Introduction to The Pastor Stephen Grant Novels Planner 2020: The TO DO List Solution by Ray Keating
Pastor Stephen Grant is a punctual, get-things-done kind of guy. It comes naturally to Grant, but it was truly ingrained in him during his time as a Navy SEAL and at the CIA.
For example, in Warrior Monk: A Pastor Stephen Grant Novel, we read:
Stephen left the hospital with more than enough time to arrive at the home of Jennifer and Ted Brees. Fashionably late was not an option for the ever-punctual pastor. To Grant, an invitation for 6:30 meant arriving at 6:30.
And later on, we read about Grant and church council meetings:
Given his penchant – or obsession – with time, council meetings often were a test for Grant. With his SEAL and CIA experience, he knew the importance of being patient. His past work often required the discipline to remain quiet, even to not move, for hour upon hour. Patience could mean the difference between the success or failure of a mission; and on occasion, between life and death.
In more recent times, there were plenty of opportunities for silent prayer and reflection.
Yet, a lengthy church council meeting, with conversations circling around and around and getting nowhere, often put Grant to the test. He could grow downright antsy.
And then there’s the following from An Advent for Religious Liberty:
On the large porch of the rectory, one of the Stone offspring, the youngest son, Paul, greeted each guest upon arrival with a sheet of paper. The ever-punctual Stephen was pleased. “Check this out, Jen. It’s a schedule for the day. Nice.”
Jennifer looked at her husband, smiled, and said, “Excited about a schedule. Sometimes, you’re so weird.”
Stephen replied, “Hey, this is impressive.”
Tom greeted his two friends. He looked at Jennifer, and said, “I missed it. Why is your husband weird?”
“Oh, it’s just odd that he’s getting excited about your schedule.”
Tom corrected, “Not my schedule. That’s my wife’s. And I agree, it’s a bit anal-retentive. But as you’ll see, it actually works.”
Stephen gave Jennifer and Tom a mock look of disapproval and said, “Well, at least, I will compliment Maggie on the schedule.”
You get the idea.
I try to be a get-things-done person like Grant, but nothing about staying on schedule, remembering tasks and times, and maintaining course on projects and goals comes naturally to me or has been ingrained in me. I need help.
That has been particularly the case over the past two-plus years where I’ve made a concerted effort to expand my book writing, especially on the Pastor Stephen Grant front.
And I’m pleased that in 2018, I wrote and published three Grant books – Reagan Country: A Pastor Stephen Grant Novel; Heroes and Villains: A Pastor Stephen Grant Short Story;and Shifting Sands: A Pastor Stephen Grant Short Story. That was followed by more books in 2019 – the second edition of Warrior Monk: A Pastor Stephen Grant Novel; Deep Rough: A Pastor Stephen Grant Novel; Free Trade Rocks! 10 Points on International Trade Everyone Should Know; The Disney Planner 2020: The TO DO List Solution; The Traitor: A Pastor Stephen Grant Novel, this book, and hopefully one more, The Lutheran Planner 2020: The TO DO List Solution. And I’ve got some big book plans for 2020 as well.
These projects, along with a host of other career and writing endeavors, as well as family matters, have presented significant challenges in terms of time management. Those challenges, however, were met, in part, thanks to using “The TO DO List Solution.”
Beyond “The TO DO List Solution” that helps me – and hopefully you as well – is adding into the daily planning and scheduling assorted interests and inspirations. So, the first planner that I published – The Realistic Optimist TO DO List & Calendar 2019 – presented users with quotes each day reflecting a realistic optimist’s outlook on career, work and life.
And for the coming year, I offer The Pastor Stephen Grant Novels Planner 2020: The TO DO List Solution for readers, fans and friends of the Pastor Stephen Grant thrillers and mysteries. Each day includes a character quote, and either a short excerpt or a quick thought on these books. I hope that a little bit of the Pastor Stephen Grant world adds some pleasure to each day in 2020, while my “TO DO List Solution” format helps you get things done in a way that Stephen Grant would appreciate.
The Case for “The TO DO List Solution”
After establishing why a Pastor Stephen Grant novels planner is for you, a question that comes up is: How can the reader of these thrillers and mysteries get organized in order to make things happen?
Life seems increasingly hectic, whether one is writing books, running a business, advancing a career, building a family, teaching others, juggling multiple tasks, managing retirement, or simply organizing your reading list. It’s a challenge to get everything done on a daily basis, never mind making sure that you’re progressing toward your bigger goals.
Technology, of course, has been a tremendous benefit, but at times it takes something simple to be added to the mix to make a real difference. For me, that was the TO DO list. So, I now offer a helpful planner/tool called “The TO DO List Solution.”
