minute15

PLANNER METHOD

Plan your entire

workweek once
and actually get it
done this time.

Steph Crowder
 YOU KNOW THAT CROCKPOT CATCH PHRASE

S" et it & Forget it?"

The magic and beautiful sorcery of the
crockpot is pretty straightforward: put
To carry the cooking analogy, I basically had
the necessary ingredients in the pot
an entire kitchen of fancy cooking gadgets... but
once, and you’re good till dinner.
whether or not “dinner” made it onto the table
was a toss-up. And it seems like I’m not alone.
It’s not super sexy to say that my
planning method is like the crockpot of
Here’s what you guys said:
productivity, but I guess it is what it is,
right? The thing is...

I’ve tried every planning method under

the sun: “I fall out of the habit with planning, it
just never sticks.”
• down-to-the-minute, detailed planning
• zero planning “My struggle is follow-through. I love
• timer-based planning planning, but when it comes to actually
doing, I fall short.”
• goal-based planning
• paper planners
“My struggle is over-planning. I can
• digital planners... get 10-15 things done, but it’s never
enough.”

“I sometimes have whole weeks where not

a single thing goes according to plan.”
 BTW, HAVE WE MET?

Hey there, I'mSteph Crowder

I went from Director of Sales Training for all of North America at a giant
tech startup, to coaching & training thousands of entrepreneurs over at
Fizzle.co, to building my own 6 figure business in 9 months flat.
Unless you count a great hip hop song on the dancefloor or watching
The Bachelorette, there’s nothing I get more excited about than helping
freedom-seekers figure out how to build businesses on their own terms
-- so they can do more of “the good stuff” in this life. For some people, it’s
raising kids on their own schedules. Others, it’s traveling the world with a
laptop in tow.
I KNOW there are a lot of teachers out there doing this stuff, but here’s
where I’m different:
1. I’m a sales expert. I taught this stuff to full rooms of people, week in &
week out, for YEARS. I know a lot about sales psychology & what makes
people buy (and, how to help YOU learn it & use it.)
2. Around here, productivity = making complex things simple. Seriously,
ditch the complicated workflow software & don’t you dare talk to me about
“systems”. Here’s your system: grab a pen & paper and let’s find your next
best step. More on this in a sec.

3. I DON’T believe you need a big audience to be

successful!! Seriously, what a misconception. In my
world, we go for small & mighty. I’ll show you how.
So listen: you’re in the right place if you’re ready to
get MORE done this week with a simple, effective
strategy that actually focuses on what will make
your business grow.
It’s a proven process that will make your next best
step all but leap off the page and kiss you on the lips
(‘cause that’d be weird, but you know what I mean.)
Let’s get to it!
 started
GETTING

HERE’S WHAT YOU’LL NEED:

A pen (or pencil)

A piece of paper, of any kind

(seriously, the back side of that one girl’s
baby shower invitation will work just fine)
WATCH THIS SPACE!
A glass of wine
I’ll share examples of (optional, but strongly recommended)
each step “in action” in
the notebook photo on And yeah, that’s it... literally. And hey, one
the next pages. more thing? I’m so glad you’re here.

Let’s dive in!

 A QUICK PRODUCTIVITY LESSON

Rocks, Pebbles &Sand

Rocks
Perhaps you’ve seen this demo before about a
professor & a jar.

HERE ARE THE CLIFF NOTES: BIG COMMITMENTS

The only way to fit rocks, pebbles, AND sand into
one jar is to start with the big stuff. Then, the
smaller things can fit & squeeze in around those
boulders. Pebbles
GROWTH-BASED ACTIONS
The big problem is that many of us start with sand.

Sand
But if we put the sand in first, there’s no room for
our rocks & pebbles.

This is why we can spend all our time in our email “BASELINE” TASKS (EMAIL,
inbox or social media and feel like we did literally SOCIAL MEDIA, CHORES, ETC.)
nothing in an entire day.
“ If you were to put
sand into the jar
first, there would
be no room for the
rocks or pebbles.”
 Step 1: BEFORE WE BEGIN

GET IT ALL OUT ON PAPER A FEW BIG TIPS AND NOTES

Before we can figure out what the heck you
should work on this week, it’s time to kick 1. I like this paper that has the line down the
middle. if you don’t have that, just draw it.
that overwhelmed feeling to the curb.

2. Don’t worry about my abbreviations they

Grab your paper and jot down all the things make sense to me! For example, “CCe68”
you could possibly work on this week. means “Courage & Clarity episode 68”. Feel
(Example image below) free to use shorthand that you’ll recognize

PULL UP YOUR CALENDAR 3. Are you going to work onEVERYTHING

While I do my brain dump, I pull up my in your brain dump this week? Probably not.
google calendar to see what’s already
The idea here is to get everything out. We’ll
scheduled and I throw those items onto the
prioritize in a sec.
list. Voila, everything all in one place.
“ Simple can be harder
than complex: You have
to work hard to get your
thinking clean to make
it simple. But its worth
it in the end because
once you get there, you
can move mountains.”
- Steve Jobs
Step 2: PLAN YOUR COMMITMENTS (“ROCKS” )
Start building your week
Now, add a “this week” column to the left
side of your paper.
Take a look at your brain dump and start
piping in any pre-scheduled commitments.
Cross them off as you go.
APPOINTMENTS ONLY!
We’re only jotting down
scheduled commitments first.
(Example image below)
HEADS UP:
HERE’S WHERE YOU MIGHT GET STUCK
White space is your friend! If you do this part
and your week is jammed, we’ve got a problem.
Notice my Thursday is totally empty.
Take a look at your scheduled commitments.
Is there anything in here that just simply isn’t
important? Guard your time carefully.
Please note, these aren’t necessarily the MOST
important tasks in your week. But these are
things you’ve committed too — from team meet-
ings to baby’s doctor appointments if you need
to show up somewhere, write it down.
“Either run the day
or the day runs you.”
- Jim Rohn
 STEP 3: GROWTH BASED ACTIONS.

