 day sprint and within that sprint, write down a goal for each week, will help you identify what needs to get done in order to reach your goal and lay out a plan to do it.
It also has a section included where you can specify a reward you will give yourself and allocate days for time off. Rewards and breaks are important but also, so is you why for doing the project. You also get a spot to reflect on that.
- Three sets of the "Monthly Planner for 21 Day Goal Sprint" for your three months, eaching containing 3.5 weeks plus 6 days of time off. The idea is that you can either take a short break after each sprint or "save" the time off for later to go on a two week holiday at the end of the 90 days.
- A 90 Day Project Overview where you write down goals and achievements, your why for pursuing the goal and space to lay out action steps for each 21 day sprint. The idea is that you should also have a weekly sub-goal for each week of the 21 day sprint. And, of course, there is room for holiday plans, or - as Tim Ferriss would call it - a "mini-retirement" (I kind of like the term. It suggests you should live your life now instead of waiting for retirement).
- A Progress Calender for 2 Months which you can hang on your wall to cross off (or colour in) the days which have passed or more specifically, the days on which you have worked on your project because likely, you'll have a few misses. In order to not ruin the three month logic, don't wait until you have the 21 days worked off but rather let time pass, noting down missed days and trying to not let them pile up too much.
- Lastly, one page for Planning your reward/holiday, prioritize using an Eisenhower Materix and the Bullet Joural Method's 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 goal setting exercise to add some perspective.
Please notice that in order to do the project in the amount of time allocated (and being allowed a two week holiday), you are expected to work 6 days a week and get only one day completely off. The idea is also that one of those days will probably go to chores and administrative stuff and that's ok. After the third of the Monthly spreads, there is a short text explaining this so you still have the info on the printout. It is assumed that self-maintenance tasks and administrative stuff are a necessary part of reaching a goal and thus, are included in your 21 day sprints, even though you might not make direct progress towards your goals on that day. Or you could instead use one day for reflection (planning todos, coming up with ways of moving forward, etc.). I suggest doing this on the weekend but do it any time you like. Since the monthly spreads end with a half-week, you'll have to start the next 21 day session with the last half week in order to make up for the difference. This shouldn't be a problem since the whole thing is undated.
Actually, the 90 Day Project Overview should probably go first, but it's ordered like this so that you can print the PDF out double-sided so that each sprint fits on one piece of paper. If you print it out two-sided with 2 pages per side, everything except the Planning Page fits onto two sheets of paper (because I thought maybe you don't want to unnecessarily carry the Planning Page around all the time and thus, keep it separate).
- print it out.
- some of the pages are meant to be printed on two sides of the same sheet.
- add your own notes, best using a pen with a sharp tip. For example like a Pigma Micron 01.
- use a highlight pen for better contrast or visualization.
- also use highlighter to check off boxes as done by colouring them in.
Use the template to make it your own and adopt it to your needs. Or just use it as is.
Print it out, fill it out and maybe share your experiences with it, so we can update it to make it even better :)
Overview |
Progress Calender |
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