Think for a moment about all of the roles you play in life, or perhaps a better way to put it, the many vocations or callings you have. For example, in no particular order, I’m a husband, father, son, economist, novelist, columnist, publisher/editor of a website, podcaster, reader, nonfiction author, golfer, moviegoer, active Lutheran, teacher, business owner, policy analyst, and marketer. I also would like to do more, including travel, moving, taking up some new hobbies, losing weight, and writing new books. No doubt, you have your own long list. So, how can we better manage the assorted undertakings in life – from the daily routine to special or out-of-the-ordinary endeavors? That is, how do you make it happen?
I’ve become far better organized – though far from perfect – with the TO DO list becoming my main planning, organizing and execution tool. “The TO DO List Solution” provides confidence that everything that needs to happen will be remembered; most (though not necessarily all!) will be accomplished; changes can be factored in (just add the item to the list); and life will be more organized. In fact, using “The TO DO List Solution” has played a role in my being able to increase my writing output, including Pastor Stephen Grant adventures.
The act of using “The TO DO List Solution” requires reflection on goals; forces prioritization; allows for being more realistic about time management; and generates serious thought on howto best get things done (for example, such as breaking down projects into manageable steps, and checking each off along the way). And as one checks off each completed item, your sense of success and accomplishment is enhanced, with hope and confidence growing.
By the way, it also helps to put everything on one TO DO list. That is, while one can limit the use of “The TO DO List Solution” to certain aspects of life – most think of it for “work” – it pays to include much of life in “The TO DO List Solution.” After all, your daily life and long-run goals have work, family and other endeavors and responsibilities intertwined and overlapping to various degrees. “The TO DO List Solution” covers most of life.
Along the way, using TO DO lists led me to think about a more effective TO DO list. For quite some time, my TO DO list process involved periodically making a big TO DO list covering longer term goals; drawing up a weekly TO DO list usually on a Sunday night or early Monday morning; and then breaking that down into daily TO DO lists. I used all kinds of means for making this happen, including the usual planners/datebooks, notebooks, smartphones, et al. While this process proved to be a tremendous benefit, it led me to realize that having the right tool to create and utilize my TO DO lists would be a major plus.
Hence, I created “The TO DO List Solution.” It was driven by meeting a need in my own life, and it followed with the realization that if I benefit from this, others might as well. I hope this becomes a handy tool in your efforts to set and achieve all sorts of goals.
Ways to Use The Pastor Stephen Grant Novels Planner 2020: The TO DO List Solution
The Pastor Stephen Grant Novels Planner 2020: The TO DO List Solution can help individuals become more productive.
The following are my thoughts on why I organized The Pastor Stephen Grant Novels Planner 2020: The TO DO List Solution the way I did, and how to best use it:
• First, the arrival of the New Year serves as an excellent moment to assess one’s goals, and to adjust, subtract and add to them, accordingly. So, this book starts out with the annual, big TO DO list. This calendar also is set up so that this big TO DO list can be updated at or near the start of each subsequent month, from checking off accomplishments (Wooo!) to adjusting goals to adding new efforts.
• Second, a TO DO list is established at the start of each week throughout the year. This naturally feeds off of the big, annual TO DO list, as well as encompassing other regular and irregular matters that must be done. Since I argue that most of life’s undertakings – from the smallest to the largest, from work to family life, from daily routine to vacation planning, and so on – be included, the weekly TO DO list is quite lengthy. I offer 55 boxes (with an extra one for whatever else you might need to toss into the mix). To fit on one page, these boxes might be seen as being relatively small. But I find in making my weekly TO DO lists, I tend to abbreviate, and by doing so, it limits my weekly list from being pages long and allows for a helpful one-page review. When each item on this list is accomplished, I put a slash mark through it, and with each slash, a moment of accomplishment is recognized.
• Third, soon after I started using TO DO lists, I came to realize that the weekly list needed to be further broken down into daily lists. Again, I’ve done this here, with each individual day allowing for TO DO items. The left-hand column allows for either numbering the items or assigning times for each. There are days when my TO DO list merely requires a list that I get done in no particular order, while other days require some exact times. This book allows for either option, or a mix. The right hand column allows for checking items off as accomplished – again, always a positive during the day. In addition, a “Key Reminders/Thoughts” box is included for each day to highlight the most important points, needs or objectives.
• Fourth, I appreciate daily quotes or insights that align with my interests and provide a boost to my outlook. As we’ve already noted, with The Pastor Stephen Grant Novels Planner 2020: The TO DO List Solution, each page offers character quotes, short book excerpts, and a few thoughts from me on Pastor Stephen Grant and Company.
Finally, the fact that you set goals, think about how to achieve those goals, and choose to seek out and use tools like The Pastor Stephen Grant Novels Planner 2020: The TO DO List Solution says something very positive about your outlook on work and life.