"The Secret Sauce"

The stuff you wanna do, but never get to. No admin work here!
Herein lies the root of the feeling that you’re You might be tempted to add in things like social
always working and never accomplishing: this media or email. Before you make the argument
is the important stuff we never get to. that these grow your biz, STOP!

It’s not urgent & technically doesn’t “have Unless there is strategy involved, like planning
to” be done... So when sh*t hits the fan, we out your social media editorial calendar for the
skip it. next month, then don’t put it here.

Paradoxically, this stuff is the engine of your Examples of growth based actions:
business.
• Blog or podcast content
If you spend your days showing up to
(growing your audience)
meetings (rocks) and chasing down admin
tasks (sand), our pebbles are lost completely. • Working on an offering
(growing your revenue)
Is it any surprise that without an engine, • Taking a course
your business spins its wheels? The health (growing your skillset)
of your business depends on how well you do • Usually fun + exciting to work on
here (no pressure, we got this!)

Questions to Ask:
Project or Reactive
Ongoing Task? or Proactive?
If it’s a recurring task, then save it REACTIVE: things like email, replying
for Step 4. to comments on Instagram or Facebook.
PROACTIVE: things like creating a file
of text snippets for customer support.
 GROWTH-BASED ACTIONS
Step 3:
(AKA, THE SECRET SAUCE - CONTINUED)
TIME TO ADD YOUR “PEBBLES”.
Go through your list and add a special mark
for any GBA’s (growth-based actions).
Now, inspect your week. Look for long
stretches of white space — these are just
begging for some GBA’s!
In my example, my eyes go right to my
Thursday.
An empty day, especially in the morning
when I’m fresh, works perfectly.
NOTICE I BUNCHED SOME THINGS.
On Thursday, it says “goals course”.
There are actually three activities related
to this in the “brain dump” column on the
right.
Here’s where flexibility comes in — I know
what I’m working on, roughly, but can go
with the flow when the time comes.
(Example image below)
“The ability to simplify
means to eliminate the
unnecessary so that the
necessary may speak”
-Hans Hoffman
Step :
IDENTIFY “THE REST”
TOP OFF WITH THE ADMIN (“SAND”)
Go through your list and make a special mark
for any admin-type work.
Remember, these are usually more like tasks
and/ or maintenance work.
That’s why you’ll see “Christmas gifts” on my
list. It’s a task I need to knock out, and I know
it’s going to get done.
FILL YOUR HOLES WITH SAND
The thing about sand is, it fits into cracks and
crevices. In my notebook, you’ll see I jotted
“admin” — I’m bunching all these tasks and
will work on them in a batch.
(Example image below)
MY THEORY ABOUT ADMIN: IT
ALWAYS GETS DONE.
I guarantee my approach is giving someone
organizational hives right now. As a
recovering people pleaser, I know what
you’re thinking:
“People are waiting for me to get back to
them quickly! What if someone gets mad?!”
• In my experience, they don’t get mad.
This is in your head.
• We’re more efficient when we batch tasks.
• Every time you check your inbox or social,
it can take 30+ minutes to get your brain
back on track. We must guard our time!
“You can’t be that kid
standing at the top of the
waterslide, overthinking
it. You have to go down
the chute.”
-Tina Fey
Now it's your turn!
It’s time to put this method to work.
You’ve got 2 options for planning:

1. Grab your pen & notebook as you saw in my photo examples.

2. Use the digital planner! On the next page you’ll find a digital
version of the 15 minute planner layout. You may:

Print it and put it in a binder, or simply put it out on your

desk for the week.

Fill it by typing directly into the blank areas.

Write in it using your iPad and Apple Pencil!

 15 Minute Planner
This Week Brain Dump
MON

TUE

WED

THU

FRI

www.courageandclarity.com
 Ta-da,
your week is planned!
That’s it, 15 minutes and you’ve got a game plan that
is structured enough to help you make progress...
...yet flexible enough to allow space for creativity &
“life stuff” that pops up.

SO DON’T FORGET:
Rocks, pebbles & sand, in that order. Most people dump in some
sand, throw in a few rocks, top it off with more sand and they’re out
of room. Don’t forget your GBA’s — your Growth-Based Actions,
the engine of your business.
White space is your friend. For creativity, and your sanity’s sake.
Step away from your admin work. Social media will still exist. Your
email inbox won’t explode. It will get done.

JOIN THE COMMUNITY

 Like what you see?
Don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE to Courage & Clarity on iTunes!

Dear C&C friend,

This handbook was born out of a need I observed in our community

on Facebook for listeners of the Courage & Clarity podcast.

I believe the stuff in this guide will seriously up your productivity

game, but to get the life-changing stuff, you gotta listen to the show!

If you like this guide and the podcast, you can help me out
tremendously by leaving a review in iTunes.

From the bottom of my heart: thank you for your support.

I love you guys!

Wishing you the courage & clarity

to go after what you love,

Steph Crowder
COURAGEANDCLARITY.COM
#COURAGEANDCLARITY