Putting in your personal plan of action

From the information you gathered on this website, you can now use the agenda format to make a day-to-day plan to balance your life post-kidney transplantation. Now you can put it all into action!

Build a self-management calendar

Building a detailed calendar is a very important step towards taking charge of your life after kidney transplantation. There is more than one type of calendar or planning style and there should be one that suits you.

The options are unlimited, but some of the most common include an agenda/day planner; a dry-erase calendar board; large-size paper calendar; or an online, or computer/phone-based scheduler. Some people like to colour code, others like to use colourful magnets or stickers, to set alarm reminders, or to make a “to-do” list.


If you already have a system, don’t change it completely; add self-management tasks into your schedule like you would with any other appointments or tasks. If you do not have a scheduling system, pick one that seems the easiest to you. And remember you do not have to stick to a single system forever; experience with one will help you to choose one that better fits your needs down the road.

You should also keep track of what you are doing, sometimes just a simple check next to the activity means it was well done. Some people like to write a very short summary of the activity or keep a diary of their day. This is also up to you.

Building a calendar also means knowing yourself. If you are not a morning person, don’t schedule too much in the morning or just do simple tasks; keep the complicated ones for when your energy and concentration are at their best. The same goes for fatigue if you know your fatigue hits every day at about the same time, avoid scheduling chores and work at that time. If the task you have to do requires effort, either mental or physical, for a long period of time, allow yourself time for breaks.

As there are good and bad days, make sure you schedule enough time to do what you wish to do even on a bad day. Have a plan B or C for a given day you feel you cannot go on.

What should you put in your calendar?

It all depends on the goals you picked! Look back at your goals (or check on this topic here “Goal Setting: SMART goals”) and incorporate the timeline into your calendar. If the goal you picked includes a specific task daily, as with the example of eating healthy, make a weekly menu and write the meal plan on your calendar. This will also help you when creating your shopping list and provide an answer to the never-ending question “What are we eating tonight?”

Many people set goals to increase physical activity. If you wish to go swimming at the pool twice a week, take time at the beginning of the month to look at the pool schedule and write the sessions that are best for you in your agenda. If you write them in, you are more likely to go, and you are less likely to schedule something else at that time.

It is also important to note appointments with your healthcare professionals. Try to reserve some time during the week before your appointment to prepare by doing some of the self-evaluations in the worksheets (presented here on different pages of this website) and writing down a list of questions you wish to ask.

Don’t fill your calendar only with things you must do. Keep space for things you want to do: going to the movies, reading a book, or going to dinner with friends. You do not need to fill every hour of your schedule. Save time for yourself. You may need to rest, or some last-minute activity or obligation might show up.

Your personal Plan of Action

Name: ____________________________________________________________

Date: _____________________________________________________________

The change I want to make happen is: ___________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

My goal for the next month is: __________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

 

Action Plan

The specific steps I will take to achieve my goal are: (include what, when, how, where, and how often) ______________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

The things that could make it difficult to achieve my goal include: ______________

__________________________________________________________________

My plan for overcoming these challenges includes: _________________________

__________________________________________________________________

Support and resources, I will need to achieve my goal include: ________________

__________________________________________________________________

My confidence that I can achieve my goal is: (scale of zero to 10, with zero being not confident at all and 10 being extremely confident) _________

Review date: ______________________________________________________

With: _____________________________________________________________

Print a copy of the table here

Check out Robert’s calendar

Now you are all set to go! Remember this is an ongoing iterative process – look back and reread any section you need. As you become more used to your new life, your needs will change.

Good luck and happy life!