Forest - Trees - Branches - Leaves

I’ve been using a system lately that’s helped me to plan my growth this month, and it’s lead me to easier writing for my content as well. It’s just four words… Forest, trees, branches, leaves. Meaning, start with the big picture stuff, the thrust of your vision, and work down to the the little things like visual style, formatting, or punctuation. Here’s a better explanation of those four ideas and how you might use them to help you in your planning.

Forest- The big picture

Your “forest” is your big picture vision for your project or your article. The “forest” could be your personal goal for your blog or website. Are you trying to reach a new milestone for subscribers or distribution of your newsletter? If you’re writing, then your big picture is the theme for your article. What are you going to write about? What emotion or call to action are you going to evoke from your audience? It’s important to have a vision before you start anything. It’s tough to find a direction if you have no idea where you’re going.

Trees- Fleshing it out

After you’ve developed your vision, then it’s time to move in closer a little bit and focus on the “trees”… fleshing out your idea with some main points and brainstorming ways to make your vision happen. When writing, I use “mini-chapters” in boldface type to transition between ideas… After developing my idea for each article, these transitions are the first thing that I write. For other projects, this is where you make your plan of attack and develop the main points of your idea.

Branches- Zero in

Once you’ve fleshed out your idea with a plan of attack, it’s time to put some real work into the “branches” phase. You’re going to do the majority of your work now… “branches” is the longest phase. If you’re writing, it’s time to fill your topics or main ideas with solid content. Don’t be in a hurry to move on from the “branches”. Your vision depends on your application of work here to make your project or writing really come together.

Leaves- Close it up

The “leaves” are the final details… your formatting, your punctuation, final checks for spelling, grammar and conversational style. When you’re working on the “leaves”, it’s quality check time before you wrap things up… the majority of the work has already been done. However, it doesn’t mean that it’s time to relax. The “leaves” details aren’t something to be taken lightly. It’s a shame to push out a product with words omitted or other errors that cheapen your big picture vision in the final minutes of the game.

How does this help me?

The progression from the “forest” to the “leaves” is very linear. It’s an organized system that can help you to focus on the right components at the right time. Applying yourself to this concept can be difficult if you’re not already a linear thinker, but the reward is a very effective way to plan yourself from the start to the finish of nearly anything that you’re working on.

I used writing as the main example here, but the “forest, trees, branches, leaves” concept lends itself appropriately to all sorts of projects. No matter what you end up working on, I’ll look forward to seeing you “in the leaves!”